Alternative care for children in a large-scale crisis situations

Djeca bez odgovarajuće roditeljske skrbi suočeni su s brojnim kriznim situacijama, zbog kojih ih se u situacijama visokog rizika izdvajaju iz biološke obitelji te stavljaju na smještaj i skrb drugim osobama/ustanovama. Takav oblik skrbi nazivamo alternativna skrb za djecu. Nerijetko su smještena u dječje domove, koji su u današnje vrijeme postavljeni pred mnogo kritika. Rad je u dječjem domu i u uobičajenim uvjetima izazovan i težak, no utjecajem kriznih situacija širih razmjera, kao što su pandemija izazvana koronavirusom i/ili potres, postavlja se pitanje kako institucionalna skrb tada uspjeva funkcionirati te kako ono utječe na djecu, koja su nerijetko već prethodno traumatizirana i ranjiva. U ovom radu prikazat će se mišljenje socijalnih radnika o utjecaju pandemije i/ili potresa na dječje domove diljem Republike Hrvatske. Iz njihovog kuta saznat će se kako vide prilagodbu njihovog rada, zadovoljenje potreba djece, čimbenike rizika, zaštite te otpornost djece, a ujedno procjenjuju pokazatelje doživljaja stresa i/ili traume kod djece, te isto tako koje promjene uočavaju kod sebe samih. Ovim istraživanjem želi se staviti fokus primarno na sigurnost djece, te uočavanje negativnih strana institucionalizacije, čije se pozamašne posljedice vide u utjecaju pandemije i/ili potresa. Sekundarno, fokus se želi staviti i na neophodne promjene u sustavu socijalne skrbi, koje bi težile smanjivanju broja djece u domovima, te povećanju izvaninstitucionalnih usluga.Children that grow up without adequate parental care are often faced with numerous crisis situations that may cause separating them from their biological families and placing them for care in particular facilities or to other people, especially when their safety is at high risk. This type of care is called alternative care for children. They are oftentimes accomodated in children's homes, which are today faced with numerous critics. Working in children's home may oftten be challenging and difficult durring usual conditions, but when dealing with large-scale crisis situations, such as coronavirus pandemic and/or earthquakes, people are left questioning how does such institutional care manage to function and how does it affect on some already traumatized and vulnerable children. This thesis will make an effort to present opinions of social workers who work in children's homes, about the impact that pandemic and/or earthquakes made on children living in children's homes across Croatia. How is social work in children's home adjusting, how the needs of children are met, how are risk & protection factors and children's resistance in large-scale crisis observed, also, how they estimate indicators of stress and/or trauma in children, as well in themselves is going to be researched and introduced from social workers point of view. This study wants to primarily put focus on safety of children, and therefore recognize negative aspects of institutionalization, whose far-reaching consequences are seen from the impact of pandemic and/or earthquakes. Secondary, the focus is on necessary changes in the social welfare system, that would strive in reducing the number of children in children's homes, and increasing the number of non-institutional social services for children without adequate parental care