SWEDEN
It is expected that by the end of 2017 the
mentoring programme will also include work
with children’s caregivers. One of the planned
activities involves connecting families caring
for unaccompanied and separated children
with Swedish families, which would help to
facilitate both exchanges on cultural issues and
experience-sharing in the area of parenting and
child care.
Children receive assistance from their mentors
to develop their individual action plan which
establishes the goals they wish to achieve and
a framework to accomplish these goals. The
action plan is based on an individual needs
assessment of each child and incorporates his or
her wishes.
The programme is funded with grants from
foundations and corporate sponsorships. Local
authorities pay a fixed amount for each action
taken for children enrolled on the programme
and also subsidise the rent for the youth centre.
The programme makes use of other community
resources such as sports centres and works with
other local services and initiatives. For example,
in order to support vocational training and
facilitate access to the labour market the staff
work closely with the local employment agency
to arrange internships and jobs for young
people. The programme also collaborates with
businesses, which offer vocational training and
internships.
The programme offers consistent, long-term
support for children and young people up to
the age of 23. It is unique in that it aims to
build personal relationships between mentors
and children, so the programme is set up in
a way that enables children to keep the same
mentor throughout their participation in the
programme.
Children meet with their mentors regularly. The
frequency of the meetings varies from twice a
week to twice a month, depending on the child’s
needs and preferences. The programme has six
mentors along with a team leader and a coor-
dinator. Each mentor works with six to eight
children. All mentors have adequate education
and experience in social work or pedagogy and
receive continuous group counselling, supervi-
sion and training.
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