Difficulties in measuring impact on children’s
development
The Happy Nest programme in the Netherlands is based
on a successful model that was developed in Bosnia and
Herzegovina for a different target group. The practice in the
Netherlands needed to be adapted to a different context. An
evaluation study conducted by ICDI in the Happy Nest in
Katwijk suggests that the programme so far has had limited
measurable impact on the psychosocial wellbeing of individual
child participants. However, other qualitative methods (inter-
views with children, parents, teachers, staff and volunteers)
suggest that children do benefit from participating in Happy
Nest activities.
High turnover of children and project sustainability
The exact amount of time that children and their families stay
in a specific facility is not predetermined and ranges from a few
weeks to several years. Children may be transferred to another
facility or returned to their countries of origin at any time.
Many families leave reception facilities to avoid deportation. As
a result, many children are engaged in the programme activities
for a short time and may leave unexpectedly. In addition, events
in the reception facility, such as the arrival of new group of
refugees, the sudden deportation of a family or incidents of
violence, cause disturbances and affect children’s wellbeing
and attendance.
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