ITALY
THE PRACTICE
To respond to the rising numbers of refugees
and migrants arriving in Italy, the FADV has
collaborated with the Municipality of Milan and
the Prefecture of Milan to set up a reception
centre in the city. The project aims to cover
basic needs such as accommodation, food,
healthcare and access to basic information, and
to promote the social inclusion of families.
The centre can accommodate up to 95 people
and welcomes families seeking asylum in Italy
or entitled to relocate to another EU member
state. Most children are under the age of
six. The centre has 21 housing units and two
communal spaces for leisure and educational
activities.
Families at the centre benefit from a range
of services catering to their individual needs.
A Family Plan is developed by staff together
with the family, defining short- and long-term
objectives, timelines and activities to monitor
and evaluate their integration.
Additional activities are developed for families
who wish to stay at the centre as they wait for a
decision on their asylum application to be taken
by a court of first instance, or during their initial
appeal.
Families have access to language services,
psychosocial and pedagogical services, legal
information, job counselling as well as educa-
tional and life planning activities. Psychosocial
support includes group meetings and coun-
selling with parents. Pedagogical activities for
children are carried out in child-friendly spaces
and aim to increase children’s resilience and
develop their life skills in areas such as deci-
sion-making, problem solving, interpersonal
skills, self-awareness and coping with stress,
trauma and loss. There are also a series of work-
shops for mothers and their children, designed
to improve child-parent relationships.
The centre facilitates access to public ser-
vices, and families are guided through the
In the first school I attended everything was all right: I
learned, I did homework, I also learned Italian. In the sec-
ond school I did not do anything; I would just draw or get
easy maths exercises. So most of the time I was sleeping.
… The thing I liked most at school was when we built a
musical instrument (a kind of guitar) with wood.”
12-year-old boy from Eritrea
administrative procedures involved: they are
offered translation, interpretation and cultural
mediation services and are accompanied by
project staff. The centre also provides guidance
on local services and opportunities in order
to encourage asylum seekers to interact with
members of the local community. The centre
also provides basic information on healthcare
services and ensures children’s enrolment in
schools. It offers language courses for families
who wish to remain in Italy.
Finally, families receive advice on gaining
employment. The centre’s staff organises group
meetings and individual interviews to discuss
professional backgrounds and education levels.
After the first interview, a “professional skills
record book” is filled out, which is then used as a
starting point to look for internships or training
opportunities.
The project has a team of 25 staff members
specialising in various areas, including cultural
mediators, legal experts, educators, a psycholo-
gist, language teachers, a doctor and nurses.
Staff members are available on a 24/7 basis.
A number of measures are in place to monitor
the quality of services being provided. There is
a pedagogical intervention handbook outlining
FADV’s requirements for service provision
with detailed descriptions of actions, timelines,
internal procedures, forms and documents.
The centre is periodically audited by the
Municipality of Milan and local and prefecture
officials. The centre’s running costs are covered
by the Municipality of Milan and the Prefecture
of Milan and private donations.
89