About The Proud Project
PROUD is a two-year project, funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund of the European Commission.
Overall, the project aims at promoting supported independent living (SIL) as an alternative care practice for unaccompanied minors focused on minors aged 15-18 in four European countries. Spe- cifically, knowledge and good practices regarding SIL will be collected, exchanged and disseminated. In addition, the project will develop methodologies in order to improve the living standards of unaccompanied minors aged 15-18 years old.
In this regard, PROUD will support the capacity-building of care professionals and the adoption of a mentoring scheme in order to address the integration needs of minors. The project is expected to have a high impact both in the short and the long term. In the short term, 200 minors, 15-18 years old, are expected to benefit along with more than 500 child protection professionals. In the long term, the project is expected to positively influence EU Member States towards adopting alternative care practices.
The PROUD project implements a two-stage approach. During the first year the main concern will be to identify and analyze the integration context for unaccompanied minors in the participating countries as well as to assess the integration services provided to them.
Based on the data collected, the best practices will emerge, which, in turn, will be included in a comprehensive guide targeted at care professionals in order to provide them with information on the supported living schemes at a national and European level and therefore support their work with migrant minors who are about to move from shelters to independent living apartments. The second stage of the project includes the training of care professionals on different supported independent living schemes available in their country.
Moreover, it involves the development and the application of an integration path for unaccompanied minors, through the implementation of a mentoring programme which will match care professionals and relevant professionals in the field with minors aged between 15 and18 years old, in order to facilitate their transition from care structures to independent living.
The second stage of the project will build upon the first, evaluating and reviewing initial activities and feeding the results into even more tailored and mature offerings for each of the key target groups. Careful examination of the initial steps will demonstrate the road forward.
