Investing in Children's Services, Improving Outcomes Publication launch Brussels, 30-31 May 2016 Day 1: Hotel Silken Berlaymont, 30 May 2016 13:30 - 18:00 Day 2: European Parliament, 31 May 2016 9:30 - 13:00 Contact: Alfonso Lara Montero Tel: +44 (0)1273 739 039 Email: [email protected] This event is hosted by Nathalie Griesbeck MEP and supported by the ALDE group. Welcome word Dear colleagues, We would like to warmly welcome you to the official launch of our publication Investing in children’s services, improving outcomes, hosted by Nathalie Griesbeck MEP and supported by the ALDE group. Early investment and intervention are key for children’s development and later outcomes, as documented by a large body of evidence which shows that the early years are crucial in people’s development and impact on adults’ social, economic and labour outcomes. The participation at this event of over 130 participants from 21 European countries, at all levels of policy, practice and governance, certainly underlines the relevance of this topic. The European Social Network (ESN) has been working on children’s services for several years. In particular, between 2013 and 2016 we have been working with directors of children’s services, government, child welfare agencies and experts in children’s services in 14 European countries to contribute to implementing the European Commission’s Recommendation on investing in children. This broad collaboration has resulted in a comprehensive analysis of child welfare and child protection policies and services in those countries and a cross-country comparison of the situation in Europe, which we gladly present in our study Investing in children’s services, improving outcomes. We are delighted that the launch of our publication is being hosted by Nathalie Griesbeck, who is Vice-chair of the European Parliament’s intergroup on children’s rights, and we hope that the debate at the meeting will feed future discussions in the intergroup. We are very pleased that the launch is taking place at the European Parliament that in November 2015 adopted a child poverty resolution, which was endorsed by a majority of MEPs. We hope that this event will contribute to implementing the Parliament’s resolution, which calls for a roadmap to help EU Member States implement the Recommendation. We believe that this event will be a great opportunity for you to learn more about children’s services and exchange expertise and practice with ESN members and external partner organisations to contribute to implementing key policy documents. We encourage you to be actively involved in the discussions online on Twitter @ESNsocial #INVCH16 #INVCH_ESNStudy and on our LinkedIn group Social Services in Europe. With very best wishes, Christian Fillet Chair, European Social Network 2 Background The European Social Network (ESN) has been working on aspects related to children’s wellbeing for the past 8 years. In 2008-2009, ESN had a working group on children and families, which consisted of directors of children and family services from across the EU, and concluded with the report ‘Breaking the cycle of deprivation’. In 2011, ESN organised a seminar exploring early years’ services and child protection. Throughout 2011 and 2012, we published various papers and attended consultations with the European Commission and Member States to contribute to drafting the European Commission’s Recommendation ‘Investing in children: breaking the cycle of disadvantage’. The Recommendation, which was published on 20 February 2013, presents Member States with policy guidance on multi- dimensional children’s policies around three pillars: access to resources, quality services and child participation. The Recommendation is a good policy guidance, but it is essential that policy principles are translated into practice. This is why between 2013 and 2015, ESN has been working with a number of agencies to map the implementation of children’s services in 14 European countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. This has helped us to identify strengths and gaps and suggest proposals for improvement in line with the European Recommendation. These strengths and gaps are explored in the publication Investing in children’s services, improving outcomes, which is being officially launched on 30-31 May 2016. We used a two-fold methodology. First, we designed a questionnaire where the overarching principles contained in the Recommendation were formulated as questions with the aim of gathering intelligence. As a result, 14 country profiles were drafted to address how those principles might be implemented in practice. Second, we organised three peer reviews, one per year, bringing together one delegation per country consisting of children services’ directors; national, regional and local government’s representatives with responsibilities in children’s services and service providers from each participating country. At these peer review meetings, participants assessed key issues raised in the answers to their questionnaires and compared policy and practice across their countries. The official publication’s launch is distributed in two days. On 30 May, ESN members will meet to discuss some of the report’s key findings with a focus on child protection reform and unaccompanied children. At the meeting there will be participants from the 14 countries involved in the project as well as from other European countries. We hope that this meeting will serve to set the scene for future work that could explore specific issues, such as family approaches in child protection or specific services for unaccompanied children. On 31 May, the official launch of the study Investing in children’s services, improving outcomes will take place at the European Parliament at an event hosted by Nathalie Griesbeck MEP. We hope that the strengths and gaps highlighted in the publication and at the event will serve as inspiration for the European Commission and national governments to monitor the implementation of the Recommendation. 3 Programme Monday 30th May (by invitation only) Hotel Silken Berlaymont, Brussels Registration of participants (Outside De Gasperi room) 12:45-13:30 Walking lunch (Schuman Lobby) Welcome John Halloran, CEO, European Social Network 13:30-13:45 Key issues identified in the study Alfonso Lara Montero, Policy Director, European Social Network Child protection reform: permanence and stability for children in care Chaired by John Halloran, CEO, European Social Network Louise Hill, Policy Implementation Lead, Centre for Excellence for 13:45-15:00 Looked After Children in Scotland (CELCIS), Scotland, UK Caroline Vink, Senior Advisor, Youth Institute, The Netherlands Pravda Ignatova, former Director in the Agency for Social Assistance, Bulgaria 15:00-15:30 Discussion in tables and feedback 15:30-15:45 Coffee break Care and protection of unaccompanied children Chaired by Michele Levoy, Director, Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) Fanny Bertrand, Project Manager for unaccompanied children, 15:45-16:30 Directorate for children and families, Pas-de-Calais County Council, France Graham Owen, Director of Social Services (Municipality of Trosa), National Association of Social Services Directors (FSS), Sweden 16:30-17:00 Discussion in tables and feedback 17:00-17:15 Break 4 Strengths and gaps identified in the countries Chaired by David Brindle, Public Services Editor, The Guardian Cristina Cuculas, Head of Policies and Strategies Department, National Authority for the Protection of Children’s Rights and Adoption, Romania Jeanne Fagnani, Emeritus Research Director at the National Centre for 17:15-18:00 Scientific Research (CNRS), and Associate Researcher at the Institute of Economic and Social Research (IRES) in Paris, France Judit Lannert, Senior Expert, Tárki-Tudok Centre for Knowledge Management and Educational Research, Hungary Magda De Meyer, Honorary Member of the Belgian Parliament and President of the Dutch speaking Women's Council, Belgium 19:30 Dinner at L’Atelier Européen (see practical information) Tuesday 31st May 2016 European Parliament, Room PHS 5B 001 09:00-10:00 Registration of participants (see practical information) Introduction to the study Investing in Children’s Services, Improving Outcomes Chaired by John Halloran, CEO, European Social Network Opening by Natalie Griesbeck MEP, Vice-chair of the intergroup on children’s rights, European Parliament 10:00-10:40 Gøsta Esping-Andersen, Professor, Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Barcelona, Spain Alfonso Lara Montero, Policy Director, European Social Network Julius op de Beke, Policy Analyst, Directorate General for Employment and Social Affairs, European Commission Trends in children’s services – Inclusive early childcare Chaired by Hugh Frazer, Coordinator of the European Social Policy Network (ESPN) Willem Adema, Senior Economist, Social Policy Division of the Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, Organisation for 10:40-11:15 Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Aisling Gillen, National Policy Development Manager for Family Support, Child and Family Agency (Tusla), Ireland Pär Alexandersson, Department officer, National Board of Health and Welfare, Sweden 11:15-11:30 Coffee break 5 Trends in children’s services – Quality and effective child protection Chaired by Hugh Frazer, Coordinator of the European Social Policy Network