UpFamilies

The UpFamilies app is a search engine for families of people in prison to find support services around them. You can search by keyword or type of service, or family member (children, partners, people in prison or reintegration, other family members). It also includes a map to see services nearby. We encourage organizations and associations to register information about the services they offer and how to contact them. Available on Google Play and Apple Store. https://lnkd.in/d-ThHpn6

UpFamilies has created a short and simple Roadmap to: -To raise awareness of the needs and obstacles faced by families of people in prison or in the process of reintegration. -To raise awareness of the services that support these families in the project′s countries. -To list the gaps in services and the type of support that is most lacking. -To offer recommendations to guide the development of policies to support these families. We encourage you to download the roadmap on the webpage of the project. Read more: https://lnkd.in/dvDXDqRr

?? Supporting Families Affected by Incarceration: New Training Resources Available! UpFamilies has launched the Training Course “Helping Organizations Build a better future for families affected by Imprisonment” and an accompanying Training Manual. These resources cover essential topics, from understanding family challenges to creating and managing services for advocacy and support. Developed through extensive research and consultations, these tools provide knowledge and collaborative learning opportunities for professionals and volunteers across communities. Available in six EU languages, the course and manual empower stakeholders to enhance support for affected families. Explore these resources and other tools at our website. Read more at: https://lnkd.in/dBpChgNh #UpFamilies #CommunitySupport #TrainingForImpact #Justice

Presenting the UpFamilies Network members in Greece (part 2): "Freedom Gate Greece" was founded in June of 2012 with a goal of fighting every form of social exclusion as well as promoting the psychosocial support of vulnerable groups. Its actions focus on the support of prisoners’ familiar environment with special care to underage children of the family, on rehabilitation programs for juvenile offenders, on support programs for incarcerated parents and on research. Having already developed connections with organizations such as Eurochips (European network for children with imprisoned parents in which we are members) and Eurochild (in which they are also members), which have great experience in similar actions, they have designed their interventions using evidence-based practices, adjusted to Greek reality. https://lnkd.in/dderY4e9 The Athens Lifelong Learning Institute is a research and education institute based in Athens, Greece. The Institute represents a unique integration of multidisciplinary expertise and ”innovative thinking” drawing on a comprehensive and diverse knowledge base, combining research methods, network development and policy analysis. Thier aim is to enhance innovation processes mainly in the areas of lifelong learning, human capital development, labour markets and social inclusion in a local, national and European context. Thier research teams specializes in the implementation of social research in the fields of social inclusion, human rights, active citizenship, the transformative effects of the new media technologies and other topics important for our society? https://lnkd.in/dZVxPaWp And, lastly, Onisimos. https://www.onisimos.gr/

Presenting the UpFamilies Network members in Greece (part 1): EPANODOS is a non-profit Legal Entity of Private Law supervised by Greek Ministry for Citizen Protection . It is the first, as well as the sole, official agency providing ex-prisoners with “after-care” services to be established in Greece. According to its founding act (Presidential Decree No. 300/2003), it aims at “prisoners and ex-prisoners’ vocational support, as well as at the preparation and promotion of their social reintegration in a broad sense”., EPANODOS has been established in order to facilitate and support any effort towards the social and vocational reintegration of former inmates of correctional facilities. EPANODOS’s activities also include the preparation for, and the support of, the social reintegration of adult and juvenile ex-prisoners, as well as the promotion of their employability. In this direction, EPANODOS provides people released from prison with psychosocial, legal and vocational counseling and support. https://lnkd.in/dwtcqX-a ARSIS – Association for the Social Support of Youth is a Non Governmental Organization, specializing in the social support of youth that are in difficulty or danger and in the advocacy of their rights. The main target is the prevention of youth marginalisation, the elaboration of policies which defend youth rights and the active social support towards disadvantaged young people. ARSIS was established in 1992 and since then it operates in Athens, Thessaloniki, Volos, Alexandroupoli, Kozani and Tirana due to the active participation of members, volunteers and young people. https://arsis.gr/en/

Presenting the UpFamilies Network members in Romania (part 2): The Romanian Foundation for Children, Community and Family was born in 1998 with the aim to prevent child abandonment and to support institutionalized children to learn skills that will enable them to live an independent life, The Romanian Foundation for Children, Community and Family was born in 1998 with the aim to prevent child abandonment and to support institutionalized children to learn skills that will enable them to live an independent life. Through our programmes, we focus on preventing early school leaving, because those children who do not finish compulsory education cannot qualify professionally and cannot get out of the circle of poverty. https://frccf.org.ro European Strategies Consulting (ESC) is an independent consultancy company specialized in European and international public policies in the field of social, legal and educational development, providing concept analysis, project design, reform implementation, monitoring and evaluation (including need & impact assessment, benchmarking and comparative research).? https://eustrategies.eu Asociatia Vis Juventum was founded in 2012 and is a non-profit, independent, public benefit association. It aims to promote volunteering and active citizenship among young people at European level and to work towards the elimination of discrimination and the fostering of good inter-ethnic relations.? The Association is involved in actions concerning the solution of social problems in marginalised communities, providing specialised and professional services, having at its disposal human resources with expertise and skills in the proposed field of intervention, as well as in the implementation of projects with external non-reimbursable funding.? https://visjuventum.eu And, lastly, ASOCIA?IA EUROPEAN? A IMPLEMENT?RII SI AP?R?RIII DREPTURILOR OMULUI – THEMIS (https://lnkd.in/dgxe22b2).

Presenting the UpFamilies Network members in Romania (part 1): Mental Health for Romania – S?n?tate Mintal? pentru Romania want to increase mental health awareness and fight the stigma against mental health conditions, primarily through educating the youth. They want to improve the access to mental health services for as many people as possible, as well as to create a community centred around mutual understanding and support. https://lnkd.in/d-gRsznv Established in 2013 under the name of the Rainbow of Knowledge Association, the Rainbow of Knowledge Day Centre for Parents and Children Counselling meets the needs of the community of Medgidia and the neighbouring towns to combat exclusion of any kind, with specialized and personalized psychological and psychotherapeutic counselling services offered to children and their families who may be at risk of social exclusion. Major risks can be generated by medical diagnoses, psychological difficulties not treated in time, educational deficiencies and poverty. https://lnkd.in/dYeaFKmB Funda?ia Stanca Veacurilor supports educational and social assistance programmes in prisons for the social reintegration of prisoners into society and the prevention of their recidivism. https://lnkd.in/dthgWZ_M Funda?ia SVASTA’s projects have from the beginning been oriented to education. The target group of these projects is defined according to predominantly social criteria, being mainly children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and families, with limited opportunities to continue their education, but who have demonstrated that they want to learn. https://svasta.org

On the 27th of September, Aproximar held the final event of the UpFamilies project in Lisbon, Portugal.?? ? It was a moment of sharing and discussion between organizations and professionals who support these families, reinforcing the importance of the UpFamilies Network.??? We would like to thank all the speakers and participants for their active contribution to building more and better interventions for families affected by imprisonment.? The UpFamilies initiative is co-funded by the European Union. As part of this initiative, an app has been developed to facilitate the search for support services, training for organizations and a roadmap of organizations that support these families.??? ? To find out more about the UpFamilies project, visit: https://upfamilies.eu/wp/??

Presenting the UpFamilies Network members in Bremen (part 3): The BeBeE is one of the ombudsman's offices in child and youth welfare that operates nationwide. Counselling can be provided to clarify questions or specific problems in contact with public agencies (e.g. the youth welfare office) or a private child and youth welfare organization. An enquiry can be made to the ombudsman's office in the state of Bremenfor assistance with parenting if the Bremen or Bremerhaven youth welfare office is responsible. If this is not the case, the contact persons will be happy to refer you to the appropriate ombudsman's office.for day-care centres if your child's day-care centre is located in Bremen or Bremerhaven. GISBU was formed in 2002 through the merger of the associations ‘Herberge zur Heimat Bremerhaven e.V.’ and ‘Brücke Bremerhaven e.V.’. GISBU mbH is a member of the Diakonisches Werk of the Regional Church of Hannover. The shareholders of GISBU mbH are the Evangelical Lutheran Church District of Bremerhaven and the Diakonisches Werk Bremerhaven e.V.. Amongst the services offered by GISBU in Bremerhaven are the support of young people in contact with the justice system, emergency housing and support for victims of domestic violence. The purpose of the association Solidarische Hilfe e.V. is ‘[...] to counteract the effects and causes of the new poverty by providing solidarity-based help to those affected,’ as stated in the statutes since our foundation in 1987. This means that we want to combine social counselling and individual legal enforcement with influencing political and social conditions. The Solidarische Hilfe e.V. offers comprehensive, independent advice for the unemployed and social counselling as well as debt and insolvency counselling as a recognised body in accordance with § 305 para. 1 no. 1 of the Insolvency Code in Bremen at four locations. Visit their website here: https://lnkd.in/dmhCGuGm Interchange Non-Profit gUG aims to support lifelong learning. It is actively building communities of practice and learning in the areas of justice and of science communication.? Visit their website here: https://lnkd.in/dgd9qqkh and see how you can connect to their learning networks.

Presenting the UpFamilies Network members in Bremen (part 2): The KvI network is an association of various stakeholders from the judiciary, youth welfare, associations, science and children's rights who are in contact with affected children, bear responsibility for them or want to support the vulnerable target group.The KvI network has been established by Treffpunkt e.V. since 2018 as part of a project funded by the German Youth Brand Foundation (the final report of the project can be found here). The aim of the nationwide support system is to promote communication and cooperation between the different levels of responsibility of municipal youth welfare services on the one hand and the state-regulated prison system on the other.Treffpunkt e.V. is the leading actor in the network KvI, coordinating its activities, maintaining the website and updating the range of services. The association Treffpunkt e.V. has 30 years of experience in providing counselling and targeted services for relatives of inmates. Treffpunkt e.V. was involved in the European Coping Study for Germany in cooperation with the Technical University of Dresden. In particular, the child rights aspects and the implementation of the Council of Europe recommendations (CM/Rec (2018) 5 reinforce our commitment to the children of inmates. Visit the website here: https://lnkd.in/dCm2V6q2 The BEV wants to provide a place where those affected and their supporters can exchange ideas and help each other. Together, we want to explain the social circumstances and take political action against them. Our goal is a society in which people and their needs are no longer mere means to an end, but an end in themselves. A society in which everyone can be ‘different without fear’.The BEV offers advice on three days a week in the Solidarisches Zentrum Bremen about work, rent, job centre and the like. The Solidarity Centre offers space to chat, organise and form alliances. Visit the website here: https://bev-bremen.org The Hoppenbank e.V. association is a non-profit organization providing independent support to offenders in Bremen.We support an average of 2500 clients a year and employ around 60 permanent staff for this purpose. We have been in existence since 1971 and have been continuously active in various fields of independent criminal assistance ever since. We support people who have been released from prison, are imprisoned or are threatened with imprisonment in all matters relating to their social and professional integration. Our stated aim is to support those affected by criminality, to alleviate social problems and to highlight criminality as a problem for society as a whole.