Together with partners from Estonia, Finland, Italy and Greece, we are strengthening cooperation between schools, kindergartens, and health and social services to support children’s mental health and wellbeing.
The project develops a municipal cooperation model to help identify the needs of children and families early and coordinate the support they need.
Objective
To strengthen the capacity of schools and kindergartens to support children’s mental health and prevent difficulties. The approach brings together supportive dialogue with families, everyday preventive practices in educational institutions, and cooperation with health and social services coordinated at municipal level.
Activities
The project begins with mapping existing preventive practices and cooperation arrangements in participating municipalities and exploring Finland’s experience of implementing the Let’s Talk about Children (LTC) approach. These insights inform the development of a cooperation model that clearly defines the roles of institutions and professionals and sets out how support for children and families is organised.
Piloting takes place in municipalities in Estonia, Italy and Greece. Teachers, support specialists and other professionals working with children and families receive training and support to apply what they have learned. Feedback and an assessment of changes in preventive practices and cooperation between institutions guide the refinement of the model and its preparation for use in other municipalities.
