During 2017-2021 we implemented successful projects with funding from the European Commission, provided expertise to UNICEF and ANPDCA for the evaluation of the National Strategy for the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of the Child 2014-2020 (Juvenile Justice field) and for the implementation of the National Strategy for the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of the Child 2022-2027 (areas of “Child-Friendly Justice” and “Violence against Children”), we became full members of the COPE Network (2020) and associated with the EU Centre for Victims of Terrorism (2021), and the Ministry of Labour and Family awarded the association the Diploma of Good Practices in Social Services in Romania. We managed to contribute to the development of a concern for the professional and personal future for over 1000 young people from pre-university technical education with whom we carried out career guidance activities, we trained over 100 specialists on topics related to gender violence in the context of migration to facilitate victims’ access to protection and assistance, we piloted effective practices at European level for the recognition of professional competences, together with the National College of Social Workers we organized Social Work Days in Iasi and many others.
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Participation, innovation and organizational development have been the main points of focus for the activities developed in 2016. We provided assistance for 330 beneficiaries: children with parents in prison, remigrant children, children from public residential care, children separated or at risk of becoming separated from their parents. For the first time in Romania a program for anger management has been created, titled: „Anger is Just an Emotion! Express it in a Healthy Way”. One hundred and sixty educators from residential care centers of the Iași County Social Assistance and Child Protection Department have been trained to apply the program with children and youth displaying behaviour problems. For the constant support provided to prison inmates for the consolidation of family relations, Alternative Sociale was awarded the Silver Medal „PRO PATRIA ET ORDINE JURIS” and Honorary Diploma by the National Administration of Penitentiaries and the Ministry of Justice.
Annual report 2015
The year 2015 was characterized primarily by the success of our public engagement activities. With a focus on two groups — the children of prisoners and third country nationals at risk of human tra cking — our advocacy campaigns raised public awareness of the social challenges faced by these vulnerable populations and encouraged authorities and policy makers to act on their responsibilities to ensure their protection and safety.
We have continued to oer direct social assistance to children with parents working abroad, “re-migrant” children (i.e., children who return to Romania after a period of time living abroad), children whose parents are imprisoned, people affected by autoimmune disorders, and former convicts.
Our organisation’s future is important to us, and in 2015 we also consulted with our employees, partners, beneficiaries and the Board to identify the organizational strengths and opportunities that will enable us to fulfil our mission over the coming next years.
We would like to use this opportunity to thank our local, national and international partners who supported and worked alongside us to defend and promote human rights, and achieve the significant results described in this report.
Annual report 2014
In 2014 there are 10 years since the experts of Alternative Sociale have first signalled in Europe the home alone children phenomenon, a consequence of the parents leaving to work abroad. In this decade, we have studied this phenomenon and we have contributed at the development of the specialists capacity to assist these children and their families and we have provided direct services for more than 2000 children.
The experts of Alternative Sociale have continued the innovation process in 2014, too. To answer the challenges generated by the new social phenomena, the team of Alternative Sociale has participated at trainings in fields that are both actual and new for Romania, as: social entrepreneurship, assistance of children with imprisoned parents and the assessment of children with divorced parents. The training seminars have been conducted by well-known international experts among which we can mention Dr. Elisabeth Ellis from Atlanta, USA, with more than 40 years of experience in assessing children affected by their parents’ divorce.
In 2014, Alternative Sociale has made the first step into the business area, developing a social enterprise that provides specialized services to the children with divorced parents. The support program for the children affected by divorce, created for the first time in Romania by Alternative Sociale, intends to minimize the impact and the negative consequences of divorce on the harmonious development of children. The profit obtained from this economic activity is reinvested in social services.
In 2014, Alternative Sociale has organized three awareness campaigns. My parent is in prison. Why do you convict me for his/her actions?, Attitude is contagious, Alcohol turns you into a burden for the loved ones are the messages we transmitted to draw the public attention on the problems of some vulnerable or even invisible people for the Romanian authorities.
We thank our national and foreign partners for being on our side in our attempt to innovate the social field!
Annual report 2013
In 2013, the specialists of Alternative Sociale have focused on assistance services, training and research. The programs we conducted focused on assisting the children affected by migration, more precisely, the home alone children because their parents went abroad to work and remigrant children.
In 2013, Alternative Sociale founded youth centres in the schools of Iasi with the highest number of children affected by migration. Here we organized different recreational activities and provided psychological and material support to help them overcome the risk situation they were in.
In 2013, Alternative Sociale continued its activity on a social problem that resulted invisible for the Romanian authorities: the problem of children with imprisoned parents. In this context, for the first time in Romania, Alternative Sociale equipped and furnished the visitation rooms from the Penitentiaries of Iasi and Vaslui so they became more children friendly attenuating the traumatic experience of seeing their parent in a detention unit.
In the next two years, our specialists will be conducting in the Moldova region a series of activities meant to improve the quality of life for these children.
The program against human trafficking coordinated by Alternative Sociale Association for more than a decade has benefitted from an innovative approach in 2013. We have started a project that has as target group the third country nationals. They are vulnerable to human trafficking because of the difficulties they confront themselves with in social and cultural integration. The novelty of the project consists in creating a code of behaviour for the foreign employees and a code of ethics for the business companies for preventing human trafficking.
Our career orientation activities dedicated to the youngsters reached impressive results. More than 30,000 pupils from secondary education from rural areas have taken part, at career orientation activities between 2011 – 2013. They were advised on how to use the existent educational opportunities and developing the abilities meant to facilitate the control they have over their own career. This project that was implemented in the Moldova region was appreciated by the Junior Chamber International Federation and MECTS (The Ministry of Education, Research, Youth and Sport) as an example of good practices for social responsibility partnerships.
We thank our partners for their support in achieving these great results.
Annual report 2012
In 2012 Alternative Sociale celebrated 15 years of innovation in the social field, 15 years in which it conducted more than 100 projects focused on assistance and prevention, training and research services. Passion, innovation, professionalism, trust and integrity – these values guided us and laid the base of the initiative that was brought to life 15 years ago. In this period, Alternative Sociale accumulated a wide experience in implementing local, regional, national and international projects, creating an important network of partnerships with prestigious European institutions
Annual report 2010
In the field of assisting the vulnerable people we have provided psycho-socio-legal services to home alone children after their parents left to work abroad, to the elderly in risk situations and to the victims of human trafficking. The prevention and the fight against corruption among police officers and customs police, a current issue nowadays, and we might say a breaking news subject in Romania, was approached by Alternative Sociale in the project optimistically named “Good practices in preventing and fighting against corruption”.
Annual report 2009
A constant concern in our activity was that of informing, increasing the awareness and involving the community members in supporting the vulnerable people. Our awareness activities on the consequences of separating children from their parents who left to work abroad was recognized by introducing the study conducted in partnership with UNICEF in the motivation of the European Parliament resolution of 12 march 2009 on migrant children left behind in the country of origin. The training of the specialists focused this year mostly on two professional categories: magistrates and police officers. In 2009 there were also printed and distributed for free 7 volumes – specialty papers addressed to magistrates, teaching staff, police officers, psychologists and social workers.
Annual report 2008
2008 represented for Alternative Sociale a successful year and the acknowledgement of its work. The awareness campaign, the social assistance services and the work methodology for professionals, the national photography contest draw the media’s attention as well as that of the authorities on the complex problem of home alone children because of their parents left to work abroad.
Annual report 2007
In 2007 Alternative Sociale Association has turned 10 years of activity in the fields of justice reform, defending and promoting human rights, volunteering and child protection. With all out programs, projects and activities, we intended to act according to the principle – Together for a safer community.
Annual report 2005-2006
The period 2005-2006 represented two years of continuous effort for the development of programs in the field of human trafficking, child protection and children and family justice. The specialists from Alternative Sociale Association continued to provide services to the people and the communities at risk: assistance for the reintegration of traffic victims, psychological assessments for the children victims of abuse and neglect, child labour prevention activities and assistance and home alone children after their parents left to work abroad.
Annual report 2004
In 2004 Alternative Sociale Association provided services for the people and the communities at risk from the counties of Moldova. We gave priority to the assistance and prevention activities for the victims of human trafficking, child labour and children victims of abuse and neglect.
Special attention was also given to the reform of the juvenile justice system contributing to the training of the staff and equipping the institutions involved so to respect the national and international legal norms and standards in dealing with cases with minors.
Annual report 1997 – 2001
In this period the team of Alternative Sociale volunteered and provided behavioral therapy programs and educational programs to the young offenders from the Penitentiary of Iasi, took part at the introduction and strengthening of the probation system in Romania, conducted activities to prevent delinquency in schools, implemented activities to facilitate the social reinsertion of minors and young people serving liberty depriving penalties, of the ones benefitting of post-criminal assistance and of the ones serving a non-depriving liberty penalty, and provided support services to their families.
In the same period it started an emblematic program for the association – “The Juvenile Court” and it was conducted one of the first studies– “Audit on juvenile delinquency in Iasi”. The assistance services for the victims of human trafficking also started in this period.
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