Practical work
Target group
Our help at the Medellin location is particularly suitable for underage pregnant and non-pregnant girls and young mothers who
- are 18 years old and younger (age limit flexible, if other of the following criteria apply)
- are pregnant or already have underage children
- want to be protected from prostitution and life on the streets
- seek guidance and support on their way out of prostitution
- have resources for long-term support
- need intensive support until they become independent
- can acquire further skills through their willingness to work towards independence goals, in order to live independently in the future
- Accept “help for self-help”
as well as their children and babies who:
- need to be provided with food, clothing and/or medication
- need safe and secure accommodation
- are required to attend school
Exclusion criteria
Our assistance is not suitable, if
- the girls and young mothers continue to prostitute themselves despite support
- the girls and young mothers use drugs
- no initiative is evident
- the affected persons and/or their environment want to enrich themselves
- there are serious mental illnesses requiring treatment
Objectives
In the daily process of socio-pedagogical work, ending or preventing prostitution and enabling people to lead independent and self-determined lives is the main starting point.
It is based on the individual family structures and the age of the beneficiaries and their children. Goals are agreed at regular intervals and the fulfillment of the previous period's goals is reviewed. The support plan is developed and implemented in a team with the person receiving support.
The credo is “Help towards independence”!
The goals are agreed: The supported person ...
Phase 1 - Short-term goals:
- no longer prostitutes herself
- provides food for herself and her children
- has accommodation for herself and her children
- practices handling money (budgeting, shopping training, arithmetic)
- takes care of personal hygiene and medical care for herself and her children
- tries to find paid work or training
Phase 2 - Medium-term goals:
- Pursues a paid job or training education
- can handle money
- keeps her accommodation clean
- accepts support with parenting issues
- works on the mother-child relationship with support
- organizes her and her children's free time in a meaningful way
- practices appreciating her own body and sexuality
Phase 3 - Long-term goals:
- Achieves a school-leaving qualification and/or vocational qualification and/or vocational qualification
- is able to maintain a regular family routine
- develops an independent and socially acceptable value system
- acquires a realistic self-assessment
- develops positive self-esteem and self-confidence
- acquires practical life skills and knowledge
- participates in society, school and working life school and working life
- accepts the rules and values of a democratic community
- achieves emotional security and stability
- achieves a positive attitude towards society
- develops the ability to be socially responsible and passes this on
Contact and decision making
The first step to help is the selection of those to be supported. Contact is initially made openly and without restriction at the three locations described above: Botero Platz, Prado metro station and Berrio metro station. Through the street work activities during a previous one-year test phase, important contacts have already been established locally.
Our local employees make direct contact with the young girls and women, offer discussions and invite the families to lunch together in nearby restaurants. This is initially intended to create a sense of community and build trust. Those affected are offered the opportunity to talk. The family circumstances and existing family structures are examined in more detail in order to make an initial selection
Once the most important information has been gathered, the team works together to determine whether and in what form the beneficiary can be supported.
Help planning
Selection phase (phase 0): As a substitute for an application procedure, there is a selection phase in which the person concerned must show that they are able to accept help and comply with the foundation's internal regulations. The selection phase should not last longer than two months, but should be well thought out. The creation of an assistance plan supports the team, the reference person and the person concerned in working together effectively and transparently. Short-term (3 months), medium-term (6 months) and long-term (9 months) goals are jointly defined in this plan.
Depending on the stage of development, the intervals between the help plan meetings will be longer. In phase 1, we recommend meetings every week, in phase 2 every two weeks and in phase 3 every month. As the degree of independence increases, the intensity of the support is reduced and ends in independence.
All target agreements and support plans must be recorded in writing in the form of a protocol and signed by all parties involved, i.e. the person receiving support, the legal guardian if the child is a minor (possibly the youth welfare office), the Foundation's reference person and the acting director of the Foundation. Everyone receives a written copy of the target agreement. One copy must be sent electronically to the Chairman of the Supervisory Board.