Children and Youth at Risk Julia Mineva-Milcheva, Ministry of Education, Youth and Science September 12, 2012

Factsheet of the programme Children and Youth at Risk Total amount of the EEA grant - 7,860,000 euro What are we financing? – Effective and efficient measures addressing vulnerable groups of youth and children facing particular risks through helping underprivileged children and youth to participate in educational and social activities in kindergartens and youth centres. Three components: Care for youth at risk, Care for children at risk and Capacity building. Special focus - on school attendance and Roma children needs. Who can apply ? - Municipalities or associations of municipalities in Bulgaria Our ambitions – Creating Youth Centres with the CoE Quality Label; helping underprivileged children in the kindergartens to be better prepared for school; preparing teachers and Roma school mediators to work according to the good practices of the CoE. Why does it matter to you? – Both Components will assist the policy of the country in the selected areas with providing the youth and the children aged 3-6 with potentials to develop socially and personally

Aims and next steps Children and Youth at Risk What are our goals and how are we going to achieve them? – The Programme will allow the children and the young people from disadvantaged background and from Roma minority to integrate easier and to increase their capabilities in terms of school results and personal growth When will it be possible? /Deadlines, schedule/ - There are two calls for proposals – one in Dec. 2012 – Kindergartens and the other in June 2013 – Youth Centres. The projects will have time until April 2016 to implement their activities. What’s next or how do we proceed from here on? – The informational campaign will start in October 2012 for the Kindergartens call. The beneficiaries will have two months to submit their project proposals.

Bilateral relations and specific concerns The bilateral dimension – Project promoters will be encouraged to actively search for partners from donor countries. Partnership projects will be given certain priorities in the process of project selection. Our partners – Council of Europe contributes to the implementation of the Programme through relevant knowledge experience and through its network of experts, particularly in the field of Roma Education and Training activities. Securing the specific concerns – The earlier the level of education assisted by public funding, the higher the efficiency and equity benefits. Substantial long-lasting effects on economic and social outcomes have been shown in particular for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The school attendance will be positively influenced through interventions on earlier stages of development. The specific needs of the Roma children will be taken care of through implementing proposed by the CoE special activities and training kits for children and their teachers (Heckman and Masterov, 2005; Cunha et al. 2005), (e.g. Duncan et al, 1998; Tietze et al, 2001; Sylva et al, 2004; see also European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education Report, “Early Childhood Intervention: Analysis of Situations in Europe” (2005))

Last but not least You can reach us at: Children and Youth at Risk You can reach us at: Ministry of Education, Youth and Science Structural Funds and International Educational programmes General Directorate 1113 Sofia, 125 Tsarigradsko shose blvd, bl. 5