The Inclusion and Social Dignity Programme in Romania launched a call for proposals for projects aiming to prevent the separation of children from their families and to support the reintegration of children from the social protection system into their families of origin, funded by the ESF+.

Under priority P5 “Reducing disparities between children at risk of poverty and/or social exclusion and other children”, eligible projects will contribute to mitigating the risks of material deprivation and of separation from their families, and to the development of specialised services for children. 

The total available budget for this call is EUR 243 780 163.53, of which EUR 186 191 663.53 is allocated to the less-developed regions of Romania, and the rest to the Ilfov region in Bucharest. A maximum of EUR 201 000 to EUR 2 000 000 will be granted to each winning project, and projects must run for a maximum of 36 months.

Target groups: children of 0 – 18 years at risk of separation from their families on grounds of poverty, inadequate housing conditions, chronic illness, abuse, addiction (for prevention measures); children registered in the special protection system (for reintegration measures). 

Each project must reach a minimum of 235 children, of whom at least 10% will be of Roma origin. Every child will receive support for a minimum of 12 months.

Eligible activities under this call include:

• Support for the reintegration of children from the special protection system into their families of origin (counselling and psychological assistance, support in daily activities, for school integration and professional orientation, accompaniment and material support)

• Reducing the entries in the special protection system of children living in poverty (identification, assessment, intervention for children at risk of separation from their families, accompaniment, education for parents, material support for the family, counselling and psychological assistance, support for daily activities, school and professional integration). 

Prior to project submission, each applicant will undergo a local/regional needs analysis focusing on the number of children at risk of separation from their families, the number of children in the special protection system, and the needs of these children. The needs analysis will be uploaded with the project proposal. 

Eligibile applicants:

• accredited public and private social service providers

Eligible partners:

• local authorities (for rural areas)

• Social Service Agencies that are legal persons at county level, in towns and cities

• accredited public and private social service providers

• school inspectorates

• kindergartens and schools.

Partnership with a public body – either local authority or social services agency - is mandatory for all projects.

Project proposals must be submitted online through the MySMIS2021/SMIS2021+ platform.

The deadline for applications is 29 July 2024, 16:00 Romanian time (EET).