SHIELD Project

The project ‘SHIELD: Strengthening child protection in care facilities to support disclosure of violence’ addresses the need for integrated child protection systems in EU Member States. The project is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.

Its main objective is to improve child protection in assisted living and residential care facilities through the development of a comprehensive multi-agency model for child protection in these facilities and the adaptation and piloting of the model by the partner organisations in their Member States: Spain, Austria, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, and Lithuania.

This project has also the following specific objectives:

1. Identifying and documenting the conditions enabling and hindering the disclosure of violence in care facility settings, as well as the needs of children and frontline professionals;
2. Building the capacity of frontline professionals working with children in care facilities to identify violence and support the act of disclosure in their national context;
3. Increasing the understanding of children in care facilities of different types of violence and building their capacity to disclose acts of violence experienced;
4. Raising awareness of best practices in child protection in care facilities and pathways for disclosure of violence among child protection professionals and the public;
5. Developing, implementing and engaging individuals/networks in advocacy actions.

Target groups

Children in care facilities, frontline professionals working with children in care facilities, and other stakeholders involved in child protection systems, such as public authorities and NGOs.