Support for Unaccompanied Refugee Minors
Merimna - Our Work
Merimna for the refugee and migrant child, with support and empowerment!
Since 2016, Merimna has been actively involved in the support of unaccompanied refugee minors in Greece. More specifically, it has implemented programs related to the empowerment of workers in shelters for unaccompanied refugee minors, through training and clinical supervision, and the provision of mental health services to vulnerable unaccompanied minors who were staying in relocation transit hubs before their relocation.
In addition, Merimna is also involved in relevant research projects.
Since 2016, Merimna has been designing and implementing empowerment programs for people working with unaccompanied refugee minors in cooperation with relevant institutions and organizations. More specifically, in 2016, in cooperation with the organizations Faros, Babel and Solidarity Now, Merimna implemented a training program for 50 workers with children and families of refugees and migrants in Athens, with funding from EPIM (European Program for Integration and Migration). Then, from 2017-2021, in collaboration with UNICEF, EKKA (Natl. Center for Social Solidarity), DOM (International Organization for Migration), and EKPA (National & Kapodistrian University of Athens), Merimna implemented 7 training and clinical supervision programs for workers in shelters for unaccompanied refugee minors and migrants residing in shelters throughout Greece (Athens, Thebes, Aegean Islands, Crete, Thessaloniki, Ioannina, Kozani, etc.).
The clinical supervision was addressed to about 100 professionals of different specialties (coordinators, psychologists, social workers, social workers, lawyers, teachers, caregivers), who worked in hotels hosting unaccompanied adolescents in northern Greece.
The training was addressed to professionals of different disciplines and covered issues related to the operation of shelters, the basic principles for the effective support of unaccompanied children and adolescents and the management of the losses they have experienced and the difficulties they experience due to the prolonged “suspended” situation in which they find themselves, as they face an uncertain future.
Also, following a needs assessment of the field workers (Merimna Report, December 2018), three important issues emerged where workers expressed the need for further knowledge and support: (1) conflict and violence management, (2) supporting adolescents who self-harm, and (3) managing workplace stress. For this reason, in Merimna we developed training materials for each of the above-mentioned topics, which we evaluated through training seminars and then published three separate manuals in Greek and English. By the end of December 2021, Merimna had trained, on these topics, about 2,000 employees from different shelters for unaccompanied refugee minors and migrants all over Greece.
This initiative has been very well received by the coordinators of shelters, workers and the wider community that supports unaccompanied minor refugees. The team of Merimna trainers has been invited by other organizations providing services to unaccompanied refugee minors to provide training on the above topics.
The Childhood Bereavement Counseling Centers of Merimna in Athens and Thessaloniki, provide free psychological support to unaccompanied refugee minors who have experienced loss.
At the same time, from December 2020 until the end of 2021, thanks to its associate child psychiatrists and psychologists, Merimna contributed to the support of unaccompanied adolescents with serious psychological problems, who were staying in relocation transit hubs. This particular program of mental health services was designed and implemented in collaboration with UNICEF and IOM, with funding from the European Union.
Merimna participates as a key partner in a research project implemented by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens entitled: “Psychosocial support of unaccompanied minors accommodated in long-term living facilities”. The main aim of the research project, which adopts a mixed methodology, is to investigate in depth the psychosocial support and mental health services provided to unaccompanied minors residing in long-term accommodation facilities in Greece. Sub-objectives of the research project are (1) to map the psychosocial support and mental health services provided to unaccompanied minors staying in long-term accommodation facilities, (2) to identify the perceived needs, stressful experiences and mental health resources and mental health services provided to them by shelter workers, mental health professionals of Mental Health Centers and the minors themselves, (3) to formulate an interpretive model that highlights the processes related to the “Limbo” condition experienced by unaccompanied adolescents and the mental health services provided to them and (4) to formulate a set of guidelines for the design and evaluation of psychosocial and mental health services for unaccompanied minors in Greece.
The project is implemented under the scientific responsibility of Danae Papadatou, with funding from ELIDEK (Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation). It began in December 2019 and will be completed in December 2022.
More information about the research project can be found at https://uasc4psych.eu/