The Children Support Center of Lithuania at "The Smile of the Child"

Representatives from the Lithuanian organization Children Support Center visited "The Smile of the Child" for two days in order to get to know the Organization, as well as to exchange good practices and experiences.

Eighteen representatives of the Children Support Center, traveled to Greece on 15 and 16 October 2024, in order to visit the Panhellenic Coordinating Operational Center for Direct Social & Medical Intervention "Andreas Yannopoulos" of "Smile" in Aghia Paraskevi, its Day Center, as well as one of the Care Homes of the Organization.

On the first day, at the Panhellenic Coordinating Operational Center for Direct Social & Medical Intervention "Andreas Yannopoulos", a presentation of the full range of actions and services of “Smile”, both in terms of prevention and intervention, was held and a tour of the premises of the Operational Center took place. The visit was attended by the Deputy Head of Mission and Consul of the Lithuanian Embassy, Mr. Mindaugas Vyskupaitis, who expressed his appreciation for the Organization. During the working meeting, the Children Support Center also presented its own activities in the field of Violence Prevention, such as the violence prevention program for children, the childhood without abuse program, their support line for parents,  as well as their Big Brothers Big Sister program, which is a mentoring program dealing with more issues than violence prevention.

In the context of the discussions, an exchange of practices and experiences took place, and the Children Support Center expressed particular interest in the operational systems of “Smile”, its internal organization, fundraising procedures, management of volunteers, etc.

The following day the guests visited the Day Center and one of the 11 Care Homes of “Smile” to see first-hand the work carried out by the Organization.

At the Day Center, the scientific staff explained its functionality as a Day Center for the Provision of Customized Mental Health Services to Children and Adolescents, children who have recently or in the past have been exposed to severe psycho-traumatic experiences and suffering resulting to mental health, adaptation or behavioral problems, and gave the group a tour around the premises of the Center.

During the visit, they discussed the framework of child protection in Greece, the Lithuanian system, but also how they operate in their own equivalent Center, and the similarities between the Children Support Center and “Smile”, such as the psychotherapists' rooms in the two Centers, and so on.

Key differences were identified in the way they are organized and in the fact that at their Center services are provided free of charge only for the first ten sessions, costs are covered by the state or through European grants, and from then on they are charged -with the exception of children in foster care who are not charged- unlike the entirely free services that the "Smile" provides to every child in need.

This was followed by a visit to the Care Home of the Organization, where information was provided on the operation of the Homes, the staff, the children who live there and the ways of their accompaniment, followed by an update on the pending implementation of the Semi-Independent Living for unaccompanied minors Program, which we expect to start.  The day concluded with a "Christmas" like -as our guests described it- dinner, which left our guests pleasantly surprised.

In anticipation of our next meeting, we thank you for these very constructive moments.

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