According to Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova, the aim of the forum was to create a professional community of those who like to work with teenagers, as well as an accessible and attractive infrastructure for such work, and to exchange relevant methods and technologies.
At the forum’s plenary session, the Children’s Commissioner spoke about the implementation of the Teenagers of Russia strategic programme – one of the four strategic programmes of the institute of children's rights commissioners, supported by the President. Over 50 teenage centres have been built throughout the country under this programme, with 250 specialists trained to work there. Street social work services for teens operate in seven regions, and this experience is expanding. In addition, the Share the Warmth national campaign is held monthly, during which the specialists go out onto the streets of cities and villages and tell teenagers about free and useful leisure activities.
Maria Lvova-Belova also noted that much attention was paid to engaging teenagers in useful activities and promoting their employment. A special standard for the responsible employment of underage children has been developed for employers, containing criteria such as career guidance, individual approach and inclusion, interaction with teenagers’ legal representatives, practical feedback, bonuses, and remuneration. This standard will encourage employers to recruit young employees more actively, not only during school holidays.
Also, the forum focused on psychological and psychiatric assistance for youngsters, and reproductive health; project workshops to prevent antisocial phenomena were held. A series of training sessions on working with teenagers took place, dedicated to preventing deviant behaviour, psychoactive substance use and suicide among young people, providing psychological assistance to underage children with post-traumatic syndrome, as well as mediation. The participants enjoyed blitz shows by social theatres from Moscow and Novosibirsk.
The RosPodros: Yesterday, Today, the Day After Tomorrow Federal Forum was organised with the support from the Ministry of Education and the Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights.