Children in Need. Predisposing Factors in Preventing Child Abandonment and School Dropout

The family is a child’s first framework of reference and it represents a vital element in their upbringing. But what happens when families face financial and inter-relational problems? In most cases these problems will mark the child’s later physical and psychological development and their future life will depend on the way they manage to overcome them. The present study aims to present the services of the Oradea Community Center, run by the Romanian Foundation for Children, Community and Family, whose results in supporting families and preventing children from dropping out of school have been remarkable in recent years. We have conducted focus group interviews with adolescents included in the programs of the Center, individual semi-structured interviews with experts (social workers, the psychologist, the psycho-pedagogue, and teachers) who work for the Center, as well as analyzed children’s files in order to highlight the specialist intervention provided at the Center. We have given a particular attention to the work carried out in order to prevent school abandonment. The results show that for the adolescents included in the programs of the Center, school has become more important; therefore they are better integrated in school and make progress as a result of their continuous efforts.

Keywords: child, needy families, school dropout, day care center, intervention