Information about the project

What does the „Focus Box“ project offer

Comprehensive set of techniques to obtain information from children in the form of a focus box
Comprehensive set of creative techniques/tasks that will encourage children to cooperate

Why help

In the Czech Republic, there is no comprehensive tool for communication with children
Children bear the consequences of court decisions
Children don´t understand the planned changes in their lives and they are afraid of them
Not many adult people know how to communicate with children
Nobody usually asks children and if yes, questions are asked in a wrong way

How the project tries to resolve the problem

A team of professionals working with children (psychologists, educators, social workers) created „Focus Box“ – package of techniques for surveying child´s opinion and obtaining information about his/her situation (within the family, at school, among friends). All the tools were put together by our team in a form of a practical box which will enable social workers or psychologists to use the box also during field work.

Children will have opportunity to express their opinion by means of the following tools:

Illustrated tasks
With the help of puppets they will be able to tell about their worries
By means of manipulation with figurines and model houses they will be able to comprehend the meaning of divorce/shared custody/entering the children´s home
Diagnostic test to map problematic or on the other hand functional aspects of a child´s life
The box also contains boardgame to help motivate a child (in a form of play) to talk about himself/herself and about his/her „world“

Professionals will learn how to use the „Focus Box“ with help of educational video and written handbook.

How will we make use of the profit

It is important to note that the „Focus Box“ will be sold to professionals working with children and whose task includes finding about the child´s current situation and viewpoint.

The project is carried out by a non-profit organization that integrates principles of social entrepreneurship into its functioning. The profit will thus be channeled back to the non-profit organization for dealing with operational costs and reducing dependence on public subsidies. In case of higher profit, the professional team will create new methodical tools for working with children and will create position of psychologist/psychotherapist for vulnerable children in the regions of Nový Bor, Česká Lípa and Šluknov. This new position will be financed from the profits from sale of the “Focus Box”.

What does the project of the “Focus Box” solve

1. In the Czech Republic there is no comprehensive tool for communication with a child

Social workers are not allowed to make use of diagnostic methods and they are only dependent on their own instinct, subjective opinion and communication skills. Psychologists use some of the (even very creative) diagnostic methods, those methods are however mainly focused on clinical diagnosis of mental diseases and only partially the focus is on assessment of relationships and family situation of the child. At present there is no overall tool in the Czech Republic that could be used for communicating with children and identifying of relevant information.

2. Children bear the consequences of court decisions

Children are included in court decisions dealing with significant changes – placing the child in a special institution/foster family, decisions about custody after separation/divorce, adjustment of contact with parents or total ban of the contact. Sometimes professionals are only limited to 20 minutes of dialogue with a child they have never seen before. On the basis of such short conversation professionals have to give recommendation to the court stating e.g. which of the parents will better provide for the child´s needs after divorce. Professional workers don´t know how to ask questions in a proper way and they don´t have enough time to explain to the child what will happen next and how life situation will change should the child choose this or that decision. This leads to obtaining biased responses obtained under stress conditions.

3. Children do not understand planned changes and they are afraid of them

We adults speak a language unfamiliar to children. Small children don´t understand such common words as “permanently” (Would you like to live with your father permanently?), “in the past” (With whom did your mother live in the past?) etc. Children don´t realize the meaning of children´s Home, prison, divorce, separation, shared custody, contact … And yet they are told what awaits them and they are even asked whether they wish this or that. Children often nod in approval as they don´t wish to look stupid.

4. Hardly anybody knows how to talk to children

Most professional workers (unknowingly) use manipulative and suggestive affirmations. They don´t know how to deal with children´s strong emotions during interview and use “cheap” comforting words and promises saying that everything will be solved and fine again… Children then prefer to keep silent and not to express their wishes.

5. Children are often not even asked about their opinion or they are asked in a wrong way

It is not common to talk with a child about serious situation or planned life change because of a prevailing myth that the child will be traumatized by the interview itself. Extreme protection of the child from providing any information is promoted as we are afraid how to deal with a crisis response from the child. Children while being taken away from the family are told that they are going for a trip. Children are simply not treated in a fair way.

Do you hear me?

Information about the project

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