Adyghe State University Launches the Innovative Social Project 'Alphabet of My Family

The project is being implemented with funds from a grant from the Republic of Adygea for the development of civil society by the autonomous non-profit organization "Helping Hand," which was established within the Department of Social Work and Tourism at Adyghe State University. The project's partner and co-organizer was the Adyghe State University project team "Adygea - Territory of Health," part of the "Priority 2030" program, and students majoring in Social Work are participating in the implementation.

The "My Family Alphabet: Socially Oriented Activities for Children and Families with Children in Difficult Life Situations" project aims to improve the resilience and social adaptation of children in difficult life situations and to help preserve family ties within their families.

The project provides for a set of measures that, on the one hand, will ensure the prevention of antisocial behavior in adolescents through the creation of an individual development trajectory, and on the other, the prevention of family dysfunction. 

"A family with children in difficult life situations experiences a crisis. In such families, we often see a lack of trusting communication; parents and children rarely spend time together, which leads to distorted parent-child relationships and becomes a risk factor for the development of various forms of family dysfunction. In many ways, engaging the project's target group in various types of socially oriented activities helps address these issues," said Maria Paatova, a member of the project team and professor at ASU . 

A social and cultural venue for a thematic series of events will be located at the Science and Innovation Park of Adyghe State University. It will feature training sessions, family cultural and leisure activities, entertainment and game programs, and general charity and targeted campaigns to help families. These socially oriented activities are developed using social and pedagogical technologies.

The first meeting of the project participants, consisting of families in difficult life situations and students from the Maykop Specialized Closed-Type Educational and Rehabilitation Institution, took place on November 5. Students from the Faculty of Social Technologies and Tourism organized family games, quizzes, and an art therapy session for them.

During the project, student volunteers will become "Significant Adults" for the children and assist parents in raising and successfully socializing their children. For the students themselves, participation in this project will be an important step in their professional development.

The project is scheduled to be completed by the end of June next year. During this time, the team will work with 100 children from the target group and at least 10 families in Adygea who require these socially oriented activities.  

As a reminder, the well-being of families with children is one of the key objectives of the Plan of Key Activities carried out within the framework of the Decade of Childhood for the period up to 2027, approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated January 23, 2021. To this end, special attention is proposed to be paid to the development of responsible and conscious parenting, the creation of a unified comprehensive support system for families with children in difficult life situations, the creation of social conditions for the early identification of family and child distress, and the organization of individual support.