As part of a new Regional Project, the Child Protection Hub, aiming to provide child protection professionals with tools for working and developing, space for constant learning and communication and with an opportunity to become a part of a strong regional community of practice, Terre des hommes and Brave Phone are looking for an organization or individuals to conduct a baseline study in Croatia in order to identify the existing child protection practices and the social workforce related needs to recommend strategies for improving effective social work and child protection interventions and strengthen the social workforce in eight countries in South East Europe (Albania, BiH, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Moldova, Romania, Serbia).

The study should be articulated around two main areas of interest:

1. Provide a basic overview of the context in which child protection practices are delivered in the region: is the systems in place for the delivery of child protection services, related policies and frameworks, child protection education and resources management
2. But more importantly, conduct a study of the child protection workforce key skills, knowledge, and interests based on methodologies and tools developed by the international experts.

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Expected tasks from the national researcher:

– Undertake in-depth literature and desk review

– Develop and adapt research tools to local context

– Conduct interviews and focus group discussions, as per methodology developed by lead researchers

– Collect and analyze the data

– Develop the country study report

Expected timeframe of the research project

Profile:

– Higher education in social work, public policies, or any related fields

– Demonstrated experience in leading and conducting international research projects

– Extensive experience in child protection field, social service workforce, public policies on social care

– Experience in South East Europe is a plus

– Ability to lead a multi-cultural team of researchers

– Excellent analytical and writing skills

– Mastering English and the local language is absolutely necessary

*** All Tdh partners should be guided by the UN CRC and respect Tdh Child Protection Policy

Please note that we are not able to respond to all applications and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Background of the project:

The Regional Resource Centre for Child Protection aims at developing a strong regional community of practices and innovations in South East Europe, among stakeholders who are contributing directly to the development and delivery of child protection services (professionals, academics, decision makers, experts, users). The project strategically articulates 3 types of interventions (knowledge management, capacity building and advocacy) around a regional network of professionals and agencies, supported by an online platform. The focus of this platform is given to services and skills addressing situations of abuse of and violence against children. The Regional Center will enable networking and professional cooperation among stakeholders in SEE countries. It will increase opportunities for upgrading knowledge and skills and generate a process of continuous practices improvement, (through training, peer-to-peer exchange, an online library or resources available in 5 languages). Regional Center will also offer a platform for advocacy for policy development and innovation. The target groups are (a) 1000 professionals, academics, policy makers from the region, as well as (b) a pool of 150 experts in child protection, that will act as enablers for the modernization of services and child related policies. It is expected that more than 500.000 children and families will be impacted positively by the project, as final beneficiaries. The project is led by Terre des hommes’ regional office in Budapest and benefits from strong partners from 8 countries of the region, among which is Brave Phone. Their role is to make sure that all challenges encountered in SEE countries are addressed effectively and are included in the Regional Center analysis, policy recommendations, and advocacy initiatives (challenges such as the significant deprivation of families following the economic crisis, as well as migration of children’s parents and of professionals, discrimination of minorities,