The Central Union for Child Welfare’s Neuvo project (2005-2009)

Early informative and psycho-social support in the initial phase of divorce protects the child, minimizes the child’s losses, and prevents custody and meeting arguments between the parents.

Goals, objectives and implementers of Neuvo project

The goal of the Central Union for Child Welfare’s post-divorce parenthood Neuvo project (later referred to as Neuvo) is to enhance the situation of the child and to diminish the losses experienced by the child as his/her parents divorce. The objective is to develop services and approaches that support parenthood and mutual conciliation and cooperation between the parents.

In connection with the project, a Support Center for Divorced Parents was founded in Helsinki. During 2006 – 2009, the center has developed, tested, studied, and assessed the psycho- social peer support services devised by multiprofessional teams – consisting of representatives of municipalities and organizations – in the fall of 2005. One of the objectives has been to increase cooperation between organizations, municipalities and other service providers on providing and interlinking services for post-divorce families.

The project aims to increase not only individual parents and families’ but also the entire society’s understanding of the impacts, risks and safety factors of divorce, especially as regards children.

The Central Union for Child Welfare implements the Neuvo project and RAY (Finland’s Slot Machine Association) has financially supported it during 2005 – 2009. The annual project budget amounts to €350,000. The project employs the following six employees: project director, project secretary, three specialists planning divorce services and peer support, as well as one developmental researcher. Negotiations on project finances for years 2010 – 2015 are currently being conducted.