The mobile team of the Family and Children Support Service of the Cantonal Public Institution Home for Children without Parental Care Sarajevo visited this week a family into which six children were recently reintegrated after a period spent in alternative care institutions.

The family was visited by members of the mobile team, Ismir Džubur, social worker, and Vesna Stanišić, psychologist, who through their work monitor families during the reintegration process and provide professional support so that children can continue their lives in a family environment.

In this family, five children who had previously stayed at the Home for Children without Parental Care Sarajevo were recently returned, while one child was reintegrated from a Juvenile Correctional Centre. The return of children to their family is an important and sensitive process that requires continuous support from professionals, as well as the wider community.

During the visit, however, the mobile team found an empty refrigerator, indicating that the family is still facing serious material difficulties.

Aware of the challenges families often face after children return from institutional care, Foundation Second has committed to providing continuous support to this family even after the formal reintegration process is completed.

Thanks to the support of donors, the Foundation has once again provided a food package for the family, ensuring that the children have basic necessities and a sense of security, at least for the coming days.

The reintegration of children into their biological families is one of the key goals of the social protection system, but its success depends on long-term support for families, in order to prevent children from re-entering institutional care.

This is why cooperation between the Family and Children Support Service of the Home for Children without Parental Care Sarajevo and organizations such as Foundation Second is of special importance, as it demonstrates how vital collective care for the most vulnerable children truly is.

Every food package, every visit, and every conversation with a family are small but meaningful steps in creating a stable and safe environment in which children can grow up – where they belong, within their own family.