The project is supported by UNICEF Office for Croatia. It will be conducted in four months time. The main goal of the project is to strengthen professional capacities of experts who work with families of the children with disabilities so they can give them better and regular support in parentingin in most deprived counties (Bjelovar-Bilogora, Brod-Posavina, Sisak-Moslavina, Lika-Senj, Virovitica-Podravina and Vukovar-Srijem County)  

The project is focused on (1) parents (parent figures/caregivers) and their young/preschool children with disabilities (1-8 years) living in the most deprived counties of Croatia, and (2)professionals from organisations which provide social services to families with children with developmental delays and disabilities who (will) provide parenting support/family support programmes. (social welfare and education, CSOs)

Following activities re planned:

• Three-day training will be organised for professionals for delivering the workshops of the programme “Growing up Together Plus” with parents of children with disabilities in 6 targeted counties   
• Conducting live workshops Growing Up Together Plus with parents of children with disabilities in 6 targeted counties will follow the training.  
• Continuous support and monitoring of the workshop implementation will be provided by expert mentors giving regular reviews of reports and feedback., as well as one online supervision session.   
• The outcome and process evaluation of the implementation of the Growing up Together Plus will be conducted and presented a tone-day evaluation seminar.  

We expect that by the end of January 2023 30 professionals will be educated, and 90 parents be given support through programme Growing up Together Plus workshops.

The project is implemented with the support of the Central State Office for Demography and Youth, in the period from September 1, 2022. until August 31, 2023. The partners of Center Growing up Together in the project are 13 kindergartens and 12 family centers from the same counties.  

The main goal is to increase the well-being of children and families through parenting support programs, strengthen the competence of professionals for working with parents, and increase the availability of support programs through effective interdepartmental cooperation.  

The project is focused on: (1) fathers and mothers of pre-school children included in some of the Growing up Together parenting support programs; (2) professionals in kindergartens and family centers, included in the work group, county meetings and the final meeting as well as (3) children involved directly in the Growing up Together Count us in workshops.    

Project activities are planned to achieve the following goals:  

1. Increasing the involvement of fathers of preschool children in the daily care of the child, spending quality time together and a cooperative relationship with the mother.
2. Support for mothers of preschool children in parenting through raising awareness of the importance and benefits of equal involvement of fathers in raising children.
3. Increasing the competence of professionals for working with fathers and increasing the motivation to encourage fathers to join the Fathers' Club Growing up together.
4. Strengthening the partnership and cooperation between kindergartens and family centers in increasing the availability and involvement of fathers and mothers in support programs.
5. Raising public awareness of the importance of the contribution of the father's role to the child's development and the normalization of the use of professional parenting support among the population that is less likely to engage in it.

Growing Up Together Centre, in partnership with the association "Na drugi način", Zagreb Children's Home and Vukovar Family Centre, started the project "Both equal and different - improving support for adoptive families with children of preschool and early school age" funded by the Ministry of Demography, Family, Youth and Social Policy within the initiative "Development and expansion of the network of social services provided by associations" for the period from 2020 to 2023.

The main goal of the project is to develop an innovative and affordable professional parenting support service for adoptive families with children of preschool and early school age in the period after the adoption. The program of workshops "Growing up Together in a New Family" will be conducted 'face to face' with parents and children in Vukovar, Bjelovar and Zagreb, and later on it will be available to the new adoptive families throughout Croatia via the Internet.

Apart from adoptive families, the project is also aimed at professionals in the preschool education and social welfare. It includes sensitization of kindergarten teachers to the needs of the adopted children and their parents and education of family centres professionals on how to strengthen the attachment relationship between parents and children and work with families living in various less favourable circumstances.