Social policies. The service center for unaccompanied foreign minors and the new help center have been inaugurated
Social policies. The service center for unaccompanied foreign minors and the new help center have been inaugurated
Milan, May 20 2019 - A first reception and assistance center for unaccompanied foreign minors which brings together all the services dedicated to them. The service center of the Municipality of Milan opens today in via Zendrini 15, in the Primaticcio district, which will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week with a double function: that of a first reception community and that of a hub for carrying out procedures provided for by the new legislation on immigration.
In fact, 12 beds will be made available in the structure which will be able to accommodate as many children and young people awaiting the completion of the procedural process required by law and the consequent assignment of a place in the appropriate second reception communities. To facilitate these activities, a team of specialized operators will work in via Zendrini - social workers, cultural mediators, educators and psychologists - who will support the operators responsible for identification and reporting to the judicial authority for the appointment of voluntary guardians who, again in via Zendrini, will be accompanied in dealing with their delicate institutional role.
The objective is to help young people, often traumatized or victims of abuse along the journey to Europe, to face this journey more serenely and, consequently, to facilitate the carrying out of the operations foreseen by the Zampa law before starting a more structural reception path.
The service centre, 547 square meters on two floors with an internal garden and a playground suitable for children, represents the first step in a new recompositional working method which will require the collaboration of all the institutions and private social organizations in Milan: Operators from Save the Children and the Farsi Proximo and Spazio Aperto Servizi cooperatives will work inside it, having won a public tender and will manage the center in collaboration with the Municipality.
In 2018, the Municipality of Milan welcomed 673 unaccompanied foreign minors, hosting them in educational communities. Among the most represented nationalities are Egyptian (227), Albanian (60), Kosovar (56), Gambian (50) and Moroccan (33).
There is also news on the front of assistance to the homeless. The Central Station Help Center (Casc) moves to via Sammartini 120, completely renovated. In the new structure, where the hub that welcomed thousands of migrants was set up during the emergency period of the landings, the operators responsible for providing initial assistance to homeless people who ask for hospitality in local structures will work. The offices will be open from 9am to 20pm Monday to Friday and from 12pm to 20pm on Saturday and Sunday. Furthermore, the single number 0288447646 is available to citizens, active 24 hours a day to report people in difficulty.
The organization of the spaces in the new structure, made available on loan for use by Grandi Stazioni retail, brings with it a different approach to the problems of those who live on the street: the first reception room made available to users increases from 20 meters paintings from the old headquarters in via Ferrante Aporti 3 to over 200 currently. We also chose not to install any separating glass, to encourage a more peaceful relationship with the user. The listening method also changes: those who show up at the counters will immediately be approached by an operator who will understand their needs and then direct them to a second, more in-depth interview. A double step that will guarantee faster procedures and responses.
The help center will subsequently be equipped with a refreshment room and a reading corner to meet the needs of the homeless in the waiting room.
In the coming months, following the completion of the renovation which is still underway for some of the spaces, the structure will also be able to host desks dedicated to specific topics, for example a desk for legal orientation, one for assisted voluntary returns and one for INPS which with the "INPS for all" project intends to reach the people most in difficulty and direct them towards the income support measures best suited to them. The space will also be made available for initiatives open to the neighborhood - parties, moments of aggregation, film clubs - with the aim of integrating the service with the social context in which it is inserted.
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Updated: 21/05/2019