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Mentor for children of mentally ill parents

Büro für Bürgerengagement der AWO Kreisverband Köln

Köln, Nordrhein-Westfalen
Basic German skills
Regularly
Discussed individually
  • Families
  • Kids & Teenagers
  • Health Promotion
  • Mentoring, Sponsoring & Career Coaching

About the volunteering opportunity

Patrons support children of mentally ill parents in their everyday lives. This takes place by the hour during the week or on weekends ("stand-by phase"). The godparents take the children into their household when the parent concerned has to be treated as an inpatient and no other care is possible for the child ("acute phase"). The godparents thus support the parents in their educational task and contribute to stabilizing the situation at home. The sponsorship is a voluntary offer to the parents and is not necessarily linked to other installed assistance by the youth welfare office. A written agreement between the sponsor, parents and sponsors regulates their work. They receive upstream training and accompanying counseling. The target group is children of mentally ill parents between the ages of 0 and 14 who do not yet have an intensive need for help. The mentorship contacts take place continuously (approx. 3 hours per week) and are subject to a commitment. The ill parent takes up help himself either in the context of a social-pedagogical family assistance, assisted living or other therapeutic help offers.

Your Tasks

The aim is to support children in a particularly stressful family situation, caused by the chronic illness of a parent. Families with a mentally ill member are often isolated and do not have a supportive network. Reliable relationships outside the parental home should be established. Traumatizing experiences with an upcoming hospitalization of the ill person and the possibly associated placement of the children in foster families and homes should be avoided.

Services of the godmothers in the "standby phase"

- Provision of continuous reliable relationship partners for the child outside the family

- Support of the child in play, leisure or even in school matters such as homework.For example, homework

- Care of the child in the specified times; possibly overnight stays by arrangement

- Support for parents at school and kindergarten appointments, etc.

- Contact with parents, exchange about educational issues

- Pick up the child or return transport to parents

What's needed

For this volunteering opportunity, basic German skills are required.

- Minimum age 18 years

- Extended certificate of good conduct

- Empathy

- Interest in building a longer-term commitment

 

Services:

- Supervision

- Reimbursement of expenses incurred

-  Guidance by professionals

Time required

Regularly
Discussed individually

Important notice

Services of the advisors or. Project management

- Training of the godparents

- Networking with other possibly existing support systems

- Accompanying counseling of the godparents, monthly individual counseling, additional telephone contacts

- Control of the godparenthood; documentation of the godparents, 3-monthly meetings of all involved

- Contacts with therapists, youth welfare office, clinics

- Arrangement with youth welfare office in the case of the admission of a child into the household of the godparents

Where?

Büro für Bürgerengagement der AWO Kreisverband Köln

The Office for Civic Commitment of the AWO Cologne is a consulting service. People who are willing to volunteer will receive advice and will be placed in organisations that work with volunteers. Further priority will be given to LESEMENTOR Cologne, young volunteers, further education and voluntary refugee work.

More about the organisation
Köln, Nordrhein-Westfalen
Basic German skills
Regularly
Discussed individually
Köln, Nordrhein-Westfalen
Basic German skills
Regularly
Discussed individually