Pöördumine

( REPUBLIC OF ESTONIA MINISTRY OF S0cIAL AFFAIRS Maryna Lazebna Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine infomIsp.gov.ua Dur ref. 05.07.2022 No 1.4-2/2342-1 Opportunities for recreation and rehabilitation for the Ukrainian children in Estonia Dear Maryna Lazebna, In response to your open appeal, 1 wouid like to inform you that the Government of Estonia has allocated an additional budget of 2,8 min euros to support integration and language Iearning camps, giving over 10 000 young Estonians and Ukrainians an exciting and educational way to spend their summer and autumn holidays. The aim of these camps is to support the adaptation of Ukrainian youth to the Estonian language and cultural sphere, and to encourage them to proceed their studies in schools with Estonian as the language of instruction. The application round for the camps ended on June 17th and the Iist of supported camps wiIi be announced soon. The Iearning camps are intended for Ukrainian youth who are aiready based in Estonia. Currently, no camps have been planned to take place outside Estonia. The coordination takes place in cooperation of relevant organisations (responsible for hosting the camps and for informing potential participants) and Iocal authorities, who take care of mapping potential participants, as they have an overview of Ukrainian youth Iiving in their communities. Similarly, Iocal authorities can share information on potential educators or assistant educators for the summer camps. The activities offered in the camps are diverse, including, but not Iimited to: - integrated and playful basic Estonian language Iearning; understanding of the Estonian communication sphere; - supporting socialization of Ukrainian youth with Estonian peers; - integrating Ukrainian youth into Estonian society, introducing them to Estonian language and culture; - mental health support; - hobbies, youth work and other activities, appropriate to their corresponding age group; - prevention of inter-ethnic conflicts and confrontation; - introduction to the possibilities of Ianguage-tearning, including independent language Iearning, formal and non-formal Iearning etc, available in the place of residence of the young person. In addition, we oifer in Estonia a social rehabilitation service for children in need of assistance, which means that to receive this service, the child needs to be identified by the Iocal government as a child in need of assistance in the meaning of the Child Protection Act. The child should also have a need for complex service, as the one-off assistance measures have not been effective. For Estonian children this information is provided by the Iocal government, however, with Ukrainian children it is more difficult to get the information about Suur-Ameerika 1 / 10122 Tallinn / ESTONIA / +372 626 9301 / [email protected] / www.sm.ee / Reg. no 70001952 assistance that has been provided to them earlier. To receive social rehabilitation service for persons with disabilities, the precondition is that the degree of disability of a child has been determined by the Social Insurance Board. No special requirements have been established for Ukrainian children to be eligible for social rehabilitation services, Ukrainian children in Estonia can receive rehabilitation service on the same grounds as Estonian children. As of 27th June 2022, there have been 24 applications for rehabilitation, including 20 positive decisions for Ukrainian children. So far 3 Ukrainian children have received rehabilitation services. To best support the mental weII-being of the participating youth, we have advised the organizers of the camps to take note of materiais available on the website of the Social Insurance Board under ,,psychosocial crisis support” and ,,emotional support’. These materiais provide the organizers information on how to best take into account the needs of the youth participating in the camps. Additional support materiais can be found on the website of the Ministry of Education and Research. Yours sincerely, Signe Riisalo Minister of Social Protection Agni Aav +372 6269 281 Agni.Aavsm.ee 2 (2)