Emantik, a service for the detection and care of child and adolescent discomfort

admin on 17 March 2022

Programme for the early detection and care of situations of vulnerability, discomfort or violence towards children and adolescents.

Emantik is based on an application (Kanjo) that systematically records the emotional state of the pupils of the three schools that have implemented the programme (Aita Larramendi Ikastola, La Salle-Berrozpe Ikastetxea and Ondarreta Ikastetxea) through a tablet and an algorithm that subsequently analyses the emotional patterns in order to detect cases of risk early on. The main function and objective of the programme is to help children and adolescents to learn emotional management, as well as to prevent cases of risk and vulnerability, or a possible situation of violence or suffering of the child or adolescent.

It is a system whereby three times a day (when arriving to school, after playground time and at the end of the school day) children and adolescents have to indicate in the tablet the emotion that best reflects their mood from among calm, contentment, anger, fear, disgust and sadness. In this way, boys and girls learn to identify their emotions, and on the other hand, the analysis of the data makes it possible to detect their emotional states as well as their evolution, in order to prevent situations of isolation, bullying, or other types of situations of discomfort or vulnerability.

The Kanjo system does not have access to the personal data of the boys and girls at any stage of the process, and only the schools have the capacity to link the anonymised IDs of the algorithm with the data of their pupils.

Characteristics of innovation

Adolescence and youth, Bank of innovations, Childhood, Innovation, Integrated care, Pilot project, Prediction and prevention, Self-management and participation, User empowerment

Localization

Spain (Andoain, Basque Country)

Partners

Ajuntament d’Andoain, HZ Gizekimenak, Educo

Genesis

The municipality of Andoain has for decades ensured cooperation between educational and social agents in order to guarantee the welfare of children in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, art. 19, and its general comment no. 13). Children’s rights and the community approach to upholding them are the main foundations underpinning the Emantik program. An essential element to be able to maintain this well-being is the early detection of situations of vulnerability and risk, in order to be able to mitigate the consequences and improve the results of social interventions, as well as being more effective and economical than a late intervention.

In the 2018-2019 academic year, the system was tested in 14 schools in collaboration with Educo and Child Fund.

Level of implementation

The program has been implemented in the three educational centers of the municipality of Andoain (Aita Larramendi Ikastola, La Salle-Berrozpe Ikastetxea and Ondarreta Ikastetxea) and 700 students are currently benefiting from it. Among these students, 78 have been detected and attended during the 2020-2021 academic year, that is, 11% of the total.

In order to provide adequate and personalized attention to children and adolescents in educational centers, the Emantik program has two psychologists specialized in child protection who advise educational professionals on how to deal with the cases detected.

Further information

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P.I.P.P.I., intensive care programme for vulnerable families with young children

admin on 4 March 2022

Girls playing.

Intensive and multidisciplinary intervention programme in vulnerable families to reduce the risk of children being removed from their nuclear family, articulating a set of combined actions in relation to children’s needs: intensive home care, group activities with other parents, accompaniment by volunteer families, and joint work with teachers and social workers from schools and social services.

In line with the aim of the Convention on the Rights of the Child to develop measures to ensure the best interests of the child, the Italian Ministry of Social Welfare, in partnership with the University of Padua, designed and implemented from 2011 this intensive care programme for vulnerable families called the Intervention Programme for the Prevention of Institutionalization. Its abbreviation, P.I.P.P.P.I. is at the same time inspired by the fictional character Pippi Långstrump, a creative and surprisingly resilient girl known all over the world.

As its name suggests, P.I.P.P.P.I. aims to prevent out-of-home care and respond to problems related to child neglect, taking into account the right of all children to quality care. When parental neglect is involved, and there is a subsequent removal of the child, the removal itself expropriates the competence of the parents. This practice does not seem to be the most desirable intervention, so P.I.P.P.Y. experiences a social response that attempts to put the developmental needs of children first.

P.I.P.P.P.Y. represents a co-ordinated and co-operative work between different institutions, professions and disciplines of social services, psychology and pedagogy to act together in order to achieve a reduction in the number of children removed from their families. At the same time, P.I.P.P.P.I. has developed its own tool for the assessment and evaluation of cases based on models from Scotland and Quebec.

P.I.P.P.P.Y. is now widespread throughout Italy, and several academic studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of this intervention model. The evaluation report of the seventh edition of the programme 2018-2020 provides evidence of the bonus results achieved.