Greece: Semi-Autonomous Living Program

For the first time in Greece, a “semi-autonomous living” program is being launched to help teens who grew up in institutions.

Who is the program for?

The introduction of the institution of semi-independent living will speed up the deinstitutionalization of adolescents who have been in special children’s institutions for years, and will help them smoothly “integrate” into society and the labor market. The Greek Ministry of Labor said in a statement, quotes newsbeast.gr:

“Intensive efforts to deinstitutionalize with the constant strengthening of foster care and adoption have led to the fact that half of the children who were in institutions found a family that became their home. However, as it was established over the two years of the foster care system, there are families of children with disabilities and children over the age of 15. For this reason, after the recent institutionalization of a professional foster family for children with disabilities, semi-independent living for adolescents over 15 years of age is now beginning, with the aim of enabling each child to grow up in an environment suitable for him, away from the institution. It should be noted that about 400 children over the age of 15 still remain in institutions because, due to their age, they either do not want to go to a family themselves, or cannot be easily chosen by potential adoptive or adoptive parents.

Features of semi-autonomous living

Until today, according to the law, a child could be placed in a children’s institution only until he reached the age of majority. Now, under a new semi-independent living program, teenagers are allowed to live in the provided apartments up to the age of 26. They are designed for four people, fully equipped and resemble a cozy home, not a government institution.

Each apartment is staffed with appropriate staff, such as a social worker and social caregivers, to ensure that adolescents have a hygienic, safe and comfortable stay, individual care, psychosocial support – in accordance with their needs. In addition to housing, adolescents receive a monthly financial allowance of 375 euros, access to education and health care, career guidance and links to the labor market.

Purpose of the program

Domna Michaelidou, Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, lists the main goal of the semi-autonomous living program: to get all children out of institutions:

“Today, with the advent of semi-independent living, we are taking one more step towards the deinstitutionalization of each child. Our goal is to prepare adolescents for a safe transition into society and the labor market. For this reason, throughout the entire period of their stay in an institution, we provide them necessary conditions and services for daily life, as well as provide support and promote their gradual self-determination.For four years now, we have remained true to our goal: to remove all children from institutions in every possible way.That is why we have accelerated the process of education and adoption, introduced professional guardianship and now going even further by operating apartments for semi-independent living. We continue.”

The program of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs “Semi-independent living in apartments for persons from fifteen years of age and older living in child protection and care units” is implemented under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan “Greece 2.0” with funding from the European Union-NextGenerationEU.

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