Support for Parents of Children with Developmental Disabilities

From October to December, four two-day trainings titled “Improving service providers’ competencies for working with parents of children with developmental disabilities” were conducted for a total of 65 participants supporting children and families through Day Care for Children with Developmental Disabilities and Family and Marriage Counselling Services. Three trainings for Day Care Center providers were held in Cacak, Nis, and Sabac, while one training for Counselling Service providers was organised in Belgrade.

The training aimed to emphasise the importance of supporting parents and parenting while providing insights into the complexity of parental roles, with a special focus on emotional and behavioural self-regulation. Topics also covered professional interventions based on the concept of attachment theory, reflecting on one’s own emotions, their causes and impacts on behaviour, as well as mastering the skills to design socio-educational workshops and various forms of group work.

Acquiring the knowledge and skills from this training contributes to improving the quality of professional services and creating conditions for reducing the institutionalisation of children with developmental disabilities.

Participants highly rated their satisfaction with the training content, positively evaluated the interactive approach, choice of methods and techniques, practical exercises, and the overall usefulness of the training for enhancing their work and service quality.

The trainings were implemented as part of the “PRO - Local Governance for People and Nature” programme, jointly conducted by UNOPS, UNICEF, UNFPA, and UNEP, in cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Serbia and with financial support from the Government of Switzerland.