Solid Road has developed a Toolkit ‘The journey of the Cackatoo’ centered around the needs and interests of asylum-seeking children and their families who are in the process of returning to their country of origin. It is essential to provide specific support before, during, and after the return process in order to prevent likely developmental damage or delay in these vulnerable children. The better the emotional processing of the return, the greater the chances are of a successful reintegration. Likewise, the better the reintegration, the greater the chance of healthy emotional processing.
There is a toolkit for primary school children and a toolkit for teenagers
Take a look
Toolkit for primary school kids
(ca. 6 to 9 year)
It consists of:
a childrens boek
a roadmap
corresponding sticker sheet
a brochure for parents
delivered in a beautiful map
Read more:
The booklet tells the story of a young cockatoo who fled with his family from their forest. The cockatoo quickly gets used to the new forest, but one day his parents tell him that they must return to the old forest. In the booklet the cockatoo shares how he experienced his return. Throughout the story there are questions, assignments, and information about the return procedure. After each assignment children can put a sticker on the ‘roadmap’ that they received with the booklet. With the booklet children are prepared for the return in a playful way and they experience recognition of their feelings in that situation.
The Toolkit focuses on the strengthening of the (sources of) resilience of returning children by:
- Offering child-friendly information about the return.
- Giving children a voice during the return process.
- Strengthening the parent-child relationship and family cohesion.
- Paying attention to a careful farewell and school transfer.
Toolkit for teenagers
(ca. 10 to 13 year)
It consists of:
15 conversation cards
an information booklet
a brochure for parents
delivered in a beautiful map
Read more
Follow these three steps to use the toolkit:
Attend the Webinar ‘Introduction on the toolkit’
To share our experiences, and to offer more information about the toolkit, Solid Road organizes an introduction webinar.
Contact us for customized advice on how to apply the toolkit in your organization
The toolkit has been developed in The Netherlands but can also be adapted for use in other countries. Please contact us to examine together what is needed to suit your particular needs.
Attend one of our online trainings
Solid Road offers a more in-depth online training course on the use of the Toolkit to strengthen the resilience of returning asylum seeking families. We also offer a training which focuses on the development of a multidisciplinary approach regarding children and their return. The training courses can be followed separately or combined. Customized training courses are also an option.
Webinar ‘Introduction on the toolkit’
Webinar of 60 minutes.
Would you like to have more information about the toolkit ‘The Journey of the Cockatoo’? Are you curious how you could use the toolkit? Then follow our webinar.
This 60-minute webinar will provide information about the background and content of the toolkit. It will also discuss the importance of strengthening the resilience of returning asylum seekers’ families. In addition to providing information, there will be room for questions and interaction. More information about the dates and registration can be found below.
A maximum of 15 participants per webinar
Would you like to know more about the deployment and use of the toolkit?
Then follow one of our online trainings.
The webinar will be given in English.
Sign in here for the Webinar ‘Introduction on the toolkit’
We will contact you to arrange a date for the webinar.
Webinar (EN)
Please contact us if you want to order the toolkit.
The toolkit is free of charge, you only pay for the shipping costs.
Online trainings:
Training 1: Get to work with the toolkit
Online training of 60 minutes.
During this extensive online training you will learn about the background and content of the toolkit, and how to apply the toolkit in your work.
In addition to providing information, there is also room for questions and interaction.
The following topics are covered in this training:
-Background and content of the toolkit.
-Collaboration with parents, a family approach.
-Focus of the toolkit on strengthening the resilience of returning children.
-Challenges in working with the toolkit.
-A multidisciplinary approach.
Costs: € 59.50 per person
You will receive individual attention:
-Maximum 15 participants per training
Support for your questions:
-Phone advice for your questions about the toolkit.
Please contact us if you would like to follow this online training: info@solidroad.nl.
Training 2: A multidisciplinary approach regarding children and their return
This online training is tailor-made. Costs and dates in consultation.
This training focuses on realising a multidisciplinary approach to take the interests of children into account in the return process. Topics covered in this training are:
-Mapping out the parties involved around the child/family
-Framework conditions for the sustainable return of children in families
-Shaping a common vision and integration in (existing) policy
-Linking formal and informal support
-Monitoring and support for reintegration after return
We offer this training tailored to your needs. If you have any questions about this, please contact Solid Road: info@solidroad.nl.
Here you can download our manual 'Child-centred and Resilient Return'
Cooperation with parents and a multidisciplinary approach is central to the Toolkit. This will be further discussed in the extensive manual. The manual is divided into three parts in which the following topics are discussed:
-
preconditions for a sustainable return of child asylum seekers.
-
psychosocial support of child asylum seekers and their parents during the return process.
-
monitoring and re-integration support after return.
The manual is available in Dutch and English, and can be downloaded below.
If you have any questions please contact us and we will be happy to help you.
The toolkit ‘The Journey of the Cockatoo’ was developed with financial support from the AMIF fund.