Partners in the project

Monar
Monar is a Polish non-governmental organization that helps people in difficult life circumstances who are threatened with social exclusion due to homelessness, AIDS, alcoholism and drug addiction. The organization was founded by the Polish humanist and psychologist Marek Kotanski in 1978. Monar is not based on any specific political or religious ideas, but on universal values such as goodness, justice, love, respect for others and for oneself. The organization operates in accordance with ethical codes and standards adopted by similar organizations around the world. Today Monar is one of the world’s largest such organizations, and every year it serves more than 30,000 persons in Poland.

Monar is organized as a membership association, and the general guidelines for its operation are laid down by the Main Board. The Board consists of 9 persons who are elected by the members. Since 2002, Jolanta Lazuga-Koczurowska has been chairman of the Board. More than 700 persons (psychologists, social workers, medical doctors and specialists on dependence treatment) are employed by Monar, and 300 persons serve the organization as volunteers. Forty per cent of the staff are former clients. The organization has 135 therapeutic communities, counseling centers and residential centers in Poland, and it is a member of both national and international organizations. In 2005, Monar’s expenditures were 12.5 million EUR (49.9 million PLN). These monies came primarily from grants from the State and contracts with National Health Insurance Funds, with additional income from private donations.

The person in charge of the pilot project Grow Up Like Others is the coordinator of the project, Maria Charmast.

Ministry of Social Welfare of the Moscow Region
As a federal republic, Russia consists of 88 “states” or federal subjects. The name and or­ganization of the federal subjects differ, but most common is the oblast. An oblast has its own legisla­ture and the executive power resides with ministers led by a governor nominated by the President of the Republic.  Each of the federal subjects has two members in the upper house of the central parliament. The Moscow Oblast (or Moscow Region) covers the territory around the city of Moscow, which constitutes its own fed­eral subject. The area of the Moscow Region is 46,000 sq. km, and its population is 6.6 million  inhabi­tants (2002).

The Ministry of Social Welfare of the Moscow Region implements the welfare policy of the region, develops the network of social welfare services, and introduces new forms and methods of social work. The Ministry runs 241 insti­tutions. Among these are counseling contact centers for families, known as “Semya”, which are key actors in community social work in the Region, and a number of rehabilitation centers for different groups of the population, including centers for children.

The person in charge of the pilot project Grow Up Like Others is deputy minister Evdokia Kholostova.

The Municipality of Dmitrov
The Moscow Region is divided into 38 raioni with their own legislatures and executive powers. The Municipality of Dmitrov, the town Dmitrov and vicinity, constitute one of these 38 districts. Dmitrov is situated 50 km north of Moscow.  The Municipality of Dmitrov has a population of 148,500 people and covers a territory of 2,160 sq. km. The Municipality of Dmitrov has eight social welfare institutions among which are a day center for elderly people, the rehabilitation center “Isle of Hope” for adolescents, the shelter “House of Trust”, and a counseling center for people with drug problems and their families.

One of the priorities of the Municipality of Dmitrov is to improve work with socially maladjusted children and adolescents. The social welfare sector has highly qualified staff trained in different in­ternational programs, and good community relations have been established. Out-patient work with families with drug problems has been organized in an effective way.

The persons in charge of the pilot project Grow Up Like Others are deputy head of Dmitrov Ad­ministration, Alla Pospielova, and director of the Dmitrov Counseling Center, Nadiezhda Smirnova. 

The Committee on Social Welfare of the City Assembly of Saint-Petersburg
The city of Saint-Petersburg constitutes one of the 88 federal subjects of the Federal Republic of  Russia. The Saint-Petersburg Assembly, the city’s legislature, has a standing Committee on Social Welfare comprised of legislative deputies. The Committee draws up laws in the sphere of social policy, and as such it cooperates with non-governmental organizations. Among other initiatives, the Committee has established the City Program for Counteracting Drug Use, and it takes part in the work of the Inter-institutional Committee on Counteracting Drug Use, which supervises implementation of the Program.

The Committee on Social Welfare and its chair, Natalia Yevdokimova, supports project activities, makes contacts with non-governmental organizations in Saint-Petersburg and pro­motes the concepts of treatment and rehabilitation of people with drug problems. Deputy Yevdokimova supports professional training conducted by Monar for social workers and psychologists who work with problematic children and adolescents.

Committee for Law, Order and Safety of the Council of Saint-Petersburg
The executive power of the city of Saint-Petersburg resides with the Council of Saint-Petersburg. Among the committees of the Council is The Committee for Law, Order and Safety. The Com­mittee is responsible for organizing cooperation between different authorities and courts and has the goal of counteracting political corruption by city authorities.

The Committee takes part in the implementation of the City Program for Counteracting Drug Use, and its chair, Leonid Bogdanov, chairs the Inter-institutional Committee on Counteracting Drug Use. The Committee supports project activities and helps in the implementation of the professional training conducted by Monar for people involved in drug prevention and counseling in Saint-Peters­burg.

Committee on Labour and Social Welfare of Saint-Petersburg
Another committee of the executive power of the Council of Saint-Pe­tersburg is the Committee on Labour and Social Welfare. Among the tasks of the Committee are the administration of labour security, provision of social welfare services, and coordination and  elaboration of social programs. The Committee implements its tasks in cooperation with non-governmental organizations.

The Committee organizes and supervises work of 41 social welfare institutions in the city. Among these are houses for elderly people, houses for former prisoners, counseling units, day centers and re­habilitation centers for orphanage graduates. The Committee supports the activities of the pilot pro­gram Grow Up Like Others and will introduce the Monar method of therapeutic community in the work of the new Social Rehabilitation Center for Adolescents in Vasileostrovsky District.

Narvski Municipal Administration in Saint-Petersburg
The Narvski Municipal District is a part of the Kirovski Area in Saint-Petersburg. The district has 29,822 inhabitants (2002). Priorities of the administration of the district include social policy, work with children and youth and building backyards.  Four thousand teenagers live in the district, but there are only 10 educational and leisure time institutions, and one of the biggest challenges is to organize extra-curricular activities for teens.

The administration of the district implements a program to counteract abuse of drugs and alcohol. In 2003, the counseling unit KIP was established. KIP pro­motes dependence prevention among children and young people, offering counseling and support for children, young people, parents, pedagogues and specialists. KIP joins the pilot project Grow Up Like Others in terms of community and counseling work, and staff and volunteers of KIP partici­pate in training conducted by Monar.