In the children’s room, at nine in the evening

The pandemic has revealed a rather weak position regarding children, families and services that look after them. The result is a visible increase in poverty and social inequalities which exacerbates the suffering of children, family crises, breakups, the precariousness of services, but which, on the other hand, has contributed to the affirmation of a new awareness of need for a massive and multidimensional investment in boys, girls, their families, their parents and all the actors and services that take care of them.

The volume presents the field experimentation of the “Intervention Programme for the Prevention of Institutionalization“, a paradigm of public action to innovate intervention practices with vulnerable families and prevent the removal of children from the family unit.

Five children tell stories and with their words we can enter their rooms at that intimate hour, in which they rewind the film of the day. They live in Milan, Salerno, Reggio Emilia, Perugia, Bari, in contexts that mark their development possibilities. Starting from their voices, the author reviews intervention methodologies and governance indications to build a welfare of equity, an ecosystem of formal services and solidarity resources, to give families protection, development opportunities, and generative relationships.

A reflection on where, how and why the social elevator stops and what can be done to get it started again. It is not just a question of work and economic redistribution: education, social intervention, the relationship between parents and children in social contexts, the strengthening of solidarity networks are all involved. We know a few things, but clear, today and it is important to share them to translate them into action, to address the difficult issue of family vulnerability, to make useful tools available for intervention and planning with children and families.