Right to Care: Strengthening child resilience to ensure wellbeing through integrated case management and community based mechanisms This project seeks to address key child protection needs and gaps across the three high-priority LGAs of MMC, Jere and Gwoza (Pulka), targeting 2,925 direct beneficiaries. The project will leverage on Street Child's (SC) existing EU-funded education in emergencies (EiE) programme in these communities, both strengthening the response by providing more integrated, holistic support and leveraging on existing structures to maximise efficiency and value-for-money.  

1,800 children aged 5-14 will benefit from PSS provision in child friendly spaces (CFS), facilitated by 18 trained PSS facilitators. The facilitators will also be trained to identify children who need more targeted support, and to provide basic counselling or psychological first aid (PFA) through Child Help Desks (CHD) in each CFS. CHD activities will be supported by a professional psychologist when MHPSS services are needed. Where children are identified as having multiple needs, the PSS facilitators will refer them for case management to trained case workers. 

Recognising that adolescent children (especially girls) are vulnerable to particular risks and that CFS activities often do not reach these children, adolescent forums will target 900 children aged 15-17 with age-appropriate, gender-sensitive PSS and life skills as well as sports activities. Weekly sports activities will be linked to sessions on pressing protection concerns for this age group, including GBV and reproductive health. The 18 facilitators will be supported by SC and partner officers to lead dynamic, age-appropriate sessions, and to make case management referrals as needed. This innovative approach to reach adolescents will provide useful learnings both for SC and other actors. 

450 at-risk children will be supported with case management, including multi-sector referrals, . Services provided by SC under case management include: 
-	Family Tracing and Reunification (FTR) for unaccompanied children (UAC) 
-	Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) by trained clinical psychologist, including for Gender Based Violence (GBV) response 
-	Socio-economic reintegration of Children Associated with Armed Groups (CAAG)

To ensure case management services provided are comprehensive, referral pathways will be mapped out (if not already available) and strengthened through advocacy and coordination with the CPSS at state and LGA level. 

As the first step to building a protective environment for a child is to promote a safe and supportive family environment, 150 caregivers will be trained on positive parenting skills. By including both existing and standby foster parents in these training, the quality of care provided by alternative/interim caregivers who take in UASC will be improved. The Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development (MoWASD) will be involved in screening and mentoring foster parents to ensure accountability. 

By leveraging on SC's EiE interventions in the target communities, children identified as being out of school by the CP team will be internally referred for education support, providing a more holistic response. Furthermore, the CP capacity of community structures (such as CBCPCs) will be developed, ensuring that schools and communities are more protective environments in the long-term. Leveraging on existing structures and materials also ensures a value-for-money approach. For example, awareness-raising and prevention messages which have already been translated as part of an agreement between SC and Translators without Borders will be used. 

A final key aim is to build the capacity of local actors for increased sustainability. SC will partner with GEPaDC to implement the project, developing a locally-rooted response whilst building GEPaDC's technical and organisational capacity. Involving MoWASD representatives and social workers in all training and field activities will also promote government buy-in and strengthen government capacity on CP.