What we do can be summed up as this:
We Teach the Teachers.
We Train the Trainers.
In the early 1970s conditions of intitutions in the United States
were demeaning and oppresive; a problem that was resolved over decades as professionals and care-givers
learned new practices for working with and providing care for people with special needs.
We now take these best-practices and travel abroad, sharing them with the countries seeking to raise the standard
of how they provide services for their disabled population. As of 2011, after 8 years of intense work, Romania adopted our
“Train the Trainer” manual to be used country-wide by all specialists, direct care staff and medical
personnel who work with children with special needs. This over-haul of National Policy represents a culmination of
Our Goals
and the fulfillment of our Core Principles.
OUR GOALS
» To foster and support deinstitutionalization and create family-based
alternative services in Romania, and other Central and Eastern
European countries;
» To prevent the situations that cause children and young adults
to be placed in institutions;
» To establish a regional training center in Romania where professionals
from Central and Eastern European countries can learn about the
"best practices" of transitioning individuals from institutions to family-type
alternatives and reducing abuse and neglect.
CORE PRINCIPLES
» Every person is unique, valued, and capable of leading a fulfilling life;
» Every person deserves the opportunity to reach his or her full potential regardless
of any physical, mental, and/or developmental disability;
» The family environment is the natural and most stimulating environment for children,
and as much as possible, all children should develop in the family and the community
to which they belong;
» The best interest of the individual child should be the focus of all placement decisions,
education programs, and treatment plans;
» The rights of children, as outlined in the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child,
should be respected, and special attention must be given to the additional rights of
children with special needs.
Bridges is a unique collaboration
between Romania and the United States
