The Irun City Council, through its Social Welfare department, will launch a new support and family intervention program this school year aimed at families with children aged between 8 and 11 years who are in a situation of mild neglect or vulnerability. The initiative is intended for families using Primary Care Social Services and aims to reinforce their educational and parenting capabilities, enhance protective factors within the family environment, and prevent or reduce potential risk situations that could affect the well-being and development of the minors.
The program will be carried out at the Eguzkitza school facilities and will involve an educator and a psychologist from Baga Klinika, the entity providing the service. Participating families will be referred by the Primary Care social workers of the Irun City Council, and it is anticipated that between eight and ten families will participate.
The intervention will combine group sessions with parents and children, both separately and jointly, and will also offer individual sessions for families requiring more intensive support. The group intervention will be structured into 16 sessions, each lasting one and a half hours, held on a fortnightly basis. Each session will be divided into two parts: a first 45-minute intervention with parents and minors separately, and a second 45-minute part of joint work with the families.
Sessions for parents will address topics such as positive communication, effective and consistent discipline, establishing rules, strategies for stress reduction and anger management, problem-solving, negotiation skills, and substance abuse prevention. Meanwhile, activities for children will focus on developing communication skills, problem-solving, and identifying and managing emotions. The joint sessions will allow participants to put into practice the knowledge and skills acquired in the separate sessions through structured family activities, therapeutic games, and role-playing dynamics.
“"From the department, we work to prevent situations of vulnerability and support families in developing their educational capacities. With this program, we want to offer parents and children practical resources that help them improve communication, strengthen their bonds, and face daily difficulties."
The head of Social Welfare, Josu Iguiñiz, highlighted the importance of supporting families and providing them with tools to face parenting challenges. "From the department, we work to prevent situations of vulnerability and support families in developing their educational capacities. With this program, we want to offer parents and children practical resources that help them improve communication, strengthen their bonds, and face daily difficulties," he stated. He also emphasized the value of prevention and joint intervention: "It is crucial to act preventatively, providing support to families before difficulties can worsen. The participation of both parents and minors allows us to work on family relationships from a shared perspective, fostering positive coexistence."
The program aims to provide families with practical tools to address the needs of minors in their daily lives, better understand their developmental stage, and develop appropriate educational guidelines. Objectives include promoting the establishment of rules and limits, improving supervision of children's activities, and fostering positive communication that strengthens family bonds.
Furthermore, efforts will be made to strengthen peer relationships in school and social settings, as well as to prevent and reduce potential risk factors. In this regard, family conflicts that may influence parenting, ineffective disciplinary practices, the acquisition of healthy habits, and relationships with educational centers will be addressed, paying attention to possible situations of lateness, absenteeism, or academic demotivation.
The program's methodology is based on cognitive-behavioral change theory and skills training techniques. The initiative draws on scientific studies that support the effectiveness of preventive interventions focused on the family environment, involving both parents and children.
