The Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services reidentifies the facility standards of childcare institutions. Zehra Zümrüt SELÇUK, Minister of Family, Labour and Social Services, stated that there will be living spaces specially designed for physical and psychosocial development of children in the new Children’s Homes Sites, and added: “The safety of our children with disabilities is our priority while redesigning the new buildings”.

"We Updated the Requirement Program for Children's Homes Sites”

Emphasizing that dormitory-type child care institutions have been closed up and Children's Homes Sites where 10-12 children can stay have been established, Minister Selçuk underlined that the needs in child development should always be revised and announced that Requirement Program for Children's Homes Sites has been updated.

“Redesigned to Reflect Warm Family Environment”

Minister SELÇUK stated that they aim to improve the standards of service provided to children with the program, to support the psycho-social development of them and to increase their self-confidence, and said: “With the updated requirement program, our children will live in newly-established family-type Children's Homes”.

“We designed Music and Sports Courses”

Underlining that there will be a plenty of common living areas designed suitably for the physical and psychosocial development of children in the New Children's Homes, Minister SELÇUK said, “The homes that are designed to make children feel in a warm family enironment contain all the equipment that a family may need. We have built hobby rooms, computer rooms, workshops and social activity buildings with multi-purpose halls for our children. We want to support their development throughout their entire growing-up period, with artistic activities such as music, as well as sports and workshops."

“Accessible to our Children with Disabilities”

Drawing attention to the priority of the access of children with disabilities in the design of the buildings, Minister SELÇUK stated: “The mobility and safety of our children with disabilities was prioritized. All of the facility buildings and open areas have been designed to be accessible to all our children. The arrangements to be made for our children with disabilities will have tangible effects on their psycho-social development”.

“We paid attention to Energy Efficiency Practices”

Noting that they have designed different areas that can be used more effectively instead of the idle spaces in the old-style caring models, Minister SELÇUK said that they also pay attention to energy efficiency and renewable energy practices. Minister SELÇUK said: “We have implemented renewable energy resources in all projects. We have focused on the use of solar energy in the design of the facilities, especially in the coastal regions and planned the necessary engineering studies for transition from central heating to new generation boiler systems. We also rearranged the outdoor areas suitable for our children. We ensured that the open space and landscape have been designed in detail most properly for the age and needs of our children”.

“Designed in Accordance with the New Fire Regulations”

Minister SELÇUK stated that they take care to ensure that Children's Houses Sites are integrated to the society and at the center of social life during the selection of the land, and that the new children's homes are going to be built as single-storey detached houses. Minister Zehra Zümrüt SELÇUK also mentioned that in the facilities designed in accordance with the latest fire legislation, they have installed fire-resistant cable systems, night vision camera systems, emergency lighting and generator systems along with designs that ease emergency responses and systems that allow monitoring the entire facility in the security cabin.

“Foster Family Model will also be Supported”

Minister SELÇUK pointed out that units that will directly serve for the sake of Foster Family Model will also be included in the organizations with the new program and said: “We will create new areas for our children to meet with their foster parents within the organizations. In the transparent rooms, our children will meet with their foster parents in a more comfortable environment and under supervision of our experts”.