Author:
Yuliia Didenko
The Voices of Children Charitable Foundation has joined the program Strengthening Comprehensive Reintegration Support for Returning Children within the President of Ukraine’s Bring Kids Back UA initiative. This comprehensive project will help Ukrainian schools become safe and supportive spaces for children who have returned from occupied territories or from Russia.
As of November 1, 2025, within the Bring Kids Back UA initiative, 1,782 children who had been deported, forcibly displaced, or at risk of deportation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine have been brought home. Each of these children carries a personal story of experiences, fears, and sometimes propaganda they may have heard for months or years. They also have experiences that may be traumatic, confusing, and often hard for adults to fully comprehend.
Returning home is only the first step. Next, children face a challenging path of reintegration into a safe life. In addition to parents and family, children return to school, where teachers and psychologists across various regions of Ukraine play a crucial role in supporting them during the adaptation process. That is why it is essential for schools to become spaces responsive to children’s experiences.
As of November 1, 2025, within the Bring Kids Back UA initiative, 1,782 children who had been deported, forcibly displaced, or at risk of deportation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine have been brought home. Each of these children carries a personal story of experiences, fears, and sometimes propaganda they may have heard for months or years. They also have experiences that may be traumatic, confusing, and often hard for adults to fully comprehend.
Returning home is only the first step. Next, children face a challenging path of reintegration into a safe life. In addition to parents and family, children return to school, where teachers and psychologists across various regions of Ukraine play a crucial role in supporting them during the adaptation process. That is why it is essential for schools to become spaces responsive to children’s experiences.
Why We Are Doing This
Our team has joined this project for the children who try every day to find their place in a new environment. For teachers and parents who want to help but do not always know how. Ukrainian schools accept children who have returned from occupation or deportation, but often lack ready-made tools on how to support children with such complex experiences.
How do you talk to a child without causing harm? How do you help them adapt and explain to other students what their new classmate has gone through?
We follow the principle: No child should face the war experience alone. At this stage, Voices of Children has already developed a concept to support children who have experienced deportation, identified procedures for psychological support, and established ethical principles for working with them.
The next step is to implement this support through a pilot project in schools.
How do you talk to a child without causing harm? How do you help them adapt and explain to other students what their new classmate has gone through?
We follow the principle: No child should face the war experience alone. At this stage, Voices of Children has already developed a concept to support children who have experienced deportation, identified procedures for psychological support, and established ethical principles for working with them.
The next step is to implement this support through a pilot project in schools.
How the Program Will Work
The project will begin in 10 pilot schools that already enroll children who have returned from the occupied regions of Ukraine or from Russia. Throughout the school year, together with teachers, psychologists, and mentors, we will develop and test an adaptation and integration program.
Our program will adhere to international child protection and conflict-related reintegration standards, drawing on best practices from other countries that support refugee children, as well as effective approaches for internally displaced persons. We will also address the daily challenges faced by school staff, including which stereotypes hinder efforts to support children and what fears exist within school communities.
Our program will adhere to international child protection and conflict-related reintegration standards, drawing on best practices from other countries that support refugee children, as well as effective approaches for internally displaced persons. We will also address the daily challenges faced by school staff, including which stereotypes hinder efforts to support children and what fears exist within school communities.
Mentors: The Key Link in Support
Each of the ten pilot schools will have a mentor—a psychologist or social worker specially trained to work with children who have lived through traumatic experiences. A child will be able to come to the mentor whenever things feel difficult, when they don’t know how to explain something to their classmates, or when they fear being misunderstood.
For mentors, we will develop a dedicated training program that includes a deindoctrination component (helping the child gradually learn to think independently, ask questions, reflect critically, and analyze sources). Many children come from a completely different information environment and need support in understanding what is true and what is manipulation.
A mentor cannot work in isolation. It is essential for the entire school team to understand how to effectively interact with children who have had extremely challenging experiences. Therefore, we will conduct training for teaching staff in the pilot schools on trauma-informed approaches in education and psychology. We will help them understand why a child may react strongly to certain words or situations, and how to create a school environment that makes the child feel stable and protected.
For mentors, we will develop a dedicated training program that includes a deindoctrination component (helping the child gradually learn to think independently, ask questions, reflect critically, and analyze sources). Many children come from a completely different information environment and need support in understanding what is true and what is manipulation.
A mentor cannot work in isolation. It is essential for the entire school team to understand how to effectively interact with children who have had extremely challenging experiences. Therefore, we will conduct training for teaching staff in the pilot schools on trauma-informed approaches in education and psychology. We will help them understand why a child may react strongly to certain words or situations, and how to create a school environment that makes the child feel stable and protected.
Ethical Principles in Working with Children
When working with children, we adhere to ethical standards to prevent retraumatization. We strictly maintain confidentiality and respect the child’s views. Children are participants in their own stories, not objects of them; their voices and dignity matter most to us.
We do not exploit painful details. All images and videos are created only with consent and without identifying the child. When necessary, we alter names and refrain from showing faces in close-up. Every material goes through an “empathy filter”: we imagine how it will be perceived by a child or parent who has experienced trauma. We will also teach others to follow this approach.
We do not exploit painful details. All images and videos are created only with consent and without identifying the child. When necessary, we alter names and refrain from showing faces in close-up. Every material goes through an “empathy filter”: we imagine how it will be perceived by a child or parent who has experienced trauma. We will also teach others to follow this approach.
Future Plans: Scaling the Project
The program will run until November 2026. Throughout this time, we will continuously evaluate its effectiveness. We will collect feedback through surveys and focus groups. We have planned up to 12 monitoring visits to the pilot educational institutions. We will stay in touch with school teams and help address any challenges that arise.
Our goal is to make this model accessible to all schools in Ukraine, so that every educational institution can utilize these tools and support returning children in their integration and adaptation.
We also plan to share success stories to show how this support works. We will highlight children’s progress—small victories, friendships, achievements in learning or creativity. We will demonstrate that with adult support, children can heal and reach their full potential.
Our goal is to make this model accessible to all schools in Ukraine, so that every educational institution can utilize these tools and support returning children in their integration and adaptation.
We also plan to share success stories to show how this support works. We will highlight children’s progress—small victories, friendships, achievements in learning or creativity. We will demonstrate that with adult support, children can heal and reach their full potential.
Children are the future of Ukraine. They must become part of our society, obtain an education, find their place, and realize their potential, even if their road home was long and difficult. And for that, they need professional, systemic, and sensitive support.
The project Strengthening Comprehensive Reintegration Support for Returning Children is implemented within the reintegration component of the President of Ukraine’s Bring Kids Back UA initiative, in partnership with the Coordination Center for the Development of Family-Based Upbringing and Child Care. It is carried out by a consortium of organizations: CSO Ukrainian Network for Children’s Rights, ICF SOS Children’s Villages Ukraine, ICF Ukrainian Foundation for Public Health, NGO League of Social Workers of Ukraine, CF Save Ukraine, and CF Voices of Children, with the support of UNICEF and funding from Canada, Norway, and the United States.
The project Strengthening Comprehensive Reintegration Support for Returning Children is implemented within the reintegration component of the President of Ukraine’s Bring Kids Back UA initiative, in partnership with the Coordination Center for the Development of Family-Based Upbringing and Child Care. It is carried out by a consortium of organizations: CSO Ukrainian Network for Children’s Rights, ICF SOS Children’s Villages Ukraine, ICF Ukrainian Foundation for Public Health, NGO League of Social Workers of Ukraine, CF Save Ukraine, and CF Voices of Children, with the support of UNICEF and funding from Canada, Norway, and the United States.
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