Minister of Family and Social Services Göktaş, in Batman with the SESA Institute…

Regarding the Family- and Community-Based Holistic Support Project for Combating Addiction, Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş said: “With this project, whose pilot implementation we launched in Batman, we have opened a new era in combating addiction. We are carrying out all the processes, from risk identification to treatment and from rehabilitation to social integration and employment, within a single structure.”

Göktaş, who came to Batman for a series of engagements, attended, as part of the programme in Batman, the “Introductory Event for the Family- and Community-Based Holistic Support Project for Combating Addiction” held in the Conference Hall of the Necat Nasıroğlu Complex.

Speaking at the event, Göktaş said that with the project launched in Batman, combating addiction had been designed not merely as a treatment process but as a multidimensional support mechanism encompassing prevention, early intervention, psychosocial support and social integration.

Göktaş wished the project success and expressed the hope that it would lead to strong and lasting results in combating addiction. Göktaş pointed out that addiction is one of the most critical areas of risk affecting the future of societies throughout the world.

“Through training we have reached 1 million 350 thousand citizens in our 81 provinces”

Stating that, as a Ministry, they provide protective, preventive and supportive services in combating addiction, Göktaş noted that through the Vision Document and Action Plan for the Protection and Strengthening of the Family they are carrying out work in particular against the threat of digital addiction.

Stating that in this context they have developed early intervention programmes, family-focused social integration counselling services and local partnerships, Göktaş said: “With the ‘social integration process counselling’ model we have renewed, we enable addicted individuals over the age of 18 to participate strongly in society together with their families. Through the Türkiye Addiction Prevention Training Programmes, we are raising awareness of addiction among different segments of society. Through these training programmes we have reached 1 million 350 thousand citizens in our 81 provinces. Through our Family Education Programmes we have provided hundreds of thousands of families with training on the risk of addiction, healthy communication and conscious media use.”

Stating that through digital awareness workshops, digital detox camps and guidance materials they are strengthening families so that they recognise digital risks early, manage them correctly and support their children with confidence, Göktaş said that, with social risk maps, they monitor the risk of addiction at neighbourhood and district level through the family guide system.

Emphasising that through the Family- and Community-Based Social Support Model they have further strengthened cooperation with all stakeholders, particularly at local level, Göktaş said:

“With this project, whose pilot implementation we launched in Batman, we have opened a new era in combating addiction. We are carrying out all the processes, from risk identification to treatment and from rehabilitation to social integration and employment, within a single structure. At the heart of the project lies an approach that protects and strengthens the family and makes it an active part of the solution. This approach establishes an intervention system covering all members of the household simultaneously with the addicted individual’s treatment and rehabilitation process. In other words, our aim here is not only the addicted individual’s access to treatment, but the strengthening of the household anew through education, health, social services, employment and economic support mechanisms. For we believe that lasting success cannot be achieved without changing the ground that leads to addiction recurring.”

Stating that they have formed a coordination team at provincial level and established a way of working in which field teams attached to this structure, under the coordination of the Governorship, are in direct contact with cases, Göktaş noted that the teams have so far visited approximately 200 households.

“We aim to reduce the triggers that feed addiction”

Pointing out that in household visits they do not base their assessment on a single person, Göktaş said that the situation of each individual living in the home is considered separately.

Göktaş stated that, while the addicted individual’s treatment and rehabilitation process continues, they also identify the needs of the other members of the household and draw up a suitable support plan for each individual.

Explaining that in this framework they ensure access to social assistance and care services for any elderly, disabled or dependent persons in the household, Göktaş stated that they direct adults who cannot read or write to education courses, and encourage school support, vocational training opportunities and participation in sports activities to prevent children and young people from dropping out of education.

Stating that they have introduced free nursery places for children of pre-school age, Göktaş said that they offer social assistance and employment support according to the household’s economic needs.

Göktaş noted the following:

“In cooperation with the Institute of Social Economic and Political Research, we are increasing the economic and social resilience of households through vocational training, training with guaranteed employment and opportunities to take part in production. By monitoring every referral regularly through the ‘family guide’, we aim to reduce the triggers that feed addiction. We aim to transform the family from a structure that constantly receives outside support into one that can stand on its own feet. We believe that with every policy and every project that strengthens the family, we will narrow the ground on which addiction is reproduced. For every step that preserves a child’s bond with school reduces the risk that child will face in future, and every support that increases the household’s economic resilience prevents a breakdown in times of crisis. Every service that lightens the burden of care further strengthens bonds within the family.”

The pilot implementation will be extended across the country

Stating that, with this conviction, they will gradually extend the pilot implementation launched in Batman across the country, Göktaş said that their aim is to produce lasting social empowerment rather than a one-off, narrow intervention in combating addiction, and to build a structure for this struggle that does not leave the individual alone, supports the family and takes the social environment into account.

Stating that this project has come to life with the valuable support of many institutions, Minister Göktaş thanked all the institutions, field staff and supporting stakeholders who had contributed.

Source
SESA Institute Field Coordination