About Us

Črnuška Gmajna, Suhadolčanova 57, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Our vision

The Residential Group within Youth Home Jarše works for the benefit of children and adolescents and their families by providing young people with the conditions for successful schooling and healthy personal development and also providing professional and human assistance to the families in accordance with contemporary interdisciplinary knowledge of the human personality and its human rights.

Maxim

In our work we rely on our expertise, experience and “common sense”. If it ever fails in a particular situation – and all the scenarios, plans, and good thoughts occasionally fail in education – and we do not know how to proceed, then the children you trust us to educate should be taken care of like we would treat our own children in similar cases.

Who are we?

Youth Home Jarše is a centre for socially disadvantaged children and youngsters with emotional and behaviour problems. Besides primary school and production school Youth Home Jarše offers daily (24/7) program in 4 residential groups and the Residential Care Group Črnuška Gmajna is one of them. In each group live eight youngsters in the age of 12 to 19, who for several reasons temporarily do not live with their parents or guardian. The residential group are intended for young people experiencing long-lasting conflicts in their family and have difficulties in school and personal development and can also be victims of neglect, abuse or overindulging (such as alcohol or drug abuse) and having less opportunities then their peers. Groups are giving to young people care and protection, they care of satisfying their needs, socialization and education. We prepare youngsters for self-dependent life.

By being placed in a residential group youths are given the possibility to improve their living conditions, as well as with other important profesional help, our educators offer simple, but crucial support and counselling.

Rules

The residential group is a educational and thereputic program, and in order to attain the goals set for the programs, very clear rules are enforced. Some of the most important rules that the residents (as well the staff) have to follow are:

1) no consumption of alcohol or drugs
2) compulsory school attendance or going to work
3) the youths spend weekends with their families or specialized foster families
4) agreements have to be made about everything
5) expenses for damage caused have to be reimbursed
6) household chores are done daily
7) active participation in meetings
8) we get up and go to bed at the appointed times, during night time peace and quiet is required
9) no smoking in the indoor premises
10) if the resident doesn’t comply with these rules, a loss of privilege will follow as a result

Marko Ocvirk

youth worker

Marko is a member of the professional team with the longest teaching experience in the residential group. In addition to his psychological skills, he is highly committed to international connections and genuine work with young people with fewer opportunities.

In her spare time, he goes to concerts and practices yoga.

Peter Steničnik

youth worker

Peter likes to listen to youngsters and everything that is green and grows out of the earth. He also likes to talk and takes care about being nice (as well as clean) in the house. He is a person who you are never bored with him.

Peter is also active in children advocating at the Ombudsman and in coaching teachers.

Mateja Vilfan

youth worker

Mateja says that he will be with young people until he retires. He enjoys socio-political conversations and tries various creative techniques with young people. She likes to develop new work approaches, takes a lot of education and lectures on the topic of self-harming behavior and risky behavior of young people. The group takes care of pampering the taste buds with desserts and pancakes.

Concerts, fitness, drawing and writing poetry are a constant in her free time. He prefers to spend the summers in the mountains, and in the winter he knits hats and scarves.

Irma Zdovc

youth worker

Irma likes to socialize and talk to young people while spreading goodwill. She enjoys outdoor activities and teambuilding especially when going sailing or skiing. She says she is the youngest member of the team. 😉

Irma loves traveling, eating healthy and her Koroška.

Working with youngsters presents me with a kind of professional and personal challenge and I carry out it with due diligence throughout my career. When we at Center for Social work exhaust all counseling forms for a young person and his family, residential care unit becomes one of the options. The Residential Group Črnuška Gmajna is primarily characterized by a team of educators who perform their work professionally and with heart. In every adolescent, they recognize the potential and know how to build a foundation upon which the adolescent and family can build their way forward. Their work is based on learning responsibility, building trust and working on independence, which are a prerequisite for continued success and personal growth of young people. Their specialty is the youth exchanges and the sports orientation of the group, which gives young people new and different experiences that are more than valuable in their adulthood. It is a great pleasure to work with them and I am proud of all the success stories of the families we have written together.

Simona Mikec

Social worker at CSD Ljubljana, Enota Vič Rudnik, January 2019

Every teenager who chooses to stay in our residential group comes with his own story. Circumstances in which a young person needs help can be family problems, growing up problems or disfuncional family conditions. Here we cook, clean and do other tasks ourselves and with the help of the mentors/educators who are here 24/7. During the year we also organize various activities and excursions where we hang out and have a great time. We recently attended a marathon in Radenci and were preparing for a youth exchange. We go home on weekends and holidays. We hold group meetings twice a week to discuss current topics or things we think are important. We have a joint dinner every Thursday as we prepare a great dinner for the couple

Maks

resident of Residential Group Črnuška Gmajna, June 2018

I did a two-week compulsory internship at the Črnuška Gmajna and it was a nice experience for me. The teenagers and mentors accepted me right away, so I didn’t have any problems coming there because I felt like part of the group. I felt I could contribute something to the group even though they had no specific requirements for what I needed to do. The atmosphere in the group is very comfortable and homey, so I loved spending time with them. Each day was a little different from the previous one – sometimes I helped someone with their studies or we went for a walk, cooked / baked together, and so on.
Overall, I can say that I enjoyed it, learned many things, and look forward to visiting them again!

Sara Hočevar

student of 3rd year of social teaching at Faculty of Education, May 2018