P.A.S.S.I. Per la salute mentale – percorsi di cura e accoglienza socio-sanitaria integrata per la salute mentale dei minori stranieri non accompagnati (S.T.E.P.S. for mental health – pathways of care and reception for the mental health of foreign unaccompanied minors) is a project which aims to improve mental health services for foreign unaccompanied minors (MSNA in Italian) in Lombardy.

It implements an integrated and interdisciplinary system to recognise early risk signals in the first stage of the reception process, and to activate suitable and effective pathways of clinical care to meet the needs of the minors.

More specifically, the role of Codici covers three main areas:
Evaluation of the reliability and the feasibility of methods of early screening for mental health issues in unaccompanied minors in the reception system in Milan;
Participative evaluation of the interdisciplinary processes of reception and care for minors, with a specific focus on the model implemented in the reception centre in Via Zendrini;
Mapping and analysis of practices and models of reception and care for unaccompanied foreign minors at a national level. In the long term, this activity will lead to the creation of an informal national network allowing for exchange and discussion on different models and good practice for the reception and the promotion of the well-being of minors.

Together with the Migrant Team of the UONPIA (Neuropsychiatric operative unit for childhood and adolescence) of the Policlinico Hospital in Milan, Codici edited the research report, Le prassi di screening e di presa in carico dei minori stranieri non accompagnati in dodici Comuni italiani (practices of screening and reception of foreign unaccompanied minors in twelve Italian Municipalities), freely available at this link.

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