The St Joseph Home in Sta Venera is reaping the fruits of moving away from an institutional environment to a domestic one. David Schembri spoke to Sarah Carabott about the increased confidence and independence of its residents.

The smell of lunch hits you in the face as soon as you step into the living room of one of the apartments at the St Joseph’s Home in Sta Venera.

The home’s David Schembri.

The facility, which provides out-of-home care to 13 boys, has over the past few years been stripped of its cold “institutional” look and given a domestic atmosphere – and the smell of food gives it a homely feeling.

The industrial kitchen downstairs was transferred upstairs – next to the living room – so that lunch being cooked is the first thing the boys smell, just like any other boy returning home from school.

Attention has been paid to every little detail. The aluminium doors of their bedrooms have been replaced by wooden ones, the walls have been painted in vibrant colours and a room has been set aside for when one of the 13 boys wants some time to himself – and can wind down playing the guitar.

Meanwhile, a section of the home has been turned into the “weekend apartment”, for those who cannot spend the weekends with their relatives.

“While four years ago we used to have one boy who stayed behind, nowadays we have seven who stay over for the weekend because their home is unsafe. The number will keep increasing,” David Schembri, in charge of children’s services, told this newspaper. Most often there is a combination of issues back home, including homelessness, substance abuse and mental health issues.

Most often, our success stories do not make the headlines

This meant that every Friday, half the residents watched their peers packing a bag to move out of their bedroom, often leading to dejection and tantrums, he said.

“So we decided that just like their housemates, they should experience packing a weekend bag and moving out of their apartment.” And there has since been an “enormous difference” which has had a calming effect on the boys.

Mr Schembri explained it was proven that a family-like environment provides children with more stability – essential for gaining independence. The changes are not limited to the infrastructure: the role of the care-workers has also evolved into one similar to that of foster parents.

The residents, aged between eight and 24, are split between three apartments, each of which is run by ‘group foster parents’.

While one of the two takes care of the boys from the time they return from school until 8pm, the other one stays there overnight. They do the parents’ job without ever replacing the biological ones. On the contrary they even try to build a relationship between the children and their parents.

Meanwhile, the home has also started in-house tutoring so that the residents can catch up with their peers who are not in care. This is filling a vacuum as, so far, there is no system that helps such social cases with low literacy skills to catch up with students of their age.

Mr Schembri noted that this has resulted in increased confidence in the boys as they are recovering lost years and do not lag in their studies.

“Most often, our success stories do not make the headlines. One of our best stories is that of a 21-year-old who has a job and a place of his own. He was referred to the home as a 13-year-old with an intellectual disability, but once he started opening up we realised it was a malnutrition problem.

“At least four-fifths of the residents manage to become independent. Some move back with their family and others into a place that they buy or rent out of their own pocket,” Mr Schembri said.