EMBRACE turns school well-being pilot into policy blueprint for children

A Romanian-EU project called EMBRACE tested a school-based emotional well-being model for children in vulnerable communities across northeast Romania and is now pushing it as a public policy framework. The 18-month initiative reached hundreds of children, parents and specialists while calling for national action on mental health in schools.

Why it matters: - Romania is facing a child mental health gap that schools are not equipped to handle. - UNICEF Romania data cited in the release says 1 in 4 students is at risk of a mental health problem, one-third report frequent anxiety, and 1 in 4 have thoughts or behaviors of self-harm. - EMBRACE was designed to test a response that can move beyond a local pilot and into public policy.

What happened: - EMBRACE — Empower and Build Resilience at Children — ran from January 2025 to June 2026 in northeast Romania. - The project had a budget of €465,667.67 funded by the European Commission through CERV-CHILD 2024. - Fundația Serviciilor Sociale Bethany coordinated the consortium with Fundația de Sprijin Comunitar, Asociația „Bună Ziua, Copii din România”, Federația Organizațiilor Neguvernamentale pentru Copil and Evolutionary Archetypes Consulting SL from Spain. - Associated partners included the Iași and Vaslui school inspectorates, the Iași and Vaslui county centers for educational resources and assistance, Bacău child protection authorities, local authorities in pilot communities and 10 pilot schools in Iași, Bacău and Vaslui. - The project developed and tested a five-module curriculum on physical health, cognitive well-being, emotional regulation, values and identity, and social relationships and integration. - Each module included 15 sessions adapted for primary school children ages 6-10, middle school students ages 11-14 and high school students ages 15-18.

The details: - 528 children completed the five modules in 10 schools in small urban and rural communities. - 374 parents took part in emotional literacy sessions. - 140 specialists were trained in child mental health, well-being, resilience and child protection. - The EMBRACE toolkit includes 45 mental health education lessons and more than 60 multimedia materials for all school ages. - The campaign #DESCOPERĂEMOȚIILE reached more than 38,000 people through social media tools and an online campaign. - Children led awareness campaigns on well-being in all 10 partner schools. - The project resources, including educational materials, guides and tools for teachers, counselors and parents, are available on the EMBRACE website.

Between the lines: - The project’s structure suggests a deliberate attempt to standardize emotional well-being support across school levels instead of treating it as isolated counseling. - EMBRACE is also positioning children as participants in policy design, not just recipients of services. - The most concrete policy signal came from the October 17-18, 2025 Forum of Children and Youth in Bucharest, where more than 130 children and young people from several Romanian cities gathered to discuss youth mental health. - The forum ended with an open letter to the president, prime minister, education minister and health minister calling for a three-year national child mental health plan for schools, four guaranteed minimum measures this year, annual public reporting by the prime minister and ongoing child participation in monitoring policy. - A regional conference in Iași on May 14, 2026 brought together more than 100 specialists from education, mental health, child protection, academia and NGOs, along with public officials and young people. - The conference pointed to three systemic gaps: no integrated national strategy for child emotional well-being, insufficient teacher training and a school culture that does not treat emotional safety as a condition for learning. - Beatrice Darie of Fundația Serviciilor Sociale Bethany said EMBRACE showed that practices and solutions already exist in schools, organizations and communities, but need a common framework and institutional will to become sustainable public policy.

What's next: - EMBRACE is now being presented as a policy model for the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health, local authorities and European partners. - The project’s next step is to convert its pilot results into institutional recognition, sustainable funding, child participation and cross-sector coordination. - The release says the broader goal is a national framework for child emotional well-being in schools, backed by clear responsibilities and measurable targets.

The bottom line: - EMBRACE has moved from a school pilot to a policy proposal, with data, trained staff and child-led demands now pointing toward a national response to mental health in schools.