Support Agencies & Organisations

Address: 238
Ta' Ganni. Triq il-Htajriet,
Locality: Mosta
Mob: 7729 7800
Web: www.adhdmalta.org.mt
Email: adhdmalta@gmail.com
Support group for those with ADHD & their families. Monthly meetings for families, adults with ADHD, parental skills courses, social skills classes, summer camp & in service courses for teachers & LSA's.

Address: 36, Triq San Luqa
Locality: G'Mangia
Tel: 2295 9000
Supportline 179
Web: www.appogg.gov.mt
Email: appogg@gov.mt
Aġenzija Appoġġ provides services for children & families in need through the provision of professional care & support. Aġenzija Appoġġ forms part of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services (FSWS). Some of the services include: Supportline 179: is a 24 hour, free telephone service run by a team of professionally trained volunteers. It provides immediate, confidential support to callers of any age, who require assistance both in day-to-day & crisis situations. Supportline 179 receives calls on situations of child abuse, domestic violence, emotional difficulties, behavioural problems, loneliness, drug / alcohol / gambling problems, amongst others. It also provides information on social welfare services & refers callers to other services for further intervention. Fostering Service: provides a family experience to those children who, for some reason or another, could not live with their birth parents. Prospective foster carers are assessed & given the necessary training. A team of qualified social workers also provide monitoring, guidance & support to foster care families both before & during the fostering placement. Throughout the foster care placement, these children will be provided with the opportunity to live within a family environment, whereby they can get the love & security they need.
Out of Home Care — Specialised Care: This service targets those children & young persons who, for some reason, cannot continue to live with their birth family but who cannot be accommodated within the current provision of out-of-home care because of the challenges they present. These challenges could be related to behaviour, health, disability, addictions, involvement in crime, education or anything else which makes it difficult to provide residential services for them. This service encourages, recruits, trains, assesses & supports individuals & families who are willing to accommodate & care for these children & young persons within their homes.
Benniena: a social work service offered at Mater Dei Hospital to pregnant women experiencing crises &/or in difficulty. Mothers-to-be & their partners are offered the necessary guidance & information related to the problems the expectant mothers would be facing during such situations.
Home-Start Malta: offers parent-to parent support to families who have at least one child under the age of 5yrs. Having difficulties like illness, multiple birth, post-natal depression, disability, isolation or lack of skills or means to provide good care for infants & children aggravates the situation & the family may easily find itself in a crisis. So, volunteers offer emotional & practical help such as involving the parents more in their children’s’ development, as well as accompanying patients to medical or school appointments & advice on time management.
Family Workshops Programme: provide a healthy space for parents to work on personal development; opportunities to improve relationship skills; help parents understand human behaviour- especially children behaviour; help them to learn skills for better child care, on an emotional level as well as basic physical care; support them towards using a positive parenting attitude with children; opportunities to learn relevant skills that would improve the management of their own home; & help them work towards a more independent & active life. These workshops consist of a group of parents that would meet once a week for two hours for a period of approximately 5 mths. Child-minding is also provided.
Youth in Focus: provides assistance to adolescents between 13-18yrs of age, who exhibit severe emotional & behavioural problems &/or have an addiction problem. The aim is to improve the overall well-being of these young people, while maintaining close collaboration with their parents/carers.
Appoġġ Children’s Fund: provides assistance in situations where children need material support immediately, for which their carers are unable to cater for. This is the case particularly in situations where children require food, clothing, medication, uniforms, books, payment for school outings or projects, sportswear, urgent visits to a medical consultant or any specialised treatment. This Fund is accessible to children whose family is already benefiting from services provided by FSWS & upon referral of a professional. Donations may be made by contacting Aġenzija Appoġġ on 2295 9000.
Adoption Service: prospective adoptive parents who meet the eligibility criteria are briefed on the adoption legislation & procedures they have to follow in order to adopt. The Appoġġ Adoption Service provides the guidance, support & training required throughout the Adoption process.
Embark for Life (E4L): contributes towards the community strategic guidelines/integrated employment guidelines by matching participants between the ages of 15-24 to avail of the already existing schemes & educational/vocational training in the country, whilst supporting them in finding suitable employment. Disadvantaged young people are often at the far end of any social benefit, thus by facilitating them to lead a suitable healthy lifestyle & have job security, their dependency to social assistance & the revolving syndrome of attaining support from various public services is minimized.
Childwebalert Hotline: is an online reporting system which provides a secure & confidential environment where the public can report websites which host online child abuse. If you or someone you know encounters a website with indecent images of minors ,or images & videos of children being sexually abused, please click on the website www.childwebalert.gov.mt. In the website you find the REPORT ABUSE button & you need to give the url/website address.
Positive Parenting:Parenting skills groups offered on a regular basis to parents, in different localities. Sessions are delivered once a week over a span of 5 weeks and address different topics such as descriptive praise, family values, discipline. Being in a group with other parents makes one feel understood and normalises our experience — because participants realise that they am not alone, and others experience such difficulties. It is a learning experience in itself.
Co-parenting: The Foundation for Social Welfare Services saw the need to provide parenting skills courses to parents who are separated or going through separation and have children. In fact, this programme is about parenting when separated and for parents who have children but were not necessarily married. The courses focus on various issues such as the impact of separation on the parent and on the child, how to communicate with the child and with the other parent, what it feels like to be the residential and non-residential parent and what happens during handing-overs. The courses also focus on the parent’s experience of separation and how to better communicate with the other parent in order to place the child’s best interests first.
Home Based Therapeutic Service & Community Service
Home Based Therapeutic Services (HBTS) is an outreach service offering therapeutic support and parenting to multi-stressed families within their communities. This service strives to reach vulnerable families who would not otherwise engage with office-based services. HBTS also caters for vulnerable families who are not deemed eligible for therapeutic intervention by traditional psychological services due to their chaotic lifestyle. This service falls in line with a holistic and internationally recognized psycho social method for working with multi-stressed families. It adopts a ‘family preservation model’, wherein therapeutic work targets ‘at risk’ families to minimise the possibility of crisis escalation that requires the removal of children from their homes.
The Community Services also fall under HBTS. These services work closely with the local community in order to facilitate and encourage a process of change within the community through local participation. The teams work with two strategies: community social work and community development. Community social work aims to help the individual function better within his or her community, to build support networks, and make best use of the services available. The basis of community development is the empowerment of the local residents, by organisation and skills training, to improve the quality of life of the community through collective action.
There are five Appogg community services: Cottonera Community Service, Valletta Community Service, Qawra Community Service, Msida and Birkirkara Community Services. Also new social work service was introduced in Mosta.

Address: Triq Patri Ġwann Azzopardi
Locality: Santa Venera
Tel: 2256 8000 Freephone 153(ext 5)
Web: www.sapport.gov.mt
Email: sapport@gov.mt
Aġenzija Sapport is the national agency for persons with disabilities and their families. The agency strives to enhance the quality of life of persons with disabilities through professional and innovative services. Aġenzija Sapport offers a wide range of services from social work assessments and interventions, community services, residential services, day services, sign language interpretation, assessments and recommendations in assistive technology, driving assessments, workshops for parents & siblings of children with disability, blue badge service, as well as a number of schemes. It’s vision is to be the leader in guiding the community which promotes ability rather than disability.

Address: 3, Triq Braille,
Locality: Sta Venera
Tel: 2388 5110
Web: www.sedqa.gov.mt
Email: sedqa@gov.mt
Aġenzija Sedqa, which falls under the Foundation for Social Welfare Services (FSWS), is the national agency against substance abuse & dependencies, provides assistance and services in health promotion, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation to persons with drug and/or alcohol problems and other similar conditions, and to their families, so as to help them live a stable life and to integrate better in society. These are continuously supported by the Corporate Services of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services (FSWS).
This agency aims to increase public awareness of the harm caused by addictive behaviors and imparts skills in order to prevent or to delay the development of such patterns. It also supports persons who have developed an addiction and their significant others to modify their lifestyles so as to lead a healthier and more satisfying life whilst becoming productive citizens within society.
The agency is led by an Operations Director, a Clinical Director and three Managers.

Address: 111, Triq il-Kbira
Locality: Siġġiewi
Tel: 2146 8440
Mob: 7929 8525
Email: gloria.callus@gmail.com

Address: Federation of Professional Associations,
The Professional Centre, Triq tas-Sliema
Locality: Gżira
Tel: 2131 2888
Web: www.aslpmalta.org
Email: info@aslpmalta.org
ASLP is a professional association which brings together Speech Language Pathologists in Malta. It aims to safeguard the profession & see that the professional standards are upheld, whilst being a voice for people with communication difficulties & their families.

Address: Caritas Community Centre,
Triq Mountbatten,
Locality: il-Ħamrun
Tel: 22199000
Web: www.caritasmalta.org
A voluntary organisation falling within the auspices of the church that gives support to people with drug, alcohol, emotional & social difficulties & offers support to their families.

Address: c/o Gloriana,
Triq il-Miġbed
Locality: Swieqi
Tel: 2157 9145
Mob: 7940 8346
Improving the quality of life of sick children in hospital.

Address: St Lukes Squre,
Locality: Gwardamangia
Tel: 23266000
Web: health.gov.mt
Email: tanya.borg@gov.mt
Provides advice on health issues related to the prevention of diseases. Social media pages HPDPMalta

Address: Ministry for the Family & Social Solidarity,
Palazzo Ferreria, 310, Triq Ir-Repubblika
Locality: Valletta
Tel: 2590 3100/Call Centre 159
Email: info.mfss@gov.mt
Services provided:
Maternity Benefit:Maternity Benefit : Maternity benefit rate for this year is €99.59 per week (€181.08 per week if s/e – and a s/e person may apply for the whole 18 weeks upon declaration that she did not work during the whole period). Maternity Leave Benefit for this year is €181.08 per week . She should apply after the 18th week of the Maternity leave but within 6 months. .
Milk Grant: A head of household who is in receipt of Social or Tuberculosis Assistance may be entitled to a milk grant at a weekly rate of €23.31 until the child is 40wks. A medical panel has to confirm the eligibility to such benefits.
Children's Allowance: Parents having the care & custody of their children may be entitled to Children's Allowance if they fulfill certain criteria. Children's Allowance is paid at a flat rate of €8.66 per wk per child if income exceeds €25,318. If income is less than €25,318, Children's Allowance per child is equivalent to 6.5% of the difference in income.
Disabled Child Allowance (DCA): This allowance is over & above the Children Allowance.It is not means tested as from 2008, but a medical board has to confirm the eligibility of the child to such benefit. DCA is paid at the rate of €25 per wk.
Social Assistance for Single Parents: As from 1st January 2015, persons in receipt of Social Assistance are no longer entitled to work part time. Yet single parents who were already benefiting from this measure before 31st Dec 2014 still hold the right to work part time & can earn the difference between Social Assistance for 2 persons & the minimum wage. Any excess will be deducted gross from the benefit. Single parents who start employment after 1/1/2015 are offered the tapering of benefits. Tapering of Benefit is paid for a period of 3yrs(or less if employment is terminated) at the rate of 65% of the benefit for the 1st yr, 45% for the 2nd & 25% for the 3rd. The employer also receives 25% of the benefit for the duration of the 3yrs & in case of part time employment 12.5%.

Address: 45, Triq Nofsinhar
Locality: Valletta
Tel: 2123 5158
Mob: 9982 1600
Web: www.dsa.org.mt
Email: info@dsa.org.mt; dsamalta1981@gmail.com
A voluntary organisation which supports parents of children who have Down Syndrome. It promotes the interests, development & integration in society of persons who have Down Syndrome. It works on issues which directly relate to persons who have Down Sydrome.

Address: PO Box 04
Locality: St. Julian's
Tel: 2132 4741
Mob: 9949 3870
Email: maltadyslexia@gmail.com

Address: 134A,
Valley Road,
Locality: Msida
Tel: 2125 0400
Mob: 9906 9535
Web: www.equalpartners.org.mt
Email: tamara@equalpartners.org.mt; info@equalpartners.org.mt
A non-profit foundation that provides individualised support services to children & adults with disabilities and/or learning difficulties.

Address: Rotary Drive,
Triq Dar il-Kaptan,
Locality: Mtarfa
Tel: 2145 0103/4
Web: www.darilkaptan.org
Email: rcsmalta@waldonet.net.mt

Address: 212,
Triq il-Kanun,
Locality: Sta Venera
Tel: 2258 8900
Web: www.fsws.gov.mt
The Foundation for Social Welfare Services incorporates Aġenzija Appoġġ & Aġenzija Sedqa, Home Based Therapeutic Service and most recently the FSWS Gozo Branch! The agencies within the Foundation offer prevention & treatment services, both in community & residential settings within the fields of substance abuse; children, families and communities.

Address: c/o Institute of Linguistics
University of Malta,
Locality: L-Msida
Tel: 2340 2428
Email: marie.alexander@um.edu.mt
Courses for University students with reserved places for persons with direct contact with children/persons using Maltese sign language. Courses held from Oct-Jan & from Feb-May (Once a wk for 14wks).

Address: FSWS Gozo Branch Operations, Soil Street,
Xewkija
Locality: Gozo
Tel: 2258 8990/2
The Foundation for Social Welfare Services has recently set up a directorate in Gozo to ensure that its mission is extended to Gozo without any compromise in quality, which in normal circumstances could be expected due to distance and lack of accessibility.
The LEAP workers are the first point of reference for anyone who does not know where to seek help or what kind of help is required for his particular situation. They refer clients to specific professionals such as social workers, family therapists, counsellors and job advisors. The Home-Based Therapeutic Services in Gozo provide a family therapist and a counsellor based in Gozo who visit clients at their homes. The FSWS Gozo Branch also includes Appoġġ services with generic social workers, and other services for fostered children and parents, looked-after children, HomeStart for families with newborns, Supervised Access Visits for looked-after children who would be meeting their natural parents and social work service at the Gozo General Hospital.
There is also the Sedqa preventive programme for children, TFAL 3 which started in January 2019. The Gozo Branch works hand in hand with educational institutions for the dissemination of information and awareness campaigns. For this purpose, it also uses the Education, Science and Culture Centre at Lunzjata Valley from where a number of educational sessions are conducted. It also serves as a research base from where, at present, a research on Homelessness in Gozo is being conducted. The Gozo Branch also conducts a programme with 15 Gozitan prison inmates and their families.
The Gozo Branch’s latest initiative is the emergency on-call service which is available to anyone on 9955 7069 during the week after office hours and 24/7 on weekends and public holidays.
This programme of works by the FSWS Gozo Branch is dynamic and changes constantly to cater for the circumstances and realities that prevail in Gozo. It collaborates with the Ministry for Gozo with its various departments, the Parliamentary Secretary for the Rights of Persons with Disability and Active Ageing, and the Ministry of Education through its social workers within the Gozo College and Jobs Plus, amongst others.
Once these services have been extended in a uniform manner in Gozo, the FSWS Gozo Branch looks forward to strengthening the social infrastructure on the island.

Address: 215, Marlboro,
Misraħ il-Barrieri,
Locality: Sta Venera
Tel: 2124 6163
Email: vancamil@hotmail.com
NSPD is an organisation that caters for the needs of people with disability & their families.

Address: Department of Health Regulation
St Lukes Square,
Locality: Gwardamangia
Tel: 2326 6000
Web: health.gov.mt
Email: tanya.borg@gov.mt
Provides advice on health issues related to the prevention of diseases. Social media HPDPMalta.

Address: 39,
Vjal il-Bon Pastur,
Locality: Hal Balzan
Tel: 2144 0085 / 6
Email: info@hospicemalta.com
Hopsice Malta provides support for patients suffering from Cancer, motor neurone disease & other terminal diseases. The support is extended to family members, friends & colleagues. The children of patients or children whose parents are caring for someone with the above mentioned diseases are entitled to phsycho-social support, children's summer club & breavement support. The services aim to improve quality of life by addressing physical, psycho-social and spiritual problems. All services are provided free of charge.

Address: 81,
Triq Brigella,
Locality: Sta. Venera
Tel: 2166 5247
Web: www.maltasocietyoftheblind.org
Email: info@maltasocietyoftheblind.org

Address: My Promise, 23,
Triq San Ġorg,
Locality: Paola
Tel: 2137 0828
Mob: 9986 4110
Web: www.maltawda.com
Email: maltawda@yahoo.co.uk
Teaching wheelchair-bound people how to dance; to integrate disabled & able bodied children through dance both in Malta & abroad. Teach people how to operate their wheelchair better.

Address: 114, Triq Tal-Għajn
Locality: Il-Fontana, Gozo
Mob: 9983 4609
Email: miriamauthor@gmail.com
Miscarriage support, pre-conceptual care, counselling.

Address: PO BOX 63,
Locality: Birkirkara
Mob: 7997 1024
Web: www.msmalta.org.mt
Email: maltams@gmail.com
A voluntary service to expand & enhance public awareness, individual & family services & rehabilitation from Multiple Sclerosis. Offers subsidised physiotherapy to its members with multiple sclerosis & group psychotherapy sessions for the whole family.

Address: 5,
Triq Wied Sara,
Locality: Victoria, Gozo
Tel: 2155 8858 / 2156 3333
Web: www.oasi.org.mt
Email: admin@oasi.org.mt
Alcohol, drug & smoking prevention programmes & treatment in Gozo.

Address: 16/18
Dawret It-Torri,
Locality: St Lucia
Tel: 2148 5180
Web: www.tfal.org.mt
Email: cfc@gov.mt
The Office of the Commissioner for Children was set up in terms of the Commissioner for Children Act of 2003, to promote the welfare of children & the compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, as ratified by Malta on the 26th January 1990. The Office of the Commissioner for Children works towards (i) the protection of children; (ii) the promotion of children's rights; (iii) advocating for the provision of essential services for children where necessary; & (iv) ensuring the participation of children in all matters affecting them in their daily lives.

Address: 424,
Triq il-Kbira San Ġużepp,
Locality: St Venera
Tel: 2148 2336
Web: www.richmond.org.mt
Email: info@richmond.org.mt
Support services for children in primary schools & a residential programme for children between 5 - 10yrs with mental health problems. K.I.D.s program

Address: Triq L-Arznell,
Locality: Marsaxlokk
Tel: 2598 6145/6/7/8
Servizz Għożża forms part of the National School Support Services within the Ministery for Education, Youth, Sport, Research, and Innovation. It offers an educational programme together with counselling sessions to pregnant mothers, fathers, and their relatives. Psycho-Education sessions are also held for the mother and baby after birth. Relationship and sexual education seminars are offered to parents of students in middle schools and to students in senior school.

Address: 4B,
Triq l-Iskola,
Locality: Il-Ħamrun
Mob: 9940 7670
Email: k.cremona@gmail.com
Offers services for parents with children suffuring from brain injury.

Address: c/o Cana Movement, Catholic Institute, Floriana.
Tel: Tel: 21238068
Email: georgegatt@lexcorp.com.mt
SANDS (Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society) Malta- Families who have lost a baby are referred to this group for counselling

Address: 30, Triq in-Nofs,
Siġġiewi
Mob: 9942 9990
Web: www.theladybirdfoundation.org
Email: sapapbologna@gmail.com
The Ladybird Foundation provides joy & relief to terminally, critically or seriously ill children by giving these children the chance to turn their dreams to reality.

Address: 18,
Triq Sir Luigi Camilleri,
Locality: San Gwann
Tel: 2138 8795 / 2157 7087
Mob: 9925 5698 / 9944 4862
TIPS - This Group supports parents who have premature babies & are encountering problems.