Kanaf was established by the directives of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, wife of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah and Chairperson of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs in Sharjah, and it will be overseen by the Child Safety Department, an affiliate of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs.
It is inspired by the ‘Barnahus’ model that originated in Iceland in 1998. Literally meaning ‘Children’s Home’, this model has successfully provided treatment services to child abuse victims, based on an approach to reduce the number of interviews with abused children to only one, and conduct these interviews in a comforting and supportive environment.
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Services Offered
‘Kanaf’ is an interdisciplinary, multi-agency child protection centre in Sharjah. It is established to provide prompt legal, psychological, medical services to child victims of physical and sexual abuse and witnesses thereof. The center will help standardise child protection measures and enable relevant entities to provide integrated referral and treatment services in a state-of-the-art facility, and in a safe, supportive environment.
Fees and Payment
This service is free of charge.
Services Offered To: Adults Children
Languages: Arabic, English
Payment: Pro-bono
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A community counseling agency is a group therapy practice that offers affordable mental health services. Most are independent non-profit agencies, state agencies, or publicly-funded agencies. A few may restrict who is eligible for services, so it is a good idea to check when you call.
Community counseling agencies are generally more affordable than other therapy providers, but how much more affordable they are will depend on whether you qualify for a discount or sliding scale fee (or if they accept your insurance). Many, but not all, have a policy that they won't turn away anyone due to inability to pay. You should ask about their fees when you first call.
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Most agencies try to set up an initial assessment appointment within a week (some do within 24 hours), though the waitlist to start therapy is usually longer—about a few weeks on average. If you're not eligible or if the agency is not right for you, it's usually still worth it to call or drop in, because staff are knowledgeable about local options and can often refer you to one.