Eurochild and Hope and Homes for Children launched on June 6th, 2013, the campaign “Opening doors for Europe’s Children” at a public event at the European Parliament in Brussels.
The campaign is being implemented at EU and national level, in partnership with organisations from 12 European Countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine.
The National Network for Children is the campaign’s partner and coordinator for Bulgaria.
Institutional care is damaging to children. Children growing up in institutions are denied the individual attention and nurture they need to realise their full potential. Most have low academic achievement and many fall victim to trafficking, exploitation, unemployment, homelessness and depression on leaving the care system. Institutionalisation is a violation of human rights. It is also a waste of taxpayers’ money. Dealing with the consequences of institutional care for children is far more costly in the long-term than preventing family breakdown and ensuring high-quality alternatives for children who cannot be cared for by their biological parents.
Independently the existence of national strategy and action plan for closure by stages of the child care institutions in Bulgaria, as well as negotiated financial support from the EU Structural Funds, the number of children entering local authority care remains high. The official data show that by the end of 2012, 5633 children have been placed in child care institutions. The National Network for Children observations show that the entrance to the child care institutions stays open and there are needed additional efforts for introduction of integral services for families support, prevention and early intervention which should be done.
For more information, please check the official campaign’s website: HERE.
Photo: sxc.hu/jaylopez
