This opinion piece by Jana Hainsworth, secretary general of Eurochild and director of the Opening Doors for Europe’s Children campaign, calls on Romania to "use its presidency of the EU Council to champion the move from old-style care institutions to community-based child care and show other EU member states it can be done." Hainsworth briefly describes Romania's progress to reform its care system over the past few decades and the recent push in the country to deinstitutionalize children, removing them from institutions and reintegrating them into families.
Ainsworth concludes "Let’s fast forward to the first six months of 2019 when Romania holds the presidency of the European Union. It would be great if Romania could point to how the EU has helped it get a step closer to ending the era of institutional care and how, after once being the worst place for children in institutional care, it is now a true champion of children’s rights and investment in children."