This presentation to the 2012 Sofia Conference by Darinka Yankova, Deputy Chairperson of the State Agency for Child Protection addresses the challenges and the new vision for the deinstitutionalization of children in the Republic of Bulgaria.

Document d’orientation sur la mise en œuvre et le soutien d’une transition durable des soins en institution vers les soins de proximité et familiaux pour les enfants, les personnes handicapées, les personnes atteintes de problèmes de santé mentale et les personnes âgées en Europe.

The Common European Guidelines on the Transition from Institutional to Community-based Care (‘the Guidelines’) provide practical advice about how to make a sustained transition from institutional care to family-based and community-based alternatives for individuals (including children) currently living in institutions and those living in the community, often without adequate support. 

This report gives an overview of the documentary reality TV series, “Life as it is-foster families,” which UNICEF in Bulgaria launched in 2010 as a part of its agenda to stop children under 3 years of age from being placed in institutions and to close the infant homes for institutional care.

This summary report describes the project UNICEF has undertaken with the government of Bulgaria to establish a nationwide regional approach to foster care development based on its pilot experience. The project included a national public awareness campaign, establishment of specialized foster care services, and capacity building of the statutory child protection bodies.

This paper aims to raise awareness on the perverse effects of institutionalisation on children and it calls for comprehensive system reforms, starting with a transition towards family and community-based care. It highlights country level lessons learnt in the European context that demonstrate how deinstitutionalisation can be achieved in practice.

This briefing paper seeks to address key misunderstandings about de-institutionalisation. It explains what it is and what it is not and addresses key questions often asked about the need for such institutions, the role they play and the impact of this transformation and what it entails.

El meollo de este proyecto de investigación de dos años está en los testimonios de más de 300 jóvenes con experiencia en acogimiento en Albania, República Checa, Finlandia y Polonia. Su conciencia colectiva del proceso de finalización de la acogida nutrió directamente a los hallazgos y a las recomendaciones sobre políticas presentadas en este volumen.

Through a comprehensive statistical analysis and literature review, this UNICEF report provides a child rights-based up-to-date review of the situation of children under the age of three in formal care in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CEECIS).

This report presents the findings from a two-year peer research project which includes the testimony of more than 300 young people with care experience in Albania, the Czech Republic, Finland, and Poland. More than 40 care leavers from the four countries were selected and trained to play an active role in the all aspects of the projects. The interviews revealed widespread inadequacies regarding the process of leaving care, promoting the research team to draw up recommendations to address them.