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.

The Training, Support and Development (TSD) standards form part of a foster carer's induction into the role. They provide a national minimum benchmark that sets out what foster carers should know, understand and be able to do within the first 12-18 months after being approved.

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.

Les enfants placés ont souvent des frères et sœurs. Malgré l’importance du lien fraternel et des décisions le concernant, les recherches européennes sur les relations fraternelles sont rares et plus encore celles sur les fratries placées. Dans la plupart des pays, les données officielles disponibles renseignent sur le nombre, le sexe et l’âge des frères et sœurs dans les familles et leur statut social, mais elles ne disent rien sur les autres caractéristiques des relations fraternelles et de la situation familiale. 

Apres le secteur du handicap les travaux europeens relatifs a la desinstitutionalisation portent sur le secteur de la protection de l’enfance. Aussi, la Convention Nationale des Associations de Protection de l’Enfant (CNAPE) a souhaité apporter son expertise, défendre un certain nombre de principes et présenter des axes de travail afin que l’évolution annoncée ne soit pas préjudiciable ni pour l’enfant, ni pour sa famille. La réflexion sur la désinstitutionnalisation doit être menée dans un objectif unique : offrir à chaque enfant la meilleure réponse possible au regard de sa situation et de son intérêt supérieur. 

This data pack, produced by the Department for Education, aims to summarize national data about children who leave care aged 16 and over and outcomes of care leavers at age 19. The pack was also developed to help local authorities to compare their performance with others and to investigate issues such as age of leaving care and placement stability on the outcomes of care leavers.