On October 29th and 30th in Veliko Tarnovo discussion meetings on the topic "Separation of children from their families in Bulgaria" were held with professionals from social services – community support centers and family type accommodation centers for children without disabilities.
The two meetings, one of which enabled online participation, were attended by more than 50 professionals from Veliko Tarnovo region (V. Tarnovo, Gorna Oryahovitsa, Lyaskovets, Svishtov, Strazhitsa, Polski Trambesh, Pavlikeni), Targovishte (Targovishte and Popovo), Silistra, Ruse, Vratsa and Kozloduy.
One of the meetings was hosted by the Municipality of Veliko Tarnovo. Mrs. Rositsa Dimitrova – Director of the Social Health Activities and Transport in the municipality actively participated in the event.
The purpose of the meetings was to present and discuss the results of a research conducted by organisations, members of the Childhood 2025 Coalition on the topic of separation between children and their parents. The research was conducted within a project framework of the Coalition, led by the Know-how Center for Alternative Care for Children at New Bulgarian University.
Through interactive methods and group work, the seminar presenters Dr. Sabina Sabeva, representative of International Social Services – Bulgaria and Elena Petkova from Equilibrium Association invited the participants to debate on the four main areas of the research:
An interesting finding of the presenters is that there is a great similarity between the views expressed by the participants in the two meetings and the results reached by the research team.
Participants agreed that the reason for separation as a measure of protection for children is never a single one, but usually a complex of mutually reinforcing factors. This makes separation prevention work extremely difficult, but also very important and necessary.
The long-term and short-term effects of separation on children and families have also been commented on, and that the child protection system does not address these effects in sufficient depth. It generally does not monitor how its decisions affect the lives of children and their parents.
As a result of the lively discussions, several very concrete recommendations for improving policies for working with children and their families were made, which will be reflected in the final report of the study. It is expected to be published in early 2025.
