3 years ago, according to statistics from the SACP and the State Agency for Refugees at the Council of Ministers, Bulgaria reported:
- 22 Homes for children deprived of parental care, where 603 children between the ages of 7 and 18 grow up;
- 17 Transit housing, where 146 children between the ages of 7 and 18 grow up, deprived of parental care;
- 8 Refugee Centers, where 204 unaccompanied children of migrants between the ages of 14 and 17 of different nationalities grow up;
- 953 children in state care, of which every year about 180 leave care - adolescents aged between 15 and 18 years.
Given the cited data, expert teams from the Know-How Centre for the Alternative Care for Children at the New Bulgarian University and the Projecta Foundation identified 3 main challenges at a national level, which were addressed through the project, namely the needs:
• to build the capacity of professionals working for and with children, with children's rights and child protection in connection with the provision of basic services for caregivers in order to create and implement their personal life projects and apply methods for dealing with a hostile or risky environment in preparation for leaving care before reaching the appropriate age;
• to improve carers' access to essential services, such as higher education, vocational training and access to the labour market;
• for a common integrated approach to work together with different stakeholders.
In this regard, the model of Prof. Laura Landy's project for children's participation was applied in the development of the project by providing "Space", "Voice", "Audience" and "Influence".
Additional information can be found on the Know-How Centre for the Alternative Care for Children, NBU, website (in Bulgarian).