Bulgaria

Around 8,000 children are growing up in institutions across Bulgaria. Of these, a third are under three years old and almost all of them (98%) have parents.

Most of these children are simply there because their families are either too poor, too young, too ill or too discriminated against to cope with looking after a child. For these vulnerable children, these factors often combine to create tragic and often desperate situations. Their families can no longer cope and they are abandoned to a life in an institution.   

The Government recognises the detrimental effect of institutions on children and is now committed to reforming its childcare system, closing all its institutions and moving children into family environments.

We began working in Bulgaria in 2009 closing the Teteven Institution for Babies, in collaboration with Equilibrium, a local NGO. Supported by the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Labour and the agency for child protection, we ensured all 32 babies in the institution were either returned to their families, adopted by caring families or placed with loving foster families. We also worked with vulnerable families to prevent a further 21 babies entering the institution.

After finding loving homes for every child, we converted the old institution into a Centre for Social Support. This now provides a range of social services for children, their families and foster carers. It includes day-care so parents can earn a living knowing their children are safe and it provides immediate short-term support for children who are at risk, until a long-term solution is found for them.

The closure of the Teteven Institution is considered a model for reforming institutions for babies in Bulgaria. The Government has requested that we work together to close a further eight institutions across the country. We will help develop services to ensure all children are cared for in families, we will help children move out of the institutions and we will train and mentor local professionals to ensure the children are safe and thriving in their new homes.

We hope this work will create the momentum to close all the remaining institutions for babies in Bulgaria.

Our current work in Bulgaria is an unprecedented opportunity to support the Bulgarian Government in reforming its childcare system. It also helps us support the EU in its aim to stop all children under the age of three living in institutions.

We work in partnership with Equilibrium in Bulgaria, with financial support from The Bulgarian Abandoned Children’s Trust.