Joint meeting to discuss the progress on deinstitutionalisation (EEG - COM)
Joint meeting to discuss the progress on deinstitutionalisation
03-06-2016 Eurochild News -
The European Commission and the European Expert Group on the Transition from Institutional to Community-based Care met on 1 June in Brussels
A joint meeting of the European Commission (EC) and the European Expert Group on the Transition from Institutional to Community-based Care (EEG)- of which Eurochild is a member- was held on 1 June in Brussels. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the progress on deinstitutionalisation in several Member States through the exchange of positions between representatives of state institutions, civil society and the European Commission.
The situation in Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Malta, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic was discussed. Eurochild took part in the meeting and its members from Bulgaria represented the views of civil society – the National Network for Children was represented by Vania Kaneva, Policy and Advocacy Adviser at For Our Children Foundation. Vania presented a joint position of the NNC and the coalition "Childhood 2025" on the progress on deinstitutionalisation of children in the country. The position describes the key successes that were achieved during the first stage of the process (2010-15) and the key challenges that emerged during this period, along with recommendations to address them.
Among the key achievements is the serious reduction in the number of children raised in institutions and the increase in the number and range of services in the community and foster care. Increasing public support for the principles of deinstitutionalisation and the integrated way in which several of the EU structural funds were used to support the process are also among the successes.
Among the main challenges is the lack of progress on the adoption of a new Action Plan for the National Strategy "Vision for Deinstitutionalisation of Children in the Republic of Bulgaria", as well as the inadequate involvement of NGOs and other key stakeholders in the planning and management of the process. The quality of care in the new residential services for children (Family-type Placement Centres) is questionable, as they are under-financed and their high capacity (15 children) does not provide for a sufficiently family-like environment. Similar concerns related to the risks of re-institutionalisation of the children who have been moved from the large institutions to community-based residential care were also shared by several other countries.
Another major concern is that a high number of children in Bulgaria continue to be placed in formal care, including institutions, residential services and foster care, which indicates that so far the process of deinstitutionalisation has not placed enough emphasis on the prevention of separation of children from their families and their abandonment.
Moreover, the sustainability of some of the new preventive services was not guaranteed after the end of their financing by EU funds and the state did not allocate resourced from the budget for their preservation. The quality of the management of foster care and the child protection system is also a problem. In Bulgaria, as in almost all other countries that were discussed, there persist negative public attitudes towards the inclusion of children with disabilities and children from different ethnic backgrounds.
These concerns were shared by the representative of the European Commission, with key emphasis placed on the need to develop a new Action Plan as soon as possible, with the involvement of all relevant stakeholders.
The recommendations of the National Network for Children and the coalition "Childhood 2025" for the next stage of the deinstitutionalisation process can be seen in more detail in their common position (click here to see the document).