A round table: “Home for children with hope for the future”, was held on 16.11.2022 kindly hosted by the District Administration of Sofia Region.
The purpose of the Round Table was to share good practices in family support work and to consider interaction mechanisms and opportunities to improve coordination between all partners involved in the process of reforming the child protection system to function without the presence of institutions and always look for alternatives in a family environment and a social service provided in the community.
The round table was opened by the Deputy Regional Governor of the Sofia Region, Mr. Alexander Manolov, who declared his commitment and partnership in our joint work for children and families to continue. Valeria Draganova, program coordinator at Hope and homes for children – Bulgaria, presented the organization’s work on closing the Home for medical and social care for children in Zlatitsa and prevention of abandonment in the district. She emphasized how important it is to work with all specialists and structures related to family problems. This makes it possible to look for a solution for each child. Several joint cases where successful results were achieved were also presented. In the process of reflection on deinstitutionalisation, Mrs. Penka Popova – Director of Directorate for social assistance in Pirdop reviewed the joint work with Hope and homes for children – Bulgaria. She talks about the achievements, difficulties and the environment in which we worked five years ago and how the situation has changed today. One of the main highlights of her presentation was our cooperation on prevention of abandonment and closing the entrance to the institution.
The 21 participants present, representatives of Regional directorate for social assistance, State agency for child protection, Agency for social assistance, District Administration and Directorates for social assistance in the district, discussed how important it is to work in partnership, to look for solutions together, to unite resources and to act individually and flexibly in relation to the situation. The good example of interaction in the field between all participants once again showed how much work has been done and how much more needs to be done in the direction of supporting children and families.
Hope and Homes for Children – Bulgaria thanks all colleagues from the child protection system for their work and successful partnership, as well as the Regional Administration over the years for their active involvement in the deinstitutionalisation process.
