Children in Institutions

"School Free from Violence" is a project implemented in Bulgaria by UNICEF, the State Agency for Child Protection, Sofia Municipality, Ministry of Education and Science, and other institutions. The project aims toward creating a safe and supporting school environment through direct interaction with children, teachers and parents in the school.

As described in a recent article by Agence France Presse, Bulgaria is struggling to modernize its child homes network. Child care system is badly affected by lack of qualified personnel, abuse cases and inadequate adoption regulations. Recent dramatic incidents proved that safety of 8 000 abandoned children in Bulgaria is at risk.

Full version of the article is available here.

Inter Press Service presents and article by Claudia Ciobanu on the reform of child care system in Romania.
Main element of the transformation, which started in 2001, was the switch from placing children in care institutions to finding them a place in a more family-type units or with a foster family.

On the 21st and 22nd October 2008, the III International Juvenile Justice Observatory Conference will take place in Valencia, Spain. The theme of this year's conference is "Juvenile Justice Systems in Europe: current situation, trends in applicable models and good practices".