The Social Activities and Practices Institute managed the Home for Children deprived of parental care “Assen Zlatarov” in Sofia between September 2013 and September 2015.

The main goal that the team had during the implementation of the project was to improve the quality of life of the children from the Home through a more active sharing of the care provided to them on the part of the biological families, the protection system, the Home itself, the medical services and the school.

In the two years that we managed the service we have done a number of activities, and applied measures, practices, and services aiming to develop the skills of the children for a dignified and independent life, assertive communication and skills for participating and taking decisions in all spheres of activities concerning their lives.

Provided were various forms of support based on individual and group work. As an additional resource we have used the opportunities for social services in the Community Support Centre, and some innovative models for services: intensive socio-pedagogical support for children in high risk, and intensive assistance in the development of skills for independent life of the young people that are about to leave the institution. In the Home were started some group programs for school support, for the development of social skills, social animation, art workshops, as well as programs for preparation of the children for leaving the Home. Last, but not least, we have invested in the professionalization of the team through trainings, supervisions, methodological and clinical meetings on particular cases.

Shared conclusions from our practice:

The Needs of the Children in Alternative Care

The children that need placement outside their families are extremely vulnerable. In many of them the consequences are revealed in the form of a large number of problems and difficulties. Many of these children live in such residential homes since birth, others have been maltreated or treated with negligence in their families, all of the children have experienced and continue to experience psychological suffering. The difficulties in their behaviour, which become most obvious during adolescence, represent the revelations of this suffering. This behaviour then becomes the reason for them to be rejected once again, to be punished and isolated, including by the institutions for children, such as schools, commissions, services, etc. With these children the ordinary punitive-corrective approach most often fails. The potential change that could be achieved is normally a result of the treatment of the people that surround them, and often it is small and difficult to accomplish. 

Financial and Human Resources in the Services

The funding of the residential care provides resources to maintain the buildings, to raise the children, and to pay the staff. However, the funding that is provided does not correspond to the needs and it is most often challenging to ensure the human resource that is needed. It is necessary to have discussions about the people that service these children and their preparation as professionals. A good care for the children also requires high professionalism, the attraction of specialists with a very good preparation and qualification – a problem that is relevant for all residential services in the country. One of the consequences of this problem is the high number of staff people coming and going. The reasons are various, but most often they are related to fear from the high responsibility, stress and professional powerlessness, combined with low salaries. Nowadays, with the development of the process of deinstitualization and the new residential services, standards concerning the competence of the profession “social educator” are more than necessary!

Instruments and Measures for Inter-Institutional Collaboration

The availability or the lack of a common understanding about the needs of the children and their best interest predetermines the success of the partnerships that are organized – with the protection system, with the schools, with the local authorities, with the police, with the Commission for Fighting Anti-Social Acts. This can only be achieved only in the presence of a high intensity collaboration.