READ THE FULL PROJECT HERE >>>
Every five hours, a child in Bulgaria is placed with an institution. Each year, an average of 2 000 Bulgarian children are abandoned and institutionalised. They grow up with no chance of adequate development and family care. The institutional placement and care of children up to the age of 3 has a lasting negative impact on their development. According to research, every 3 months spent within an institution delay the child's physical development by 1 month.
Most children end up in care facilities for reasons of poverty, housing problems, financial difficulties or due to their own or their parents' deteriorated health. The supporting services for families and for prevention of child abandonment are still quite underdeveloped in Bulgaria.
With the current project, UNICEF intends to bridge one or more areas by setting up a network of services and measures in support of parents and families with young children and use the network thereafter to devise a model for closing down one care institution for infants aged 0-3.
With support from the national budget and the European Funds, the model will be applied in a step-by-step process to close down all infant care institutions in Bulgaria.
The project aims to develop new social and health services and measures to supplement the ones currently running in the territory of the region.
One of the services will address pregnant women and mothers so as to prevent the abandonment of babies by early intervention. Pregnant women will receive support from a psychologist and a children's doctor, who will get the mother and her family members prepared for the forthcoming childbirth and infant care. The parents of disabled children will receive support in delivering adequate care to their child. The support will continue in the postnatal period: in the maternity ward, during the first days, and in the mother's home, after she leaves the hospital.
Also, a Support Centre for Parents of Babies and Infants will be established. The parents attending the Centre will be involved in employment programmes and trainings on parental skills and will receive housing assistance. They will gain psychological, social and in-kind support. Day-care will be provided for the children. A multi-disciplinary team of social workers, psychologists, pedagogues and medical staff will work to the aid of parents.
Another activity within the project will be to launch a Centre for children's and mothers' health to carry out regular surveillance of the health condition, physical and psychomotor development of babies and infants. The service will address pregnant women and socially disadvantaged parents of newborns, who are marginalised and have not subscribed for the services of a general practitioner or fail to visit a medical practice. The staff of the Centre will comprise a paediatrician, a paediatric nurse, a psychologist, a rehabilitator.
In addition to the above services, the Shumen Regional Foster Care Centre, which was established by UNICEF, will work to find alternative families for children at risk (foster care, adoption). The Centre's activities include: finding, assessment and preparation of foster parents and applicant adoptive parents, as well as support for the child and the family after the foster placement or adoption.
This project will be implemented in one region of the country, Shumen. Should enough funds be collected, UNICEF is ready to replicate the model in neighbouring regions.
The total running costs for the project within a one-year period amount to BGN 984 000.
