The protection of children in Bulgaria is implemented through the dedicated work and cooperation of professionals in social services, psychologists, police officers, teachers, mediators, etc. The protection of children's rights, especially in situations with adverse childhood experiences, depends on their skills and attitudes to apply the right approach.
This approach is based on the following child protection principles:
- Respect for and consideration of the personality of the child;
- raising the child in a family environment;
- ensuring the best interests of the child;
- special protection of the child at risk;
- encouraging voluntary participation in child protection activities;
- immediacy of child protection action;
- temporary nature of restrictive measures;
- care in accordance with the needs of the child;
- promotion of responsible parenthood and family support;
- preventive measures for the safety and protection of children;
- monitoring of the effectiveness of the measures taken;
The most important thing for a child is to be able to rely on such dedicated support from all professionals involved in child protection in Bulgaria. Social workers from the Child Protection Departments take child protection measures at local level when they receive signals of child abuse or violation of children's rights. Professionals in the education sector ensure the education and upbringing of children. The police provide police protection to children when necessary in emergency situations when there is a threat to the life and health of a child. In order to enable the protection authorities to take care of children in a timely manner, any citizen who is a witness that a child is in need of protection is obliged to immediately notify the Social Assistance Directorate, the State Agency for Child Protection or the Ministry of the Interior.
The STRENGTHEN project focuses on strengthening the child protection system in Bulgaria by training social workers, police and the education sector workers to have the capacity to work qualitatively and in cooperation with each other. The main coordinator of the project is Workshop for Civic Initiatives Foundation, which works in partnership with the Education Trade Union of the CL "Podkrepa" and the State Agency for Child Protection. It runs for 24 months from April 2020 and is implemented with the financial support of the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme of the European Union.
The trainings, held in all regional centers in the country, demonstrate to professionals in a practical way how to cooperate with each other, as well as form their knowledge, skills and attitudes to apply a strengths-based approach to supporting victims of violence, and to use some methods of restorative justice to resolve family conflicts that threaten the safety of children.