Adoption training, Troyan: On 24-25th of June, in the town of Troyan, Lovech district, EQ/HHC conducted training on adoption as a child protection measure for child protection officers from Lovech district. The training was lead by Nadezhda Petrova, psychologist, with extensive experience in providing services for adoptive parents at the Centre of Social Support in Russe. It was attended by 10 representatives from 4 CPDs who are responsible for assessing candidates and 1 representative from the Regional Directorate of Social assistance who deal directly with national adoption and matching children with families. We discussed the implications for the children of current practices and how the process should be improved to meet better the interest of the child.

Training on prevention of baby abandonment, Lovech: Effective prevention of baby abandonment in Lovech district is essential for the success of the joint project being undertaken by EQ and Hope and Homes for Children - ‘Closure of Teteven Baby Home and development of alternative social services’. We conducted a two-day training on 20-21 May 2010 for 15 representatives of child protection, maternity hospitals and regional health authorities. This involved exploring the concept of prevention, partnership networks for information exchange and joint work, effects of institutionalisation of babies and emergency foster care for babies and young children as an alternative to institutions.

A child raised in institutional care is typically deprived of the supportive, intensive, one-to-one relationship with a primary caregiver that is essential for optimal development. Evidence suggests that the neglect that can occur in institutional settings is damaging to brain development, leads to a number of social and behavioural problems, low social competence, ‘quasi-autistic’ or stereotypical behaviours and feeding problems in some severely deprived children. Infants who were raised in institutions would have serious learning difficulties, with specific difficulties in language development and the ability to pay attention. IQ is typically reported to be lower in children in institutions and language development is often delayed. The evidence suggests that they grow into adults who are less able to make social or economic contributions to society, are more likely to be involved in antisocial behaviour and to be unable to develop stable family units of their own.

Foster care training in Teteven: Within project ‘Closure of Teteven Baby Home and Development of Alternative Services for Children and Families’, implemented in partnership with Hope and Homes for Children UK, we have embarked on an ambitious public awareness and recruitment campaign on foster care in Lovech administrative district and several adjoining municipalities. Village ‘road show’ – mayoral offices, directorates of social assistance and labour offices facilitate presentations delivered in community venues in key settlements. 10 presentations have been conducted between February and April, for about 70 people.

From 26 to 30 April, 10 candidates for foster parents, 7 relevant child protection officers responsible for their recruitment and approval and other interested professionals from Teteven municipality received training in Teteven. This is a standardized training of 36 hours with an approved national programme, delivered by the EQ experts – Ivelina Dimitrova and Stefka Peteva. After training the candidates will proceed with their applications.