Foster care can make the difference

Blog post by Mary Theodoropoulou from Eurochild’s Greek member Roots Research Center on their new campaign to raise awareness on the importance of foster care in Greece.

Foster care in Greece is still underestimated and underdeveloped. There are 1,351 minors in the Greek institutional care system. Among them are children with disabilities and unaccompanied children without parental care. Greece has 99 residential care units and most of them host more than 30 children.

The latest numbers the Ministry published, in February 2023, indicate that they have 2,639 applications for adoption and only 445 for foster care. There is no major interest for many reasons. The institutions and the child protection system bureaucracy set a lot of barriers for foster care. The legal status of the children hosted in institutions is often complicated. In addition the option of foster care in not promoted and foster parents receive no financial benefits. The legal custody of the children brings many problems to the foster parents. Training is not enough to all parts involved, staff, parents, biological family. The lateral receives no real support and no true services are provided to be able to reunify a child with its biological family.

With limited support the system has a long way to go for better results. Furthermore much of the Greek public opinion confuses the meaning of foster care. They believe it is just a backroad to adoption.

Roots Research Center organisation is promoting foster care as a good practice of deinstitutionalisation. We take action by spreading the awareness of the need for foster care in Greece. We provide counselling and training to all parts involved (professionals working in institutional care or foster care, prospective foster parents and parents who already foster children, as well as biological families in risk or in the process of reunification with children). We are dedicated to family support, foster care for short time instead of institutional care.

Our new video is created to introduce in a friendly- and child-sensitive way the need for foster care. It explains the true meaning of foster care through the story of the Greek mythological god, Zeus: every child in need has to be protected and get back to his/her family when the family is ready and strong.

Every child deserves a safe and loving family environment.

Watch the video below:

For more information, contact Mary Theodoropoulou from Roots Research Center.