Empowering families: Solutions and strategies to keep children at home

Eurochild led a peer-to-peer learning workshop in Sofia bringing together civil society organisations, municipalities, state agencies and other experts to discuss family separation due to parental addictions, to understand the root causes and address the immediate needs.

Over the past two years, Eurochild has deepened its focus on preventing child-family separation as part of its ongoing commitment to safeguarding vulnerable families. Under one of our key projects “Leveraging EU influence to deliver change for families in adversity in Bulgaria”, we organised our second peer-to-peer learning workshop in Sofia, Bulgaria, bringing together a diverse group of participants. In its effort to identify, highlight and propose solutions to preventative measures that keep families together, Eurochild in collaboration with the Know-how Centre for Alternative Care for Children, directed attention to parental addictions as a significant cause of children being separated from their families, a key finding from the Know How Centre's upcoming report.

The two-day event hosted diverse stakeholders including paediatric psychologists, crisis centre representatives, researchers, representatives from the State Agency of Social Protection, and organisations working directly with families at risk of separation. The feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive, with many expressing that the topic was highly relevant and timely. This unique constellation of perspectives allowed for rich discussions and valuable exchanges that many felt were long overdue.

During the workshop, participants emphasised that children and families dealing with addiction-related challenges often become invisible due to the stigma surrounding the issue. The peer-to-peer workshop gave a platform for exchanging knowledge on the root causes of family separation but also gave space to share ideas on addressing immediate needs.

Several concerns were highlighted during the discussions:

• Parents struggling with addiction hesitate to seek help due to fear of having their children taken away, further isolating them from the services they require to stay together;
• There is a need to shift focus towards the functionality and strengths of parents. Supporting people struggling with addiction must be done through the understanding that they are also parents;
• It is essential to invest in resources for frontline social workers in addition to building knowledge and sensitizing the topic for decision-makers;
• There is a significant overlap between the challenges faced by a child and their family when addiction is involved, but this overlap does not translate into the services available to them.

The Role of the EU Child Guarantee

Upon presenting the opportunities the European Child Guarantee provides, Eurochild coordinated a discussion on the next steps to the two-day dialogue. The follow-up action proposed was to identify available resources and knowledge within this expert group. That collective of organizations can then be consulted by decision-makers on various aspects of supporting families facing challenges with addiction, particularly before and after launching open calls for project proposals under the Child Guarantee. This consultation could cover discussions on the required profile of social workers, mandatory partnerships with NGOs with proven experience in the field, and the introduction of external monitoring for projects.

The group emphasised the importance of working from a human-centred perspective, building on existing local relationships. A successful pilot project in Veliko Tarnovo, introduced by the Know How Centre, which involved stakeholders from various levels, was cited as a potential model for future initiatives. The group underlined the importance of framing open calls based on data and the needs of children and their families.

Lastly, participants also expressed that they would welcome discussions with high-level stakeholders on the definition of key terms related to family separation and addiction.

Eurochild is dedicated to continuing its role as a link between institutions at the European level, while also enhancing communications between policymakers and civil society sector in Bulgaria. The Eurochild team extends a warm thank you to all participants for their valuable contributions, which made the event both inspiring and productive. Together, we continue working towards creating systems that keep families united and provide children with the stability and support they deserve.