Bulgaria’s problems with children who are abandoned or deprived of parental care are no secret and have been well publicised by foreign media. Most debate, however, has focused on living conditions in children’s institutions and the health of youngsters residing there. Attention has centred on children’s chances of adoption with little said about foster care. For most Bulgarians the term foster parents sounds like a movie feature and means little.

This does not mean, however, that foster parenting is absent in Bulgaria or that people are not working in social welfare trying to make it a desirable alternative to placing children in institutions.

The leader in this is the For Our Children NGO which, on October 23-25, gathered more than 100 foster families from all over Bulgaria in Plovdiv at the third annual national foster care meeting to discuss problems confronting the sector.

The beginning
"It’s no secret that in 1998 our organisation introduced the start of this new but effective alternative to life in institutions known as foster care," Ivanka Shalapatova, director of the For Our Children (FOC) NGO told The Sofia Echo. "In just a few years we managed to achieve the impossible by placing children in the first eight foster families in Bulgaria," she said.

A decade on, foster parenting has taken off and the legal framework is now in place, if not, sadly, with the required speed. According to Shalapatova only about 200 children currently live in foster families.

Additionally, many foster parents formally approved by the state have not been given custody of children. "Historically, Bulgarians are used to taking care of children who are not their own, especially during wars and in times of social crisis," Shalapatova said.

"Today, however, foster parenting has a big ‘competitor’ in the form of children’s homes. Despite the passing years nothing can eradicate the communist approach towards children living in endangered circumstances," she said.   

"The belief that social homes are the preferred option for a child to that of a family environment persists. At the same time nearly 7200 children are living in social homes and waiting for ‘parents’."

Another problem faced by NGOs working in adoption is that aspiring foster parents prefer to care for a younger child rather than a teenager who has grown up in an institution.
To change this, both society and institutions have to redouble their efforts. One particular aim is to bolster support received by foster families. "It is important to increase the number of people willing to become foster parents which is not easy," Shalapatova said.

"Many people are unaware of what is involved or the paltry financial support foster parents currently receive from the state as well as the lack of public backing for this to change," she said. "The state pays foster parents between 150 and 250 leva a month for each child depending on his or her age.

To change this, the FOC is working on a joint national financial standard for foster parents so that municipalities and institutions involved in the process can have the right to manage state subsidies allocated for the purpose, including the selection, training and supervision of foster families.

Currently, there are two types of foster parenting in Bulgaria: professional and voluntary. Both categories receive money but while voluntary foster parents get only between 192 and 260 leva, which is supposed to cover a family’s expenses in raising the children, professional foster parents also get a monthly salary of about 250 leva after tax for their work.  
In neighbouring Romania, on the other hand, the only foster parenting is professional.

"In 1997, Romania took a decision at governmental level to close all children’s institutions and train their staff as professional foster parents to take care of between six and 10 children. This was how the change in Romania took place,  according to my information," Shalapatova said. "We believe, however, that this is not the right way to handle the issue of children in state institutions. Foster care development should happen gradually and regularly, not on an ad hoc basis," she said.