2018 Country Factsheets
Austria
Despite a well-developed social welfare system and a 30-year-long history of transition towards community-based approach and family-like settings, challenges still exist for vulnerable families and children in alternative care in Austria. Lack of the nationwide quality standards of residential care, coupled with limited financial resources, missing structures and resources for the aftercare support are some of the common obstacles in Austrian child welfare and child protection systems. Read more >>
Download country-specific factsheets: 2018 (pdf), 2017 (pdf) and 2016 (pdf)
Belgium
The majority of children deprived of parental care in Belgium are placed in institutional care. Children with disabilities are among those who are the most discriminated against. Deinstitutionalisation in Belgium is considered as an austerity measure, and stable employment of professionals working within institutions is a priority for the state. Due to the influx of unaccompanied migrant and refugee children, more institutions have been now opened or extended. Read more >>
Download country-specific factsheets: 2018 (pdf), 2017 (pdf) and 2016 (pdf)
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Over 2018, there has been significant progress across all legal entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina in terms of the policy and legislative framework for children in institutions and the provision of alternative and preventative services. There has been a good uptake in the deployment and implementation of foster care training along with the development, piloting and mainstreaming of new services to support families and avoid children being placed in institutions. Read more >>
Download country-specific factsheets: 2018 (pdf), 2017 (pdf), 2016 (pdf), 2015 (pdf) and 2014 (pdf)
Bulgaria
Since embarking on the comprehensive child protection reform in 2007, Bulgaria has made a commendable progress. The Government’s commitment to achieve a complete transition from institutional to family- and community-based care by 2025, coupled with continued EU support, made Bulgaria a pioneer Member State in leveraging EU funding for catalyzing reforms in child protection. The process of transformation is additionally supported by a number of international and local organisations, private donors and UNICEF. Read more >>
Download country-specific factsheets: 2018 (pdf), 2017 (pdf), 2016 (pdf), 2015 (pdf) and 2014 (pdf)
Croatia
Although the process of deinstitutionalisation has started in Croatia in 2006, the transition from institutional to family- and community- based forms of care shows slow signs of progress. This is mainly due to a lack of commitment from the State, a lack of know-how in the area of community-based social services by the state providers, prejudices against foster care and inefficient use of EU funding to support deinstitutionalisation reforms. Read more >>
Download country-specific factsheets: 2018 (pdf), 2017 (pdf) and 2016 (pdf)
Estonia
Estonia took important strides towards the transition from institutional to family- and community-based care. Since mid-2016, the European Social Fund has supported the deinstitutionalisation reform through implementation of the “Improving the Quality of Alternative Care” programme. It includes provision of counselling services for foster and kinship carers, training of employees in residential care settings and local authorities, and practical support to those working with youth care leavers and the care-leavers themselves. Furthermore, it is set in the law that family-based care should be the first option for children in alternative care and that it should be promoted by local municipalities. Read more >>
Download country-specific factsheets: 2018 (pdf), 2017 (pdf), 2016 (pdf), 2015 (pdf) and 2014 (pdf)
Greece
Although Greece was identified by the European Commission as one of the countries with a need to implement deinstituionalisation reform, the Greek government has not taken adequate measures to respond. The conditionality to use Structural Funds in line with deinstitunalisation strategy and action plan has not been fulfilled either and the country still does not have relevant policies to proceed with child protection and care reform. In Greece, there is general perception that institutions are an appropriate solution for children in out-of-home care. Despite the obstacles towards the implementation of the reform of child protection, in 2018, the long-awaited legislation on foster care and adoption was voted in. This enables children without parental care to be placed in foster care or to be adopted under specific safeguards. Read more >>
Download country-specific factsheets: 2018 (pdf), 2017 (pdf), 2016 (pdf), 2015 (pdf) and 2014 (pdf)
Hungary
Hungary is one of the 12 Member States that was recognised by the European Commission as a country with the identified need for deinstitutionalisation reform. However, Hungary’s Action Plan for Social Inclusion does not include measures for the transition from institutional to family- and community-based care. Civil society in Hungary is concerned that the EU funds for deinstitutionalisation of children are not used towards strengthening the child welfare system, strengthening families, gatekeeping or reunification efforts but prevailingly for the modernisation of children’s homes, building smaller institutions or placement into foster care. Read more >>
Download country-specific factsheets: 2018 (pdf), 2017 (pdf), 2016 (pdf), 2015 (pdf) and 2014 (pdf)
Latvia
Since 2015, important regulations and plans have been adopted by the Latvian government to reform the system of child care and develop family and community-based care solutions. The EU and national funds have been used to proceed with implementation of these plans which continued in 2018 on the normative basis. Read more >>
Download country-specific factsheets: 2017 (pdf), 2016 (pdf), 2015 (pdf) and 2014 (pdf)
Lithuania
A comprehensive reform of the child protection system is currently being implemented in Lithuania within the framework of a seven-year Action Plan for the transition from institutional care to family- and community-based services for people with disabilities and children deprived of parental care. The reform entered a second phase in mid-2018, focusing on the development of regional infrastructure for family- and community-based services. Despite strong commitment and active engagement of the Lithuanian government in deinstitutionalisation reform, the lack of continuity measures in the planning of projects presents a challenge to developing a well-functioning and sustainable network of services. Read more >>
Download country-specific factsheets: 2018 (pdf), 2017 (pdf), 2016 (pdf), 2015 (pdf) and 2014 (pdf)
Moldova
Since embarking on the reform in 2006, Moldova has made a commendable progress in the eradication of all institutions for children. Thanks to the joint efforts of the Government, civil society and international organisations, the number of children living in institutions in Moldova decreased five-fold: from 11,500 in 2006 to less than 1,100 in 2017. The number of children in family-based care increased two-fold and the number of professional foster care families increased 9 times. Read more >>
Download country-specific factsheets: 2018 (pdf), 2017 (pdf), 2016 (pdf), 2015 (pdf) and 2014 (pdf)
Poland
Poland is one of the 12 countries that have been identified by the European Commission with a specific need for deinstitutionalisation reforms. Although the implementation of the National Programme for the Prevention of Poverty and Social Exclusion 2020 has already started, there are concerns that EU funding is being allocated towards the development of smaller institutional care settings rather than a broader deinstitutionalisation process. Civil society calls for adoption of a national strategy on deinstitutionalisation and for better monitoring of EU funding and national resources to prioritise family strengthening, support programs and community-based services. Read more >>
Download country-specific factsheets: 2018 (pdf), 2017 (pdf) and 2016 (pdf)
Romania
The process of deinstitutionalisation seems to have been demoted on the list of priorities by the Romanian government lately. Such change of focus and the fact that the government did not include children on the agenda for the 2019 EU presidency presents a challenge for a continued national reform on deinstitutionalisation. This has been coupled with significant delays in the allocation of EU funds and the prioritisation of EU calls for funding to proceed with the child protection system reform in Romania. Read more >>
Download country-specific factsheets: 2018 (pdf), 2017 (pdf), 2016 (pdf), 2015 (pdf) and 2014 (pdf)
Serbia
There is no established public strategy focusing on the transformation from institutional to family- and community-based care in Serbia. The reforms in child welfare and child protection are not happening fast enough and the national funding for deinstitutionalisation reform is neither sufficient nor effective. The current financial system needs reforming because funding is based on the intervention logic of the available services and not on the individual needs of a child. Expenditures for residential and family care are the largest part of a total consolidated budget for social care services in Serbia. The system also lacks quality standards for all services recognized by the Law on Social Protection. The government’s current priority is to create smaller residential settings for children in care by transforming larger institutions into small group homes. Read more >>
Download country-specific factsheets: 2018 (pdf), 2017 (pdf), 2016 (pdf), 2015 (pdf) and 2014 (pdf)
Spain
Child and youth protection system in Spain is currently over-relying on the institutional care model, with alternative care, including community-based, family support and prevention services being underdeveloped. Spain does not have a national strategic framework which contemplates a full transition from institutional to family- and community-based care. The main challenges towards the realisation of deinstitutionalisation reforms in Spain are the lack of resources at both national and regional level, the lack of clarity on the roadmap towards deinstitutionalisation reforms and the differences between the regions across Spain. Read more >>
Download country-specific factsheets: 2018 (pdf), 2017 (pdf) and 2016 (pdf)
Ukraine
With over 100,000 children confined to institutions across Ukraine, development of a well-functioning child protection system and deinstitutionalisation reform have been the pressing issues. In 2017, the Government of Ukraine took a significant step to change the situation for children by adopting the National Strategy on Reform of Institutional Care System for 2017-2026 and Action Plan for its realization in the first stage (2017-2018). Other positive developments include adoption of regulations on the provision of social services in the community, work of small group homes and allocation of public funds for inclusive education. However, many more actions need to be taken to ensure effective implementation of the rights of children without parental care in Ukraine. Read more >>
Download country-specific factsheets: 2018 (pdf), 2017 (pdf), 2016 (pdf) and 2015 (pdf)