A representative of “Equilibrium” took part in the Professional Forum on the Adoption Process – Trends and Opportunities.
The event was on October 6th, 2017 at the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, initiated by the Bulgarian Association “Adopted and Adopters” in partnership with the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy. Representatives of the Ministry of Justice, the Agency for Social Assistance, the State Agency for Child Protection, the Regional Directorates for Social Assistance in the country as well as colleagues from the non-governmental sector working on the topic of adoption, took part in the forum.
During the meeting, many things were discussed – issues related to the reduction of national adoptions, inadequate preparation of the adoptive parents, the designated leave for adoptive parents, the need for training of the specialists working in this field. Opinions were expressed on the establishment of a national adoption council.
The representative of “Equilibrium” – Darinka Milanova, a social worker from the Ruse complex, presented the proposals for amendments to the legislation from the discussion held in Ruse on 25.09.2017, part of the week “Friends of Adoption “, focusing on the good partnership between the Complex for Social Services for Children and Families and RDSP – Ruse. The proposals presented by Darinka Milanova synthesize the issues discussed with candidate adopters and adopters and professionals from the “Equilibrium” team and key regional institutions related to the better preparation of children in the adoption process, work to preserve their identity, preparation and the subsequent support of adoptive families.
The Ministry of Labour and Social Policy undertakes to conduct a survey among the trainees of the candidate adoptive parents in order to study the current practice, the needs of future parents and what improvements to be made. The directors of the regional directorates expressed concern about the effectiveness of the work of a council to replace the current 28. Minister Dimitrova specialists in the Ministry are already working on the regulation of the target leave and will be discussed in a working group. The Forum’s discussed issues will be analyzed in detail by the regional directorates, according to the specificities of their regions and the commitments undertaken by the MLSP.