The organizations of the Childhood 2025 Coalition have established ethical guidelines for professionals for joint advocacy actions with parents in the field of child protection. The text draws on research data and practical experience of Bulgarian and foreign specialists in the field of parental and civic activism, as well as on globally established ethical standards of social work. Parents who are activists with the Code Participation Foundation also participated as consultants in the process of creating the guidelines.
The document, called "Together in Action", contains 16 principles that social system professionals can use in dialogue with parents who can share their experiences and would like to use them to influence decision-making at all levels. The ethical guidelines are based on respecting the dignity and ensuring the safety of parents, as well as encouraging their self-awareness and self-respect. In this way, the guidelines help to prevent the reproduction of relationships and behaviors that lead to power imbalances, which hinder parental participation.
The ethical guidelines for involving parents in advocacy activities can be used as a resource by national, regional, and municipal child protection agencies; various social services; non-governmental organizations; for involving parents in various mechanisms for assessing the effectiveness of interventions in the field of alternative care; in formulating and implementing various policies to support vulnerable families experiencing serious crises, etc.
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In 2023-24, organizations from the Childhood 2025 Coalition, in collaboration with the Know-How Center for Alternative Care for Children, NBU, conducted a study on the reasons for the separation of children and families based on the experience of social service professionals who work directly on cases. The data from the study was compiled in a comprehensive report describing the risks in families that trigger the intervention of the protection system.
The report highlights the need to create a supportive environment around children and their parents who live in conditions that create a risk of separation. It notes that Bulgaria already has developed interventions and mechanisms to provide such support—material and administrative, assistance in finding work, improving living conditions, providing housing, etc. Unfortunately, however, the data also show that these measures are still fragmented. In many places, a punitive institutional approach continues to prevail, which not only fails to support families but also traumatises them further.
At the same time, the experience that parents gain when dealing with the protection system makes them the most natural and authoritative advocates for quality reforms. On the other hand, the inequality between the power of state officials and the vulnerable, almost helpless position in which disadvantaged families often find themselves, effectively limits most opportunities for parents to influence the formulation and implementation of truly effective policies for childcare and education.
