On 13.07. 2017. In Hall 5 of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy a round table "Development of the Coordination Mechanism for Interaction in Cases of Violence against Children" was held. The chairman of the meeting was Milena Harizanova, Program Director of UNICEF Bulgaria. On the part of the SAPI participated Prof. Neli Petrova and Darinka Yankova from the Social Activities and Practices Institute, which traced the topic of violence against children before and after the introduction of Zona Zakrila model in Montana and Shumen in 2015. Katia Krastanova and Maria Chomarova from the Animus Association Foundation shared their experience with the implementation of the model in Sofia.
For starters, Kamelia Nikolova from the State Agency for Child Protection introduced the audience in the essence of the Coordination Mechanism for interaction in case of children, victims or at risk of violence and for interference in crisis intervention and the prerequisites for its creation. It includes two categories of participants: Child Protection Department, representative of the mayor of the municipality, MoI authorities and alternative representatives, 1/3 of which are representatives of the educational institutions.
According to SACP statistics 31 times the multidisciplinary team has been convened in extraordinary time in 7 districts of the country, 956 cases were filed with the Regional Prosecutor's Office. Some of the problems SACP sees in unprepared specialists and the emergency placement of children in crisis centers. One of the recommendations is for a thorough analysis of services for children who have experienced violence.
Prof. Neli Petrova, Chairperson of the SAPI Executive Board, presented some of her observations on the project "Justice, Child Friend - Training of Professionals for Better Interaction", funded by the European Commission. The key issues on which the SAPI is analyzing have arisen from the participants themselves in the first ten trainings. "It is necessary for children to be better informed about their rights," Prof. Petrova said. According to her, it is necessary to analyze what signals are called meetings of the Coordination Mechanism for Interaction, who participates and how. Its observation is that in the smaller cities, the representatives of the individual institutions, part of the Coordination Mechanism, are better known than in the big cities.
After the discussion, Milena Harizanova presented the "Zakrila Zone" model, which started in 2015, and what are the benefits for the children. For two years the feedback from the children is positive, they get information about their rights and the meaning of the blue room for a gentle hearing is very great. For its part, the SAPI sends an assessment of the readiness of the child to be questioned. Prof. Neli Petrova introduced the barnacus audience and the international standards as well as the 10 model standards, and Katia Krastanova from Animus Association presented the challenges for the Zakrila Zone.
Statistics from Unicef - Bulgaria show that as of 30.06.2017. 410 received support, of which 228 were children, 182 were adults.
Over 480 children are covered by prevention in kindergartens and schools, 84 are subjected to domestic violence, 60 - sexual, 29 - physical and 15 - bulling. 152 psychological counseling was done on 152 children.
The forum ended with the presentation of real cases of children who have survived violence, who have received support from the Zone of Zakrila - Montana, Shumen and Sofia.
