Agreements with the institutions support the activities of the three Centers

Partnership agreements with the relevant institutions support the efforts of the teams for effective and fruitful work in the three Centers for counseling and legal assistance for children established under the project.

The activity of creating and signing them went through several stages. Initially, workshops were held for which a draft Agreement was developed. In the first panel of the working forums held in Lom, Plovdiv and Pazardzhik, the project, the study and the analysis of the potential of the respective region for piloting the Centers for counseling and legal assistance for children were presented, as well as the result of the consultation process. In the second part, the text of the relevant partnership agreement was discussed and commitments made by the representatives of the relevant institutions for its subsequent discussion and adoption.

As a result of this activity, 20 Partnership Agreements (Memorandum of Cooperation) were signed with the institutions, in which the following goals are set: Coordination of professional actions and resources for the provision of services by the relevant Center; Promotion of professional relationships for joint actions to support and help minors in conflict with the law, including those convicted of crimes committed by them in the relevant region; Reduction of delinquency and antisocial behavior of minors; Implementation of preventive and resocializing activities for working with minors with deviant behavior.

Since April, when the Centers were established, the teams have worked with more than 50 children. A goal of the social service is also to changesociety’s attitudes towards building perspectives for children from vulnerable communities in contact or conflict with the law.