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98% of Children Accommodated at Bulgarian Care Homes Have Parents

By end-2012, Bulgaria had a total of 30 homes for medical and social care for children with a capacity to accommodate 3642, according to data of the National Statistical Institute (NSI).

In 2012, homes for medical and social care accommodated 2087 children, 1169 of them boys and 918 of them girls.

The number of children accommodated at care homes decreased by 10% year-on-year in 2012, registering a 29.5% fall since 2005.

By December 31, 2013, a total of 32% of the children accommodated at care homes were up to one year of age.

The share of children aged 2-3 was 16.9%, while the share of children aged 3+ was 32.4%, despite the fact that this type of facility only offers care for children aged up to 3.

By end-2012, 98.1% of the children living in care homes (2048) had one or two parents, while the complete orphans and foundlings were 39, or 1.9% of the total.

A total of 2644 children were discharged from care homes in 2012, with 107 of them transferred to another type of care facility due to completion of age, while 2537 children left the care homes because they were adopted or referred to a different social protection service.