CHILD WELFARE REFORM PROJECT

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CHILD WELFARE REFORM PROJECT

• COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

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Situation Analysis

• 34122 children live in 360 specialized state
  institutions, only 1000 of them have no parents
• Low level of family culture and parental
  competence
• Lack of public response to violence against
  children within the family and public places
• Inadequate perceptions and assessments of social
  services due to the lack of other social
  practices
• Lack of responsible social attitude to childrens
  problems

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Reform in the Child Protection System

• Adoption of the Law on Child Protection - May
  2000
• Setting up the State Agency for Child Protection
• Establishing of 70 Child Protection Departments
  within the Directorate for Social Assistance
• Implementation of the Child Welfare Reform
  project with 20 pilot municipalities
• Amendments to the Law on Child protection April
  2003

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The reform promotes a wholly new philosophy whose
essence contradicts the existing social practices
and even enters into conflict with the current
attitudes and behavior regarding child care

• An awareness campaign to the general audience
  and the specific target groups is absolutely
  needed for the success of the reform.

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Activities of the technical project

• Capacity building of the State Agency for Child
  Protection on national and local level
• De-instutionalization, alternative social
  services at local level
• Prevention of abandonment and protection of
  childrens rights
• Street children services

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Aims of the Communication campaign

• To inform and raise the awareness on the new
  child protection system regionally and nation
  wide
• To encourage and foster attitude changes of the
  general public and the professionals with regard
  to the advantages of the new policy, new
  practices and the expected results

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Target groups

• The population of the 20 pilot municipalities
• All parents and parents in risk
• All children and children in risk
• Professional groups and local institutions,
  working with children and families at risk
• The local business
• Media national and regional
• NGOs working on children issues

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Main message of the campaign

• The reform in the system of child care aims at
  increasing the awareness and sensitivity of each
  one of us to the problems of children and to
  motivate the stakeholders to unite their efforts
  so that each child has a home, family and
  protection

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Main slogan of the campaign in the first stage of
the project

• To each child with love and care

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Main slogan in the second stage of the campaign

• For each child family and love

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Slogan addressing the parents

• I love that is why I care

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Slogan addressing all children

• Give a helping hand to a friend in trouble

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Slogan addressing children at risk

• I am different I also need a family, care and
  love

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Slogan addressing professional groups

• I help

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Slogan addressing the business community

• Bulgarian business helps Bulgarian children

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Slogan addressing the media

• My vote For the child

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Slogan addressing the NGOs

• Active in name of children

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Strategy Basic principals

• Positive case studies -Learning from success
• Presentation of true stories
• Involvement of ordinary people in the campaign
• Integration the efforts of all parties concerned
  
• No ethnic focus of the campaign

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Strategy - stages of the project

• The communication program will be flexible and
  will follow the objective development of the
  reforms
• First stage focus the public attention and
  raising the sensibility of the general public on
  children problems
• Second stage promoting the new structures for
  social services

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Tactics

• Development and implementation of three
  campaigns focused on the main target groups
• National campaign
• Specialized campaign
• Regional campaign

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National Campaign

• Objectives
• To substantiate the necessity for reforms,
  explaining its meaning and advantages. To provoke
  the sensitivity of the society
• Target groups
• the general public
• the public in the pilot municipalities
• Implementation
• Production and distribution of PR materials-
  Posters, videos, audios

• National media
• Educational films for the BNT
• Participation in TV programs
• Radio campaign audio spots
• Radio program with the BNR
• Two supplements in 24 Chasa
• Specially prepared articles
• Presentations of true stories
• Internet
• Internet discussion
• Distribution of all PR materials
• Events
• Seminar for journalist
• Media relations

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Specialized campaign

• Objectives
• To inform the professionals about the reform
  its legal framework, course and advantages. To
  make them aware of their role and new skills
  acquired for better professional realization. To
  motivate them to cooperate.
• Target groups
• Social workers in the municipalities
• Teachers
• Inspectors - psychologists
• Policemen, Judges, Teachers
• Medical staff
• School psychologists

• Implementation
• Events
• Discussions meetings in five large and five
  small municipalities
• Two seminars with the regional journalists
• Production and distribution of PR materials
• 5 different leaflets
• Media relations
• Publications in specialized press
• Interviews with experts
• Participation in specialized programs

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Regional Campaign

• Objectives
• To promote on regional level the new social
  units and the services provided
• Target groups
• The general public in the pilot municipalities
• Families at risk
• Children at risk
• Social care experts
• NGOs
• The local business and media
• Implementation

• Events
• Using existing local events
• Opening of the new social units
• 10 meetings discussions
• Regional TV Channels
• Airing 18 reportages positive case studies
• Six educational films on the reform
• Interviews with experts from the project
• Production and distribution of print materials
• Brochures, leaflets, posters
• Media Relations

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Actions in a crisis situation

• Defining a Worst case scenario
• Lack of transparency in the project
  implementation
• Discrediting any of the new social units
• Discrediting the foster family model
• Corruption incidents
• Preparation of an action plan
• Guide lines on information distribution
• On line information on crisis
• Stock of materials with a catalog
• Contact person list
• Media contact list
• Internet site management
• Hot line

• Crisis centre
• appropriate technical equipment
• and human resources
• Crisis management
• Project leader with crisis team
• Event-analysis-action-message
• Basic principals
• Maximum openness min. delay
• Planning in line with the actions
• Clear messages for every one
• Actions showing care, control, transparency
• The right juridical strategy is often a wrong
  PR strategy
• Facts and frequency of information
  authenticity

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Campaigns follow up, assessments and updating

• Expected results
• To increase the awareness of the reform and the
  sensitivity of the society to children issues
• To motivate more people, associations and
  organizations to work for this National cause
• Assessment of the campaign
• Sociological surveys to measure degree of
  awareness, perceptions, attitude change
• Media activity on issues related to the children
  welfare
• Appearance of other initiatives supporting
  children
• Number of NGOs working on the same topic
• Tuning and updating the campaigns