Foster care

The Family and Social Services Ministry has reported that the number of children under state protection is 14,761, while 9,981 children are in foster care and 19,689 children have been adopted as of February 2024.

An artificial intelligence program called DerinGÖRÜ, created by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK), have enabled a total of 1,865 children who had been separated from their families following the devastating quakes on Feb. 6 to reunite with their families.

According to the most recent data from the Family and Social Services Ministry, there are currently 9,180 children living with 7,581 families, and seven more children have sought safety in foster care as a result of the recent earthquakes.

More than 325,000 people have applied to become foster families for children affected by the deadly Feb. 6 earthquakes, while the number of people making an official request for adoption exceeds 67,000, stated a senior official from the Family and Social Services Ministry.

Some 522 migrant children have been residing with Turkish foster families as of August, Family and Social Services Minister Derya Yanık has stated.

Peoples' Democracy Party (HDP) Deputy Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu submitted a parliamentary question regarding the number of migrant children given to foster families in the last five years.

Serkan Özübek, who broke new ground in Türkiye by becoming the first single male to adopt a child in the country in 2019, has come to the forefront in this year's Fathers Day with his first interview "he gave with his son" after three years.

"I always wanted to father a child even if I was not the biological dad," Özübek told daily Milliyet on June 19.

About 63% of Bulgarians would not become foster parents under any conditions, and one in six would take home a child at risk if they received a salary and child benefits from the state, shows data from a nationally representative survey of Trend polling agency, commissioned by the National Association for Foster Care.

Two-thirds of Bulgarians would not become foster parents, even if they get a good pay from the state. The conclusion is from a national survey, commissioned by the National Foster Care Association.

53% of Bulgarians support children at risk of being raised in foster families. The highest is support among university graduates who do not see a better alternative.

Legislation set to take effect in April aims to improve transparency and speed up the placement of children put up for adoption or foster care in Greece.

"We want to lift the shroud of mystery that often surrounds adoptions in Greece," Alternate Social Solidarity Minister Theano Fotiou told Kathimerini.

Several disabled people's and human rights organisations, Inclusion Europe, the European Network on Independent Living, the Centre for Peace Studies Croatia, Human Rights House Zagreb, and Human Rights Watch, on Wednesday said in a letter to Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic that Croatia should stop confining children and adults in institutions.