CHILD WELFARE REFORM PROJECT COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

Situation Analysis 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 children’s problems

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

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.

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 children’s rights Street children services

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

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 NGO’s working on children issues

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

Main slogan of the campaign in the first stage of the project To each child with love and care

Main slogan in the second stage of the campaign For each child – family and love

Slogan addressing the parents I love – that is why I care

Slogan addressing all children Give a helping hand to a friend in trouble

Slogan addressing children at risk I am different … I also need a family, care and love

Slogan addressing professional groups I help

Slogan addressing the business community Bulgarian business helps Bulgarian children

Slogan addressing the media My vote: “For the child”

Slogan addressing the NGO’s Active in name of children

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

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

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

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

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

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 NGO’s 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

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

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 NGO’s working on the same topic Tuning and updating the campaigns