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Hope and Homes for Children

HHC

Hope and Homes for Children is an NGO working to eliminate institutional child care.

Lobbying Activity

Hope and Homes for Children urges EU budget care reform

10 Nov 2025
Topic — The European Commission is consulting on the post-2027 EU long-term budget for external action.
Message — The organization demands ring-fenced funding for family-based care and clear conditions for candidate countries to reform child protection. They want the budget to explicitly support the transition away from institutional care.123
Why — This would secure continued European financial backing for the organization's core mission to eliminate institutionalized child care.4
Impact — Children in institutions lose out if EU funds continue to support large-scale residential facilities instead of family services.56
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Hope and Homes for Children Urges Protected Child Care Funding

26 Oct 2025
Topic — The European Commission is consulting on the next long-term EU budget framework.
Message — The group requests thematic enabling conditions to support transitioning children from institutional to family-based care. They also advocate for restoring child poverty earmarking and setting aside funds for community services.12
Why — This would prevent EU funds from being diverted away from vulnerable children and families.3
Impact — Traditional institutional care providers lose access to funding redirected toward community-based solutions.4
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Meeting with Viktoriya Petrikova-Voeten (Cabinet of Commissioner Marta Kos) and Save the Children Europe and

24 Jun 2025 · Recommendations to the EU on the reform of Ukraine’s child protection and care system

Meeting with Viktoriya Petrikova-Voeten (Cabinet of Commissioner Marta Kos)

20 Feb 2025 · Children care and de-institutionalisation reforms in Ukraine and Moldova.

Meeting with Barry Andrews (Member of the European Parliament, Committee chair)

19 Feb 2025 · Development

Meeting with Marco La Marca (Cabinet of Commissioner Dubravka Šuica) and Save the Children Europe and

21 Jan 2025 ·  Presentation of CRAG  Pact on the Mediterranean: Safeguarding children in migration management  Middle East Strategy: West Bank  Family care in sub-Mediterranean countries  Youth policy dialogue

Response to Integrated child protection systems

18 Oct 2023

Hope and Homes for Children, an international NGO with decades of experience protecting and promoting the rights of children without parental care and supporting the reform of child care and protection systems in Europe and globally, welcomes the initiative of the European Commission to propose a Recommendation on integrated child protection systems. This is both timely and necessary. We see this forthcoming Recommendation as an opportunity for the EU to guide its Member States in strengthening child protection systems and tackling a wide range of child protection risks and vulnerabilities, as well as breaches of child rights. Due to overlapping crises, including ongoing conflicts, natural disasters, the refugee influx, and the economic and energy crises, more and more children are at risk of separation and being placed in institutions. The EU has taken a leading role in recognising the harm of institutionalisation and committing to the transition from institutional to family and community-based care in its most relevant policies and funding regulations. Child institutionalisation is a gaping symptom of flowed child care and protection systems. Tackling the root causes of child institutionalisation and implementing the transition from institutional to family and community-based care is essential for child protection systems strengthening. This contribution, based on decades of experience in supporting the child protection systems globally, including in EU countries such as Bulgaria and Romania, explores the far-reaching implications of institutionalisation on children and delves into the structural factors that lead to child institutionalisation. It also highlights the violation of children's rights associated with domestic violence and the separation of the child from the non-abusive parent. Finally, it provides detailed evidence-based recommendations to EU Governments on how to strengthen the child care and protection systems.
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Meeting with David Lega (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

17 Jul 2023 · Meeting with Child Rights Organizations

Meeting with Iris Abraham (Cabinet of Vice-President Dubravka Šuica)

8 Jun 2023 · Care reform for children in Ukraine

Meeting with Eugenia Rodríguez Palop (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur)

6 Jun 2023 · Trafficking

Meeting with Maria-Manuel Leitão-Marques (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

2 Jun 2023 · Revision of the Directive on Anti-trafficking

Meeting with Maria Walsh (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

25 Apr 2023 · Child Trafficking

Response to Preventing and combating trafficking in human beings - review of EU rules

21 Mar 2023

Hope and Homes for Children, ECPAT, Terres des Hommes the Netherlands, Save the Children, the European Disability Forum, Eurochild, Missing Children Europe, International Social Service, Child Helpline International, LUMOS, Street Child and Child Identity Protection welcome the European Commission's proposal to review Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims. This revision is both timely and necessary. Due to overlapping crises, including ongoing wars, natural disasters, the COVID-19 pandemic, the refugee influx, and the economic and energy crisis, more and more children are at risk of separation and being placed in institutions. Children in institutions are particularly at risk of being targeted by traffickers, and have few, if any, recourses to turn to. We see in this revision a long-awaited opportunity to further strengthen the Directive by adding a special mention of the phenomenon of institution-related trafficking and introducing specific measures to uphold the rights of all children, including children deprived of parental care. The link between institutions and human trafficking was recognised by the UN General Assembly in 2019. Two UN Special Rapporteurs of the Human Rights Council on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography have also highlighted this connection on various occasions, such as in a 2016 and 2022 report. This has also been recognised by the Council of Europe's Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings in a thematic chapter of its 2018 report and the country monitoring reports of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. The EU has acknowledged the harm of institutions on children. The commitment to supporting and promoting the transition from institutional to community and family-based care is reflected in the most relevant EU funding regulations and policies. However, despite the evidence of human trafficking cases connected with institutions in the European context, the EU has never officially recognised the connection between trafficking and institutionalisation in its policies or legislation. Four cycles of institution-related trafficking can be identified: - Children are trafficked into institutions; - Children are trafficked out of institutions into other forms of exploitation; - Child victims of trafficking are often placed, or placed back, in institutions by the responsible authorities, creating a vicious cycle for trafficked children and additional risks to their peers; - Care leavers are more at risk of exploitation and trafficking. Above all, trafficking into institutions covers both the two elements constituting child trafficking: the act and the purpose. For this reason, it must be added to the list of the types of exploitation covered by the Directive. The increased vulnerability of children from institutions to human trafficking should also be addressed in the Directive. To effectively respond to trafficking, the Directive should ensure that children from institutions are represented in the data collection mechanisms. Preventive measures should also target children in institutions to tackle the immediate risk of trafficking for both children in institutions and care leavers. The Directive must put an obligation on Member States to prioritise, support and facilitate the recovery of child victims in a family-based environment, whenever possible. As per the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, the Directive should recommend Member States to discourage the demand that foster all forms of exploitation of persons. Institution-related trafficking constitutes a threat to a broad range of childrens rights. The EU should recognise the link between trafficking and institutions and address and prevent these human rights violations.
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Response to European Solidarity Corps programme evaluation

15 Nov 2022

The European Solidarity Corps is an excellent initiative that offers voluntary assistance in a variety of contexts, while giving young people in Europe the opportunity to impact positively society, expand their skillsets, and open their minds. Hope and Homes for Children would like to give feedback on one specific aspect of the programme; the continued existence of opportunities to volunteer in childrens institutions (often referred to as orphanages). In this submission, we will offer evidence on how these kinds of volunteering trips may be harming the children that they intend to be helping, as well as offer a recommendation on how this potential for harm could be avoided in future. Over 100 years of research from across the world demonstrates the significant harm caused to children in institutions who are deprived of stable, continuous and loving family care and who may consequently suffer life-long harm. The majority of these children are not orphans; approximately 80% have at least one living parent. Growing up in an institution is strongly linked with negative impacts on childrens development, especially their physical growth, cognition, and attention as well as socioemotional development and mental health. Institutionalisation harms childrens ability to form attachments which are critical to healthy development. This is further exacerbated by the carousel of international volunteers who work for short periods of time in institutions, further harming the attachment patterns of children. The consequences of institutionalisation can continue long beyond childhood and lead to multiple disadvantages during adulthood. Life-long impacts of institutionalisation include severe developmental delays, disability, irreversible psychological damage and poor health. A key part of this evaluation is the identification of any unintended effects that might have occurred as a result of the activities of the European Solidarity Corps. The placement of ESC volunteers in institutions may be harming children. This could be happening directly, where a volunteer staying for a short period of time, forming a bond with a child, then leaving, could be contributing to a repeated sense of abandonment and harming the childs ability to form healthy attachments. In addition to this direct harm, we know from decades of experience that the placement of volunteers in institutions contributes to the continued presence and proliferation of institutions in that context. Institutions receive funding from volunteers and/or volunteering organisations that could be going towards placing these children in a stable family environment or supporting them to achieve independence once they have left an institution. The presence of volunteers in an institution can also legitimise its presence within a local, regional or national context; where an institution brings international volunteers and tourists to an area, it may face fewer questions about the conditions of the children who reside within its walls. Another important part of this process is evaluating the programmes internal and external coherence with other programmes with similar or complementary objectives. The need to support deinsitutionalisation features in the global dimension of the first EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child, where the European Commission committed to invest in the development of quality alternative care and the transition from institution-based to quality family- and community-based care for children without parental care and children with disabilities. To ensure that the European Solidarity Corps activities are not causing unintended harm to children and are coherent with the wider EU framework on the rights of the child, we recommend that the exclusion of placements in childrens institutions is explicitly mentioned in the European Solidarity Corps regulation and thoroughly observed in the implementation of the European Solidarity Corps initiative.
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Meeting with Renaud Savignat (Cabinet of Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen) and SOS Children's Villages and

3 Dec 2021 · Discussion on Youth Action Plan

Meeting with Iris Abraham (Cabinet of Vice-President Dubravka Šuica) and Save the Children Europe and

9 Jun 2021 · Meeting on Child Rights Strategy / EC- International CSOs

Meeting with Iris Abraham (Cabinet of Vice-President Dubravka Šuica) and Lumos Foundation

5 May 2021 · The Strategy on the Rights of the Child

Meeting with Kasia Jurczak (Cabinet of Commissioner Janez Lenarčič) and Lumos Foundation

1 Feb 2021 · Childrens' rights / support.

Response to Union of Equality: European Disability Rights Strategy

12 Nov 2020

Persons with disabilities still face obstacles to their inclusion and participation in society on an equal basis with others and are more exposed to violence. Children with disabilities are especially vulnerable to social exclusion, neglect and violence, and are at greater risk of being institutionalised, due to a lack of support services available to the family, and a lack of inclusive education in the community. With the right services in place, family separation can be prevented and many of these children could grow up in birth, extended or foster families: as part of the community. Lumos and Hope and Homes for Children therefore welcome the upcoming Disability Rights Strategy for 2021-30, and see a renewed strategy as an opportunity to build on the lessons learned from the Disability Rights Strategy 2010-20, foster deinstitutionalisation for children with disabilities and promote inclusive education globally. In order for the European Disability Rights Strategy 2021-30 to adequately contribute to the goal of reaching full inclusion of persons with disabilities, it is absolutely necessary that children do not grow up segregated in institutions, but in the community in loving and caring families. Following the EU’s acknowledgement of the harm caused by institutionalisation and its commitment to support the shift from institutional to family- and community-based care, Lumos and Hope and Homes for Children propose the following recommendations for the European Disability Rights Strategy 2021-2030: • Renew the commitment to the transition from institutional to family- and community-based care and extend this commitment to the EU’s external action. • Specifically recognise the institutionalisation of children as a harmful practice, and highlight the specific risks for children with disabilities. • Ensure the views and opinions of children and young people with disabilities, including those living in institutions or who have lived in institutions (care leavers) are included in the design, the implementation and evaluation of the Disability Strategy 2021-30. • Encourage Member States to develop, and ensure access to, specialised services for children with disabilities and their families, including foster care families, based on their needs, in addition to mainstream services. • Encourage the use of EU funds to support the transition from institutional to family and community based care and the prevention of separation of children from their families, namely the European Social Fund Plus, the European Regional Development Fund, the Instrument for Pre-Accession III and the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument. • Encourage Member States to design and implement targeted measures to fight discrimination and stigma in the society, in particular in education and early childhood education and care. • Call on Member States to ensure all children regardless of disability have access to the same standards of care through legislation and practice. • Have a robust implementation and monitoring framework. In order for the new Disability Rights Strategy to be more effective, to make sure that policy is translated into practice, and that progress is measured, robust implementation and monitoring mechanisms are key. Measures fostering deinstitutionalisation for children with disabilities need to be planned out and committed to in the Strategy, and their implementation and progress needs to be monitored. • Address the need for children living in institutions and otherwise outside households to be represented in disaggregated data. Please read the attached joint recommendations for more details.
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Meeting with Renaud Savignat (Cabinet of Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen) and World Vision Brussels & EU Representation ivzw/aisbl and

8 Oct 2020 · Child Rights Strategy

Response to European Child Guarantee

5 Oct 2020

In the EU, 1 out of 4 children are at risk of poverty or social exclusion. When children do not have access to adequate resources, services and support, they start their life at a significant disadvantage and are at risk of ending up in a cycle of poverty and of being left behind. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic and its socio-economic consequences are having a dramatic impact on vulnerable children as well as on their families and communities. Responses to the pandemic are compounding structural weaknesses in child protection and welfare systems and testing the capacity of vulnerable families to care for their children. Ultimately the number of children at risk of separation from their families, in need of additional support, or in alternative care is likely to increase. Hope and Homes for Children and Lumos are therefore in support of the European Commission’s intention to adopt a European Child Guarantee in 2021, which should help ensure that every child at risk of poverty or social exclusion has access to the “most basic of rights like health care and education”. In doing so, a European Child Guarantee is indispensable to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights (in particular Principle 11), the upcoming comprehensive EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child, and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Following the EU’s acknowledgement of the harm caused by institutionalisation and its commitment to supporting the shift from institutional to family- and community-based care, as well as the support expressed by the European Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen to break the cycle of child poverty and social exclusion, Hope and Homes for Children and Lumos propose the following recommendations for Council Recommendation on the European Child Guarantee: - Encourage Member States to identify children in institutional care or at risk of family separation as a priority target group for their Child Guarantee National Action Plans. - Request Member States to identify measures and actions for children in institutions and, where applicable, their families, based on a thorough needs analysis of the children concerned and an assessment of the available services in the country - Support Member States in the development of long-term strategies to support the transition from institutional to family- and community-based care, ensuring they include measures to prevent institutionalisation and family separation. - Set minimum targets for the EU in universal access to services. - Encourage Member States to collect data on vulnerable children. - Encourage Member States to develop their Child Guarantee National Action Plans in coordination with other broader national/regional strategies that cover and impact the transition from institutions to family- and community-based care. - Encourage Member States to allocate a sufficient budget to match the ambitious goals of the Child Guarantee National Action Plans. - Ensure the Council Recommendation on the European Child Guarantee has a clear implementation plan which can be monitored. - Ensure that the views and opinions of children and young people, including those living in institutions or who have lived in institutions (care leavers) are included in the design of the European Child Guarantee and the National Action Plans. - Ensure that each Member State nominates a contact point in the relevant line to coordinate the planning, implementation and monitoring of the European Child Guarantee. Please read the attached joint Recommendations for more details.
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Meeting with Adela Kabrtova (Cabinet of Commissioner Janez Lenarčič) and Lumos Foundation

20 Aug 2020 · Protection of children

Meeting with Katri Teedumäe (Cabinet of Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi), Maja Kocijancic (Cabinet of Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi) and

13 Jul 2020 · Child care reform in Covid 19 crisis and in next MFF

Meeting with Catherine Sustek (Cabinet of Vice-President Margaritis Schinas) and Lumos Foundation

13 May 2020 · Children in migration

Meeting with Santina Bertulessi (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit) and Lumos Foundation

23 Apr 2020 · Child guarantee

Meeting with Iris Abraham (Cabinet of Vice-President Dubravka Šuica)

10 Mar 2020 · Children's rights

Meeting with Francisco Barros Castro (Cabinet of Commissioner Elisa Ferreira) and Lumos Foundation

4 Mar 2020 · Discussion on how best to ensure that the new European Commission delivers on children’s right to family life