Across Europe, guardians play a vital role in protecting unaccompanied children, helping them navigate complex legal systems, access essential services and rebuild a sense of stability after often traumatic journeys. Yet many carry out this responsibility while facing significant challenges of their own, from heavy caseloads and limited resources to emotional strain and fragmented support systems.
A new GUIDE report explores these realities, drawing on the experiences of guardians and child protection professionals across Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Poland and Slovakia. Rather than focusing solely on policies or training outcomes, the report highlights the guardians’ needs to do their job well, what continues to stand in their way, and what practical steps can strengthen support for unaccompanied children across Europe.
The report identifies recurring themes such as
- building trust with children,
- managing trauma,
- supporting participation in decision-making,
- working across different services,
- preventing professional burnout, and
- ensuring that children with disabilities receive inclusive and appropriate support.
Guardians need a wide range of skills, not just legal knowledge. They should understand children’s rights, migration processes, disability inclusion, safeguarding, case management, communication, and how to work with other services.
Well-trained professionals also need opportunities to exchange experiences, reflect on difficult situations and learn from one another. The findings show that creating spaces for peer support, such as the GUIDE Listening Circles (facilitated peer discussions as a safe space for guardians), can strengthen professional resilience and ultimately improve the quality of care provided to children.
Supporting children with disabilities and developmental difficulties should be a normal part of guardianship practice, not a separate issue. This requires better cooperation between child protection, disability, education, health, and social care services.
Effective guardianship is the outcome of coordinated systems, supportive organisations, informed policies, and communities of practice that enable professionals to protect, advocate for, and support children in meaningful ways.
Read the full publication in English, Bulgarian, Greek, Italian, Polish, Slovak e Ukrainian.
About GUIDE
GUIDE – Supporting Guardians of Unaccompanied Children is a project funded by AMIF-2023-TF2-AG-CALL-06-CHILDREN; AMIF Action Grant Budget-Based.
Partners
- EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF SERVICE PROVIDERS FOR PE (Belgium, coordinator)
- EUROCHILD (Belgium)
- IASIS (Greece)
- SDRUZHENIE NATSIONALNA MREZHA ZA DETSATA (Bulgaria)
- Imago Foundation (Poland)
- TENENET OZ (Slovakia)
- CESIE ETS (Italy)
- DIMOS EGALEO (Greece, associated partner)
- Save the Children Europe (Belgium, associated partner)
- SAVE THE CHILDREN ITALIA ONLUS ASSOCIAZIONE (Italy, associated partner)
- Europsky institut regionalneho rozvoja, n.o. (Slovakia, associated partner)
- TRNAVSKA UNIVERZITA V TRNAVE (Slovakia, associated partner)
For further information
Read more about the project. Contact Fabiana Adamo: fabiana.adamo@cesie.org.
