During his visit to "I Mitera" Child Protection Center on Wednesday, Greek Prime Minister stated that Greece now has a modern and transparent adoption and fostering system that can evaluate applications without disregarding or excluding applicants.
He was accompanied by Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Domna Michailidou.
Presenting the government’s updated adoption platform, he stressed that this will "set aside the bureaucratic hurdles of the past," and be able to "quickly connect children with parents who want to offer them the warmth of a family environment," via the online adoption and fostering database at www.anynet.gr, a system active since July 6.
The operation of the digital system, comes a few months after the Prime Minister's commitment - last December - that by the end of 2020 social services would have an electronic national adoption and fostering register.
Using a special algorithm which taps into the database, the system analyses the files of children and prospective parents and generates connection suggestions. Some 202 proposals have already been submitted by the algorithm, 84 for fostering and 118 for adoption.
"We have funded health much more actively and I would like to be able to do the same for the issues related to welfare and especially the issues related to the child. You know the limitations we have, but it is certain that the coronavirus forced us to make a total rearrangement of some priorities," Mitsotakis said.
The PM also met with the centre's employees and volunteers and visited dormitories where children reside and spoke with prospective parents, who conveyed their comparative experiences between the former and current systems.
Some recent key steps for the modernisation of the country's adoption system include the registration of all minors living in protection and hospitality facilities, completed in January, and the training of 130 professionals who were assigned the coaching of prospective parents on the needs of adoption and fostering.