Amici dei Bambini launched in January 2010 the 18-month research project "The Child's right to a family: foster care under the lens", financed by the Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme of the European Commission.  The general aim of the project is to promote adequate and effective forms of foster care in accordance to the CRC of 1989, the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Parliament resolution of 16^th January 2008. More in detail, the project aims at empowering civil society organizations operating in Veneto and Puglia regions (Italy), Bucharest and Iasi (Romania), Sofia (Bulgaria), and Warsaw and Wroclaw (Poland).

In order to ensure more efficient foster care systems, it is deemed to be necessary the:

• 1. Identification of effective role of CSOs in promoting foster care within programs, services and pilot projects able to increase access of children in need to foster care without discrimination;
• 2. Creation of a set of indicators specific on foster care that would allow policy makers to recognise the potential effectiveness of services and social programs;
• 3. Promotion of identifies best practices and spread of lessons learnt to CSOs and public authorities.

The project will also focus on the role of foster care systems in each country, comparing legal and official framework to real management.

In this very moment, 40 interviews per country are being carried out by each national research team with national and local decision makers, operators, foster families and young care-leavers, in order to identify strengths and pitfalls on foster care, best practices and to enable CSOs to stronger activate advocacy and lobby actions at local, national and European level.