The shocking case of the children from Kypseli, which came to light under harrowing circumstances, has laid bare the fragmented and deeply flawed state of Greece’s child protection system. It has once again exposed the gaps, omissions and structural weaknesses of a framework meant to safeguard society’s most vulnerable members—failures that are highlighted after every similar tragedy but rarely addressed.
“There is no child protection system in Greece,” George Nikolaidis, psychiatrist and director of Mental Health and Social Welfare at the Institute of Child Health, told To Vima. He questioned how no educational, healthcare, welfare or municipal social service identified the severe problems affecting the girl—now pregnant—during her 15 years of life.
Nikolaidis noted that in most European countries, professionals who interact daily with children are trained to identify vulnerable cases early. In several countries, he said, every family welcoming a newborn receives a visit from a social worker to assess whether early intervention is needed. “These programs demonstrably save lives,” he said. “The fact that nothing comparable exists in Greece is infuriating.”
Hospitals Filling a Protection Gap
The absence of adequate child welfare structures, combined with an understaffed and poorly organized foster care system, has created a dangerous protection gap.
Official data from the National Centre for Social Solidarity (EKKA) for the second quarter of 2026 show that 93 minors are currently being housed across 21 hospital units nationwide. According to informed sources, 40 children were staying at Athens’ Agia Sofia Children’s Hospital alone last month.
Most remain in hospital for around a month while awaiting placement. Some, however, require medical care and end up staying for seven or even eight years. In practice, hospitals are being forced to perform a role for which they were never designed: serving as long-term shelters for children when no suitable care facility or foster family is available.
Emergency Foster Care in Short Supply
Eleni Georgarou, president of the Association of Foster Parents and Volunteers for the Social Protection of Minors, says one of the greatest shortcomings is the lack of emergency—or “firefighting”—foster carers who can immediately receive children at risk.
Current legislation allows only relatives to assume emergency custody, a provision she says is rarely workable. Meanwhile, trusted adults in a child’s life—such as neighbors, teachers or social and healthcare workers—cannot provide temporary care unless they are already registered foster carers.
“A suitability assessment, combined with the child’s own wish to remain in a safe and familiar environment, could spare many children the ordeal of living in hospital,” Georgarou argued. She called for legislation that is more flexible and focused on children’s needs rather than creating unnecessary administrative barriers.
A Dormant Reform
Greece’s professional foster care program, introduced to prevent children with disabilities or psychiatric conditions from growing up in institutions, has also lost momentum.
Even more striking is that the Short-Term Professional Foster Care scheme—which allows prosecutors to place children immediately with professional foster carers while a permanent solution is found—has never become operational.
Today, only 13 professional foster carers are actively serving across Greece. The program began with eight carers, with five more joining the national registry in recent months, while another four are still waiting to sign their contracts.
“Short-term professional foster care exists on paper, but it was never implemented,” Georgarou said, describing it as a missing bridge between removing a child from an abusive environment and securing permanent care.
She added that the program was initially tied to Greece’s Recovery Fund before being removed from it, leaving professional foster carers unpaid for an extended period. Sources say it has recently been transferred to the budget of the Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family, with officials aiming to resolve the funding issue during September.
A System Under Strain
The figures alone illustrate the scale of the problem: 93 children living in hospital units and just 13 active professional foster carers nationwide.
For child welfare experts, those numbers confirm what has been warned for years—that Greece’s child protection system remains fragmented, under-resourced and unable to respond swiftly when vulnerable children need protection most urgently.
