On a summer afternoon in 2025, a twelve-year-old boy was walking with his guardian in the second district of Budapest. As they walked away from the Hűvösvölgy Children’s Home, located in the wealthy Buda suburbs, the boy suddenly turned back on the street, pointed his middle finger in the direction of the institution, and repeated, “It’s over! It’s over! It’s over!”

The guardian reported these events in a written report sent to the relevant guardianship department. In the document, the guardian explained why he decided on that day to immediately and permanently remove the child entrusted to his care from the Hűvösvölgy Children’s Home.

The children’s home at 165 Hűvösvölgyi Road belongs to the state-run Bolyai Farkas Children’s Home Center, which oversees several similar institutes. “The children’s home is located in one of the most beautiful parts of Buda, in a beautiful park with ancient trees, close to popular excursion destinations in Hűvösvölgy,” they proudly write in their presentation of the institution, which has official capacity for 44 children.

At least four children raised in this enviable environment claimed this summer that they had been abused by staff at the home. According to documents obtained by Direkt36, one child complained that on several occasions, staff members behaved so threateningly toward him that he wet himself out of fear, and that one of the supervisors called him a “dog jizz.” They also reported that one of the punishments was to lock children out in the hallway. Several boys claimed that the problems were not limited to individual staff members, but were systemic.

Following reports from the children and their guardians, several different institutions conducted investigations, but so far they have reached contradictory conclusions.

During one of the proceedings, professionals working with abused children interviewed several residents of the home, who unanimously reported physical and emotional abuse against themselves and their peers. These professionals also noted that there were “systemic, operational dysfunctions in the children’s home that endangered the physical, mental, and emotional safety of the other children living there.”

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Another investigation, initiated by the institution that runs the children’s home, concluded that the alleged abuse could not be proven, although it is unclear whether the children were actually interviewed during the investigation. However, that investigation ended with the head of the Hűvösvölgy Children’s Home and one of the child supervisors sent to anger management and communication training. This suggests that, although the investigation did not confirm the abuse, the work and behavior of the institution’s staff was questionable in some cases.

A police investigation was also launched on suspicion of endangering minors. This is still ongoing, and the police have not yet named any suspects.

Thus, the investigation into the allegations of abuse is not yet complete, but the information that has come to light is another sign of the crisis of the child protection services.

Although the government has been saying—especially since a 2024 scandal connected to the abuse of children home residents led to the resignation of President Katalin Novák, a former Fidesz politician—that it considers this area a priority, the Hűvösvölgy case shows that child protection continues to struggle with a serious lack of human and financial resources.

We contacted the child supervisor and manager involved in the case based on the children’s stories, their superiors, the National Child Protection Service (OGYSZ) and the state agency that runs the Hűvösvölgy Children’s Home, the Directorate-General for Social Affairs and Child Protection (SZGYF), but only the latter institution responded. The Directorate-General merely stated that “police proceedings are ongoing in connection with the case” and that “in view of this, we cannot provide any further information on the matter in question.”

Insults, curses, spitting

The chain of events was triggered by a conversation between a boy and his guardian while sitting on a bench in the backyard of the children’s home. Guardians play an important role in the lives of children living in children’s homes: they are their legal representatives in place of their parents, acting on their behalf, managing their assets, and helping them exercise their rights.

Instead of the boy’s real name, we will call him Balázs in this article. He was the one who left the home, repeating the word “it’s over” and showing his middle finger to the institution.

During the conversation in the backyard, however, the guardian did not yet know how serious the boy’s complaints about the children’s home were. At that point, the guardian only asked Balázs why he had recently damaged the plasterboard wall of his room. In response, the boy began to talk about the abuse he had suffered at the hands of the home’s staff, which was primarily verbal but sometimes escalated to physical violence.

One of the child supervisors was a recurring character in these stories. Balázs told his guardian that on one occasion, while playing a board game called EuroStep, this child supervisor became so angry that he hit him on the neck and then verbally abused him.

“According to child, the supervisors’ favorite expressions about him are: dog jizz, fat fuck, fat pig, nobody, dog,” the guardian wrote in his report.

Balázs also spoke of an incident when the child supervisor was once again berating him, and he responded by repeating the insults that had been directed at him. According to the guardian’s summary, the child supervisor “became so angry that he stood over Balázs, started yelling at him at the top of his lungs, threatened to break his hand, and then, in a fit of rage, spat on Balázs’ forehead from close range, causing Balázs to wet himself out of fear.”

The guardian’s report contains a collection of phrases that Balázs says the child supervisor uses to humiliate the children. The collection reads as follows: “Pick up every last crumb that fell on the table with your hands! Jump up and lick the table, now! Come here and massage my feet! If you don’t behave, I’ll make sure you end up in a closed institution where you’ll fucked in the ass! You little shit! I can’t wait for you to get out of here! I’ll make sure they take your family away from you!” The last sentence—if it was actually said—presumably refers to the threat that the child supervisor will prevent the child from having contact with his family members.

Balázs told his guardian about two other children who, according to him, had also been victims of the same child supervisor. One of them, whose real name we will now replace with the name András, once incurred the wrath of the child supervisor, according to Balázs, because he did not want to take a second bath that day.

“He flew into a rage and completely trashed his room, throwing the glass angel he had received for Christmas on the floor and destroying his houseplants,”

reads the guardian’s report based on Balázs’s account of the child supervisor. Balázs also claimed that the supervisor had slapped András on the neck.

According to Balázs, the child supervisor deprived the other child, whom we have given the pseudonym Bence, of food. The boy told his guardian that the adult forced Bence to write something down and did not allow him to leave the room until he had complied with the instruction. According to Balázs, Bence was not allowed to eat when the others were eating, and then hours later, when he was finally allowed out, he was not given anything to eat because “it was past mealtime.”

We wanted to ask the child supervisor about the allegations against him, but we received no response to our questions, which we attempted to convey to him via the Bolyai Farkas Children’s Home Center.

Under the bed

A fourth boy, whom we will call Pál, also appeared in Balázs’s account. According to Balázs, 13-year-old Pál was often sent to the hall for bad behavior, and “there were times when Pál had to sleep there on the cold floor of the hall.”

After listening to all this, Balázs’s guardian went to the office of the head of the children’s home and told him that “if even a fraction of what the child in his care had told him about the supervisor was true, then there were very serious problems in this children’s home.” He also asked the manager to share with him the names of the guardians of the other children who had allegedly been abused.

“What happened next was a completely surreal situation for me at the time, and it remains so to this day,”

the guardian wrote in his report. According to the document, the head “completely lost his self-control,” “got up from his chair and told him in an extremely angry tone” that he had better take Balázs away immediately because he was “going to destroy” the child, as the boy was “about to kick the very caregiver who cared most about his fate.” According to the guardian, the manager also told him that “if the consequence of this incident is that the child supervisor is suspended” and he therefore “leaves the children’s home, then everyone here will gang up” on Balázs and “together they will make Balázs’s life hell.”

The guardian then left the home. He took public transportation to his car, which was parked far away, and started making phone calls to find a new place to take Balázs. Balázs later told his guardian that after he left, the head of the professional unit went into his room and sent an older employee who was there away, saying that he now had “a serious conversation” with Balázs. Then, according to Balázs, after they were left alone, the manager closed the door behind him and “approached him with such an angry face and momentum” that “he immediately dropped to the floor and crawled under the bed.” Balázs listened to the manager’s tirade “while crouching under the bed and wet himself as a result of what he heard,” according to the guardian’s report.

The boy’s guardian eventually took him away from the institution that same day.

Balázs told a close relative, with whom he is in regular contact, about the scene that took place in the room. The relative told Direkt36 that the boy also told him that he hid under the bed and wet himself out of fear.

Balázs also claimed that the manager threatened to kill him. “I don’t know if that’s true. That’s what Balázs said,” emphasized the relative, who noted that Balázs can be manipulative and has been caught lying before.

“When Balázs tells me something, I always think that I have to take it with a grain of salt. Regardless, it may be true,” said the relative, referring to the alleged threat. He also said that Balázs is large in stature and prone to aggression and tantrums. Regardless, the relative considers it very possible that the professional leader was able to intimidate Balázs because he is even more physically powerful as an adult.

The relative also heard about other abuse from the boy. Balázs told not only his guardian but also the relative that the child supervisor had hit him.

“He said that he was hit on the back of the head. That’s all he told me,”

the relative recalled.

However, there are some of the abuses listed by Balázs that the relative was able to confirm from his own direct experience. He told Direkt36 that on one occasion, he was saying goodbye to Balázs after a visit when the child supervisor Balázs was complaining about came out, opened the door, and then went back inside to scold one of the children. “I heard him say, ‘Get back in your room, you dog jizz. ’ That’s exactly what he said,” said the relative, who added that, in his opinion, the children in the home talk to each other like that.

In addition to sending questions in writing, we also contacted the head of the professional unit by telephone. We managed to reach him, but he said he could not comment. We also contacted the four different guardians of the four children involved, but none of them wished to comment.

Systemic dysfunctions

Balázs was interviewed at the Budapest Hearing and Therapy Center of the National Child Protection Service (OGYSZ). This child-friendly facility employs professionals who specialize in gently questioning children who are suspected of being victims of abuse.

On August 25, the other three children named by Balázs as victims were received at the same location: András, Bence, and Pál.

Direkt36 also obtained two documents issued by the Hearing and Therapy Center after these events. These are letters addressed to the director of the Pest County Branch of the Directorate-General for Social Affairs and Child Protection (SZGYF), with the subject line: “report – abuse of minors”. These letters reveal that the children confirmed the abuse during their interviews.

According to the letter about Balázs, the boy also named other children involved, but “repeatedly stated that the abuse he described – unjustifiably severe punishments, verbal abuse, humiliation, isolation from the group, verbal and physical violence – affected ‘everyone’.” It was also noted that although Balázs named two adults who he said had abused him, the head of the professional unit of the children’s home and the child supervisor, “it emerged from the hearing that other employees of the institution may also be involved.”

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According to the second letter, this was “confirmed” after interviewing the other three children. All three reported physical and emotional abuse that they or one of their peers had suffered at the Hűvösvölgy Children’s Home. According to the document, the abuse committed by adult caregivers, as reported by the three children, included the following: verbal abuse, humiliation, verbal violence, isolation from the group, intimidation, physical abuse, withholding food, withholding contact with relatives, and threats.

During their hearing, András, Bence, and Pál named other children who they believed had also been abused. The letter contains the names of these children, twelve in total. “We are notifying the guardians of the minors named in this letter in writing that the children’s hearings – within the framework of special treatment at the Hearing and Therapy Center – should take place as soon as possible,” the letter stated. We have no information as to whether what they urged has been implemented, i.e., whether these twelve children were interviewed by anyone at a later date. We sent a question on this topic to the OGYSZ, but did not receive a response.

Although the letter sent by the Hearing and Therapy Center states that the children also reported physical abuse, the details of this are not revealed in the document. However, according to the OGYSZ’s terminology, physical abuse includes all types of corporal punishment, and “any punishment involving the use of physical force with the aim of causing even the slightest pain or discomfort is considered corporal punishment.” In addition to the manager and the childcare worker, four other employees were named as abusers of the children, two of whom were also reported for physical abuse.

“All three children reported regular physical, verbal, and emotional abuse at the children’s home,” according to a letter written by staff at the Hearing and Therapy Center. This reveals that they also determined that the alleged abuse “were not limited to one person, but involved several caregivers, which indicated systemic, operational dysfunctions in the functioning of the children’s home that also endangered the physical, mental, and emotional safety of the other children raised there.”

The center’s staff concluded that the institution could be characterized as “systemic abuse.” According to their definition, systemic abuse is “when activities or systems designed to protect children do not exist or function dysfunctionally, thereby contributing to the failure to prevent abuse and neglect, the delayed response to it, or the continued harm caused by the lack of intervention.”

They added that systemic abuse also includes “failure to take measures to prevent further child abuse.”

The letter concluded by asking the Directorate-General for Social Affairs and Child Protection to take the necessary measures.

The protocol was followed

Meanwhile, however, investigations were also conducted within the children’s home during August.

In Hungary, there is an established protocol for investigating cases where child abuse is suspected in a children’s home. Among other things, it requires an internal investigation to be conducted. According to the methodology, the purpose of the internal investigation is “not to dismiss or confirm the suspicion of abuse,” but to determine whether the institution handled the suspected abuse appropriately.

Direkt36 obtained several reports on internal investigations prepared by a member of the management of the Bolyai Farkas Children’s Home Center. Several children’s homes belong to this center, including the one in Hűvösvölgy. In essence, this investigation was conducted by the superior of the head of the Hűvösvölgy institution.

The investigation reports reveal that, in accordance with the methodology, they did not take a position on whether the abuse had occurred or not. They merely stated that the institution had acted in accordance with protocol and taken the necessary measures, such as notifying the guardians or the children’s rights representative.

However, the internal investigation reports also contain a section that essentially describes the alleged abuser and the children. The former is very positive, while the latter contains a number of negative statements.

The child supervisor about whom Balázs complained to his guardian has been working at the Hűvösvölgyi út facility since 2018 and participated in a project in 2021 in which he obtained a child supervisor qualification.

“Despite his young age, his determination allows him to easily connect with children and help them move forward in life,”

reads the description of him, which highlights the serious labor shortage in the child protection system. It is emphasized that he can be counted on to solve “difficulties arising from a shortage of professional care providers” because “other sites can also count on him, and he actively participates in substitute tasks and ensuring stable care.”

The description of the professional unit leader reveals, among other things, that he has held his position since 2019 and came to child protection from the penal system. He graduated from the National University of Public Service with a degree in penal system work before completing his degree in social worker studies. According to the text, he also has practical experience: “With the knowledge he gained at the National University of Public Service and his many years of experience, he is well versed in the practical application of penal work, the education of young people and adults, and their reintegration into society.”

The description of the leader concludes as follows: “He performs his work with a high degree of professional competence, determination, resilience, and a long-term institutional development strategy, taking on countless conflicts and setting a personal example, while keeping the interests of the children in mind in every situation and fighting for them to the utmost.”

There are fewer words of praise in the characterization of the children. For example, they write about Bence that he is “provocative, pushes boundaries,” and “slightly behind the average moral development for his age.” About András, among other things, they wrote that he is “extremely aggressive, a rule-breaker.”

The author of the report repeatedly describes Pál as manipulative, using phrases such as: “he makes good use of his abilities and his highly developed manipulative skills.” The report describes him as extremely aggressive, saying that he regularly kicks adults who intervene in his conflicts with great force. “His behavior in all cases constitutes violence against a person performing a public duty,” concludes the characterization of the child.

It also states that he “deliberately” blackmails his caregivers, “telling his guardian and mother that he is being abused at the home.”

We also contacted the author of the report to ask, among other things, what sources the descriptions were based on, but received no response.

One day’s difference

In addition to the internal investigations, there was another, even higher-level procedure in the case. This was a so-called extraordinary maintenance investigation, carried out by the local Pest County branch of the Directorate-General for Social Affairs and Child Protection. The SZGYF is the operator of all state child protection institutions, including the Bolyai Farkas Children’s Home Center. As the operator, the directorate’s tasks include ensuring the conditions necessary for the institution’s operation and supervising its management and professional activities.

Information letters were also sent out about the results of this investigation, which also came into the possession of Direkt36. This investigation also determined whether abuse or systematic abuse had taken place at the children’s home.

The three letters we obtained concerning Bence, András, and Pál are essentially identical word for word. The most important part of them is the following: “The investigation made the following findings: Overall, based on the statements made by the children interviewed and the staff of the institution, it cannot be concluded that the abuse mentioned by Balázs and the systematic abuse recorded in the summary sent by the Hearing and Therapy Center took place at the children’s home.”

The letters reveal that the investigation report prepared as a result of the extraordinary investigation was sent to the Child Protection Institution Management Department of the SZGYF on August 26. This date is significant because the children had reported abuse at the Hearing and Therapy Center just one day earlier, naming twelve other children who they believed had also been abused.

We contacted the SZGYF to ask what role the interviews recorded at the Hearing and Therapy Center played in the extraordinary investigation by the institution’s management, how it was possible that the investigation report was sent the very next day, concluding that the abuse could not be proven, and what refuted the statements of the three children. We did not receive answers to these questions either.

Bad and unacceptable practice

Although this investigation by the operator did not confirm that abuse had taken place, it did reveal shortcomings.

There is a section of the letters that lists general, systemic problems. These include overcrowding, staff shortages, and the fact that “the continuous replacement of material conditions is not guaranteed and the infrastructure conditions are inadequate.” According to the findings of the investigation, the home is characterized by circumstances that “may result in the interests of those in care being harmed.”

It also states that “the overburdening of professional caregivers, the increase in the number of daily routine and ad hoc tasks, the multitude of administrative burdens, and the lack of parallel services violate children’s right to lawful and professional care.”

Although the term “verbal abuse” is not used in the three information letters, they do state that: “It has been found that professionals do not communicate appropriately with children, and that communication often takes place in a raised voice.”

The documents also drew attention to other problems. “It has been found that there are not enough staff to calm down angry, emotionally charged children, and care workers feel helpless in dealing with such cases,” the letters read.

The sharpest criticism was directed at the use of the hall: “It has become a bad and unacceptable practice to send angry children to the hall, where they are left without adult supervision. An action plan has been prescribed to immediately remedy this violation of rights.” They urged immediate action: “The institution should immediately stop the practice of exclusion to the hall and designate a safe room for handling such cases, where the child can be calmed down under adult supervision.”

This call was part of the action plan prescribed by the competent director of the institution as a result of the investigation. It stipulated that the professional unit manager should be reinstated to his position, but added a noteworthy addition: “Following his reinstatement to the position of professional unit manager, he should not be involved in or participate in any care or educational tasks related to children.”

In addition, anger management training and communication training were prescribed for both him and the child supervisor. The latter was ordered to be reinstated to another location and another position.

In our letter to the SZGYF, we also asked why these decisions were made if the abuse could not be proven. We did not receive an answer to this question either.

Yoga as a form of assistance

The authority in charge also stipulated that supervision must be provided for those working at the children’s home “in order to manage the crisis affecting the children’s home and to eliminate the uncertainty that has arisen.” In addition, it stipulated that “in order to build trust between the professionals and the children in care, the institution should organize a team-building program using experiential education tools.”

The information letter listed the ways in which the Pest County Branch of the SZGYF would assist the institution. It states that the staff of the children’s home can participate in communication training, as well as a training course called “Children’s Rights, Children’s Yoga,” which promises to teach relaxation techniques and stress relief.

Meanwhile, a police investigation has started into the allegations of abuse, which is currently ongoing.

“Based on several reports from the National Child Protection Service, the BRFK II. District Police Headquarters is conducting an investigation on suspicion of endangering minors. No suspects have been questioned as of our response,” the Budapest Metropolitan Police’s communications department said in response to our inquiry on November 12.

Illustration: Péter Somogyi (Szarvas) / Telex

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