Treatment and resocialization The process of resocialization of the customers is extremely difficult. A small percentage has families and friends that do not interrupt contact with customers through phone call or meeting with them in the home. There are cases in which the institutions become permanent place for living for people with mental health problems, mental retardation and dementia. This problem is partly due to the lack of awareness of the relatives of the specificities and treatment of the disease, which the customer that uses the specific type of social service suffer. In many cases, relatives believe that once a person is placed in the home, their relationship with him is interrupted and responsibility for his health and life are assigned on all the employees of the home. The NPM believes that before admitting a person in the home clarifying discussions with his/her relatives should be conducted, that to define the specifics of the disease, opportunities for reintegration into the family environment and the importance of maintaining personal contact with patients in order to improve their condition. Also, the NPM insists the efforts of the staff in such homes and social service providers to focus on development and implementation of programmes for resocialization of customers with a view to more easily adapt to life outside the institution. INTERACTION OF THE NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM WITH STATE BODIES AND NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS Ever since the formation of the Directorate „National Preventive Mechanism and fundamental rights and freedoms” its management and experts have established professional relationships with the governmental authorities, which organization fall amongst the facilities inspected by the NPM, as well as with the part of the NGO sector. Very successful is the cooperation of the NPM with the Executive Agency „Medical Audit”, which has been inspected jointly with its experts. Such type of joint inspections will be realized in 2013. The relations with the administration of prisons and detention facilities is also good, as well as with the heads of the General Directorate „Implementation of Penal Sanctions,” Social Assistance Agency and the State Agency for Child Protection. The NPM team considered very useful the cooperation with the representatives of the „Open Society” Institute, the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, the outpatient association for mental health „Adaptation”, the „Child and Space” Association , etc. And in 2013 the National Preventive Mechanism will continue its cooperation with institutions and NGOs. The establishment of contacts with international organizations and national preventive mechanisms in view of the need for joint development of approaches and methods for preventing violations of human rights is impending. 42 Annual Report of the National Preventive Mechanism | OMBUDSMAN OF THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA