19 CHAPTER III THE DEPARTMENT FOR THE DEFENSE, PROTECTION AND PROMOTION OF THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD The Children’s Advocate, under the coordination of the People's Advocate, acts in order to promote and protect the rights of children up to the age of 18, supports and encourages the respect and promotion of the rights of the child, according to the Law no. 35/1997, republished, of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Romania is a party since 1990, of Law no. 272/2004 on the protection and promotion of the rights of the child, and of Law no. 286/2009, the new Criminal Code, regarding the criminal liability of minors. In 2019, at the level of the Department for the defense, protection and promotion of the rights of the child, were registered 446 complaints, 42 ex officio proceedings, 16 investigations were carried out, 6 recommendations were issued and 24 participations in debates, conferences, symposia having as topic the promotion and observance of the rights of the child. In addition, we recall that from the activity of the territorial offices, detailed in Chapter VII, 166 petitions, 481 ex officio proceedings, 139 investigations, 74 recommendations aimed at possible violations of the rights of the child. At the same time, 215 media activities were carried out with the object of presenting the duties of the Children’s Advocate, as well as other topics of interest. Also, 4 monitoring visits were carried out, together with the Department for the prevention of torture in places of detention (NPM), at: the Placement Center within the Community Services Complex “Sfânta Maria” Vălenii de Munte, the Placement Center for Children with Disabilities Găești, Tecuci Placement Center, Galați county, “Sf. Stelian” Ghimbav, Brașov county. The complaints and ex officio proceedings mainly addressed the following categories of problems: the exercise of verbal and physical forms of violence against minors in educational establishments, residential centers or medical institutions; obtaining due rights in the form of state allowance for children born in member states of the EU and who returned to Romania; failure to observe the rights of children with dual citizenship, located on the territory of other states; observing the obligations of divorced parents towards the minor children resulting from the marriage; one parent's dissatisfaction with the contents of court decisions by which the minor was entrusted to the other parent; the phenomenon of parental alienation; inappropriate behavior of teachers towards students; conditions in residential type institutions; deaths of children in medical institutions; obtaining travel documents for minors; the legal possibilities of granting some forms of child-raising assistance; granting survivor's pension. At the same time, 2 Special Reports have been prepared: - The special report on the observance of children’s rights in Romania, developed in partnership with the "Save the Children" Organization, analyzing the following main topics: the survival and health of the child; protection against all forms of violence; equitable access to quality education; juvenile justice; combating poverty in families and communities where children live; increasing the quality of social services guaranteed to children; socioeducational integration of Roma children, children with disabilities, migrant children and children with parents abroad; financing of social services from public funds and the role and functions of the People's Advocate Institution and the Children’s Advocate. - The special report on the result of the investigations made by the People's Advocate regarding the prescribing of psychotropic substances for children in residential type centers PEOPLE’S ADVOCATE ANNUAL REPORT 2019