Newly Ministry of Social Policy made a proposal to change the name “family-type children’s home” to a more apt one – “foster family”. After all, that’s how it really is. There is only a difference in the number of children in such a family. As you know, DBST should have no more than 5 pupils. With the introduction of changes in the legislation, the number of foster children will be eight, while there should be only six foster children. It is worth noting that such a change will in no way affect the already existing rights of DBST. At the moment, there are 1,300 DBST in Ukraine, where 9,000 pupils live.
Reform of residential institutions
Before the start of the full-scale invasion, there were residential institutions on the territory of Ukraine, where there were about 106 thousand orphans. However, the relic of the Soviet era in the form of a boarding school increasingly did not meet the needs. Inmates of boarding schools are characterized by a loss of individuality in the mass, isolation from real society, and the formation of a consumerist position. According to statistics, 20% of boarding school graduates have a criminal record, 14% engage in prostitution, and 10% commit suicide. It is also known that only 10% of boarding school pupils were able to adapt to life’s needs.
Probably, it is the incorrect upbringing in a boarding school, the so-called uselessness of a child, that causes condemnation in society. It is much better when a child is brought up in a family. This helps reduce her stress and increases the level of socialization. Therefore, in 2017, the reform of the deinstitutionalization of residential institutions began to gain momentum. It was planned that, under favorable conditions, a process of gradual reduction and closure of boarding schools would be carried out by 2026. Alternatives are other forms of adoption: guardianship, patronage, transfer to family-type orphanages.
During the full-scale invasion, boarding schools disqualified themselves even more, as they were unable to evacuate their inmates. According to the human rights organization Human Rights Watch, 100 residential institutions with 32,000 pupils ended up in the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the aggressor country. It was during this period that residential institutions could not properly carry out the evacuation, which even led to the criminal deportation of Ukrainian children to the territories of the Russian Federation. According to data from the Yale School of Public Health (USA), 43 places were established where Ukrainian children were sent. It was possible to establish that about 20,000 children were illegally transported. The largest number of children were deported from the Donetsk region – 13,600, 1,600 – from the Kherson region, and 1,300 – from the Zaporizhia region. The process of finding and returning children is very complicated and still ongoing. Thanks to the incredible efforts of volunteers, it was possible to return only 388 children. It is quite difficult to establish the whereabouts of children.
Return of the children – orphans are complicated not only by the fact that Russia does not inform about their whereabouts, but also by the lack of legal representatives for such children. As a rule, pupils were found in boarding schools in the hinterlands of the Russian Federation, 31 orphaned children from Donetsk region were placed in Russian families, 10,300 children were taken from Mariupol to the Krasnodar Territory. At the same time, Russia does not respond to official requests and puts up all kinds of resistance to Ukraine in returning children to their homeland.
Probably, this arbitrariness could have been avoided if the state operated DBST instead of boarding schools, which are more mobile in case of evacuation. Therefore, the reform of boarding schools is currently a priority for the social policy of Ukraine.
How the situation of orphans in DBST and boarding schools changed before the war and during the full-scale invasion
According to the data Ministry of Social Policy the number of orphans and children deprived of parental care in 2021 was 48,089. In 2022, there were slightly fewer pupils – 42,611 compared to 2021. This was due to problems with the public registry due to a full-scale invasion. In 2023, their number was already 45,936. The merciless war destroyed a happy childhood, making Ukrainian children orphans. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, there have been 8,500 orphaned children (according to the National Social Service of Ukraine).
It is good when relatives take such children into their families. Although the pain of loss does not diminish, the children still remain in the family circle. But there are completely lonely children, and such as reports the Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine Oksana Zholnovych, 23%, end up in family-type children’s homes. Children whose parents have been deprived of parental rights also enter boarding schools. There are about 5.5 thousand such children. Many of them have disabilities, and therefore need special care, which, unfortunately, an ordinary boarding school cannot provide. In this case, the state looks for adoptive families. Children whose parents are alive also live in boarding schools, but poverty or the inability to receive educational services due to disability has made it impossible for such children to live with their families.
From the very first day of the full-scale invasion, the DBST became the most socially vulnerable. Families living in temporarily occupied territories, or territories where constant hostilities are taking place, were forced to evacuate. As the chairman of the board of the public union says “Ukrainian network for children’s rights” Daria Kasyanova, such families – DBST mainly left for the western regions of Ukraine (Lviv, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi regions). Those families who felt the difference in traditions had a harder time adapting, and therefore moved to the southern regions.
What steps does the state take in adopting orphans?
The National Social Service is doing everything possible to increase the rate of children finding a new family. The head of the National Social Service, Vasyl Lutsyk, noted that in 2023, compared to 2022, the dynamics of adoption improved significantly. 1,889 children (30%) will soon find shelter in foster families. Children under 5 years of age and without defects are usually preferred.
And what is left for children with disabilities to do? After all, they also have the right to adoption. And here the state conducts educational work among candidates for adoption, introducing them to this category of children. They are also working on a mechanism for adopting children evacuated abroad.
“After establishing online contact with a child who is temporarily located in another country, the prospective adopter can come to the child for a live meeting and, after successful contact, can prepare documents for the adoption court”, – says Vasyl Lutsyk.
According to the data The National Social Service Service of Ukraine (NSSSU), in 190 territorial communities of Ukraine, a child guardianship service is provided. As of today, there are 299 foster families in Ukraine. The largest number of foster families is registered in Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovohrad regions.
Obviously, residential institutions were unable to ensure the full development of their pupils, because it is hardly possible to talk about socialization or spiritual education within the limits of such an institution. At the same time, the forced deportation of orphaned children during a full-scale invasion showed the inability of residential institutions to provide their pupils with a safe life. Therefore, the priority for the state should be the complete elimination of boarding schools and the transition to DBST practice.
Exemplary examples of this practice are the Family Education Center “My Family” near Kyiv, where about 50 children of various ages live in conditions close to family education. And also the children’s SOS of Mistechka, which is an imitation of the practice of 132 countries of the world. In such towns there is a community of 11-15 houses, where 6-8 children of different ages live with a SOS mother.
Childhood should be spent in an atmosphere of happiness and constant care, and the state should do everything possible to secure the lives of children who suffer especially in difficult times.
