Nineteen babies born in Chisinau have been placed in the authorities’ care since the start of this year. Three of them were abandoned at birth. In the case of the others, the parents wrote refusal applications. “It is regrettable that two of these children died in medical institutions. The other 17 newborns were placed in children’s homes,” the head of the Municipal Division for Children’s Rights Protection Svetlana Chifa has told Info-Prim Neo. In the first half of this year, the Division took 277 children under supervision, by 80 children more compared with the corresponding period last year. The Division identified the best protection form for every child, Svetlana Chifa said. Ninety-two children were placed in the care of families under tutelage or adoption, 129 – in residential institutions, while 57 – in alternative placement centers. “One of the major objectives of the Municipal Division for Children’s Rights Protection is to decide on the status of the child as soon as possible so that they could be raised in a family. “Owing to the fact that the cases of the children in difficulty are dealt with more efficiently, the number of children placed in boarding schools decreases every year,” Svetlana Chifa said. On July 1, there were 159 children in placement centers.