The Office of the People’s Ombudsman considers namely the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family is responsible for the situation at the Orhei residential institution for boys with mental disabilities. Head of the Office’s Child Rights Protection Service Tatiana Crestenco, in a news conference at IPN, said the people’s ombudsman has monitored the situation at this institution during several years and informed the central authorities about it, especially the Ministry, but his reports and recommendations were every time ignored.
Tatiana Crestenco noted that in 2012 the people’s ombudsman ascertained a great flow of personnel and tense relations between employees at the Orhei residential institution for boys with disabilities. Such a situation negatively affected the beneficiaries. The ombudsman in time received numerous petitions about the insufficiency of diapers at this institution, the inappropriate food and the abuses committed there. As a result, several years ago the ombudsman asked that the institution’s director should be dismissed.
According to Tatiana Crestenco, the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family every time responded to the ombudsman that the facts described in the reports and petitions are not true. Now, after a video report disseminated by the media, the Ministry admitted that the situation is indeed bad and discharged the institution’s director.
Tatiana Crestenco stated that this institution does not work according to the regulations, which stipulate that the beneficiaries must be aged between 4 and 18. In fact, the children there are admitted from the age of 7 and among the beneficiaries are persons who came of age long ago and have even 39 years.
The ombudsman hopes the actions of the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family, which is responsible for this institution, will not stop at the dismissal of the director. The ombudsman recommends reassessing the institution’s personnel, setting quality care, education and socialization standards for those children and psychologically and mentally assessing the beneficiaries. Among the recommendations is also establishing cooperation relations with the Orhei Education Division so as to ensure the training of beneficiaries and to work out an educative program for them. As to the personnel, it is recommended settling the conflicts between them and instituting bonuses and other stimuli so as to avoid an exodus.
At the beginning of this month, the media disseminated images of children from this institution. Some of these had evident signs of physical violence, while a child had his penis torn up as one of the nurses was inattentive when she changed his diaper. The feature suggested that the beneficiaries of the institition are treated with cruelty by the employees.
