The single parents and those who adopted a child will be able to benefit from counseling services at a resource center in Chisinau. The center will be opened by the end of this year with a view to diversifying the day services and avoiding the institutionalization of children.

Contacted by IPN, project coordinator at the organization “Child - Community - Family” (CCF) Moldova Olesea Lujan said that the municipal specialized house for children is now in the process of reformation and a number of day social services will be developed inside it.

“The resource center will provide services for parents and children and for specialists. The services will be aimed at preventing the institutionalization of children and at providing psychosocial counseling and legal advice. If the beneficiaries require, there may be also provided psychiatric and kinetotherapy services for children and parents. Services will be also offered to adoptive parents, who will receive training in pre-adoption and post-adoption,” said the project coordinator.

Olesea Lujan also said that any potential adopter must attend training courses, not only initial, but also regular ones. Depending on the problems that they face with an adopted child, the parents will be able to benefit from counseling. Another area that will be covered by the center is the strengthening of the capacities of specialists in child protection.

“The opening of the center is coordinated with the municipal Child Rights Protection Division. Our goal is to reduce the number of institutionalized children by diversifying day services so that the families do not abandon there children,” stated Olesea Lujan.

The project to set up the resource center for parents is supported financially by the organizations Oak Foundation and Hope and Homes for Children from the UK.