At the start of 2012, the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family will take a census of the children who remained without parental care. The subject was discussed in the meeting of the National Council on Child Rights Protection on May 20, Info-Prim Neo reports. Deputy Prime Minister Mihai Moldovanu, the Council’s chairman, said the institutions responsible for this area provide different data about the number of children left behind by migrating parents. “The data presented by the Ministry of Labor are different from those presented by the Ministry of Education and the National Bureau of Statistics. Therefore, we must take measures,” said Mihai Moldovanu. Viorica Dumbraveanu, head of the Labor Ministry’s Family and Child Rights Protection Division, stressed the importance of the census. “The data about the number of children left behind are divergent. We are now working out a questionnaire that will be used at community level. The social workers will go from house to house to identify the children who remained without parental care,” said Viorica Dumbraveanu. The study will concern not only the orphans and abandoned children, but also the children whose parents were deprived of parental rights and who temporarily remained without care after their parents migrated. “The questionnaire is designed to find out who looks after these children and if their rights are respected, if they benefit from assistance and the authorities take care of them. All the collected data will be included in a district database. Afterward, we will quantitatively analyze the study,” said the official. It is expected that there will be identified children who do not have a clear status and who are looked after by persons who not always are able to care for them. “The census is needed not only for statistical purposes. We earmarked funds to provide immediate financial assistance for the children in need,” said Viorica Dumbraveanu. According to the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family, officially there were about 15,000 children who remained without parental on December 31, 2010. Over 10,000 of them were placed in family type services.