The professional parent assistance service in the municipality of Chisinau and other childcare services will be strengthened with the assistance of UNICEF. The municipality has launched an awareness-raising campaign entitled “Change the life of a child. Become a professional parent assistant”, which aims to increase the number of professional parent assistants from 29 at present to 50 in the course of this year. “It is very important to offer the necessary support to children who are in situations of risk so that they overcome these crises with the smallest possible impact on their psycho-emotional state,” deputy mayor of Chisinau Angela Kutasevich stated in the launch of the campaign, IPN reports.
Angela Kutasevich noted that the emergency placing in short or long-term professional parent assistance is a new aspect on which they work. The social kindergarten-crèche service for children aged between four months and three years will start to work in the municipality of Chisinau in March. The goal of this service is to prevent the separation of the child from the family, to marginalize social exclusion and child institutionalization and to facilitate the family reintegration process. It is also developed a center that will support the women with older children who are in difficult situations. The center will offer support to the mother-child couple for a period of six months, with the possibility of extending the period for another six months, until the family overcomes the crisis situation.
Olga Zaharia, head of the Alternative Care and Adoption Section of the General Division for the Protection of Children’s Rights, said the professional parent assistants benefit from a social package and health insurance and are continuously supported and trained.
“Regardless of the background from which the children come, they all have the right to grow in an environment that would protect them, in which they have access to education, medical assistance and protection services as we know that regrettably, all over the world and in Moldova too, many children are deprived of these rights that should be ensured from birth. There are children who do not enjoy family care, primarily because of domestic violence, or are separated from their families. In 2022, this risk expanded owing to the war and in 2022 we had 900 separated and unaccompanied refugee children from Ukraine. We must continue our efforts to make sure that these children are protected,” said Ilija Talev, UNICEF Deputy Representative in Moldova.
Any married or unmarried person who wants to take a child under temporary custody can become professional parent assistant. The salary of these specialists varies from 6,500 to 8,900 lei.
The service is intended for children who are deprived of parental care either temporarily or permanently, children with disabilities and refugee children.
The Chisinau Municipal Council in June approved the memorandum of understanding between the municipality of Chisinau and UNICEF Moldova concerning the provision of technical assistance in realizing the rights of children and adolescents from the municipality.
