The total number of children placed in residential schools in Moldova has decreased by 22%, while the number of children that have been institutionalised in 2007 has decreased by 46% from last year. This information was made public at a national Conference themed “A Family for Every Child” which was held to mark one year of the residential childcare system reform and of the EU/UNICEF project “Development of Integrated Social Care Services for Vulnerable Families and Children at Risk”. Education & Youth Deputy Minister Valentin Crudu stated that the number of family-type homes has doubled this year, while the amount of annual benefits for the children placed in these homes has trebled. The Deputy Minister also informed that, under the reform, there have been made arrangements for restructuring a residential school for orphans and children without parental care in Carpineni, while an auxiliary school in Cahul district is due to be closed down within one month. Galina Balmos, Minister of Social Protection, Family and Child, mentioned among the accomplishments under the reform the establishment of the network of community social assistants, the improvement of the legislative framework, the development of alternative social services in existing institutions (for children in difficulty and with special needs), and the development of the automated information system for child protection. Galina Balmos informed that the future objectives are to enhance the system of social services provided by the government to families with children at risk, to expand family support services countywide, to promote national adoptions, to provide continuous training to professionals working in the system, etc. UNICEF Representative in Moldova, Ray Virgilio Torres, reiterated UNICEF’s readiness to further support the reform, adding that a technical assistance unit will remain working within the Ministry of Education and Youth (MET). Torres pointed out that, starting January 1, the Ministries of Justice and of Internal Affairs are expected to join the reform. 125 probation officers for juvenile delinquents have been already recruited in an effort to identify alternative solutions for the teenagers that committed minor criminal acts. In 2008, UNICEF will partner with MET to facilitate inclusion of institutionalised children in community schools. The Government has implemented the reform of the residential childcare system during a year with support from UNICEF and the European Union. The aim of the reform is to reduce the number of children raised separately from the family by reintegrating the children from boarding schools or orphanages into the natural or extended family or by preventing the institutionalisation of the children. In addition, the Government plans a major restructuring of all residential establishments across the country. Currently, Moldova’s 67 residential institutions are home to over 11,500 children. About 10,000 of them have one or both parents alive.