100 children return home from residential institutions

A number of 100 children from four national childcare residential institutions have been reintegrated with the biological families, while in 259 cases the institutionalization of children was prevented. The given results were achieved during a year, between April 2010 and April 2011, within a project implemented by the public association “Child, Community, and Family”. The children reintegrated with their families were educated at the children's home in Cernoleuca of Donduseni district, the boarding school in Cupcini of Floresti district, the municipal specialized children's house in Chisinau, and a specialized institution in Tiraspol. Liliana Rotaru, head of the association “Child, Community, and Family”, told Info-Prim Neo that the work with the parents was the most difficult thing. “After years of crisis and despair, it is very hard to change the attitude of a family or a person during a year. Our support was of different kinds. It ranged from family counseling to financial assistance, repair works in the houses, building of annexes, etc.,” she said. Liliana Rotaru spoke about a family from Donduseni, where a solitary mother raises nine children. The youngest one is only 10 months, while the eldest is 16. Owing to the difficult financial situation, three of the children were placed in a residential institution. The woman decided to go abroad and to take the other children to the boarding school as well. The woman became a beneficiary of the project and received financial support. Her house was repaired. “The nine children are now together with their mother, who regained confidence in herself,” said Liliana Rotaru. The families helped within the project continue to be monitored in order to prevent the reinstitutionalization of the children. “The project will last for an indefinite period. We do not want to replace the authorities, but to provide assistance and strengthen the possibilities,” said the head of the association “Child, Community, and Family”. The Protected Childhood – Development of a Model for Deinstitutionalization in Moldova Project was launched in 2009. It is financed by the British organization Hope&Homes for Children and UNICEF. The activities performed in April 2010 – April 2011 cost over half a million euros.