88.9% of children in residential institutions in Chisinau have both parents alive

Some 92.7% of the children placed in residential institutions in Chisinau have at least one parent, while 88.9% have both their biological parents alive. Svetlana Chifa, head of the municipal division for the protection of children’s rights, says that the residential institutions do not offer optimal conditions for the development of the child as they have been unsuitably planned. According to the cited source, an institution designed to solve a health or education problem cannot deal with the issue of abandon. “We cannot say that children’s needs are fully taken care of as the respective institutions provide only medical or educational services that do not adequately focus on social assistance,” Svetlana Chifa said. According to official statistics, in 96.6% of the cases the key reason for abandon is the financial difficulties, while in 21.2% of the cases – the serious health condition of the child.