The activities to create the conditions needed to bring up and educate children in a family environment, prevent the separation of children from the family and continuously reduce the number of children in residential care, planned for 2014 – 2020, will be intensified, IPN reports, quoting the new child protection strategy for the given period approved by the Government.
“The most natural and friendliest environment for bringing up and educating the children is the family one. That’s why our efforts are aimed at eliminating the causes leading to the placement of children in residential institutions and at developing alternative family-type services,” said Minister of Labor, Social Protection and Family Valentina Buliga.
According to the Ministry, 86 family-type children’s homes with 343 children worked in Moldova in 2013. For comparison, in 2007 there were 53 such homes raising 241 children.
Last year, 261 professional parent assistants looked after 391 chidlren, as opposed to 42 assistants in 2007.
“A method to prevent the separation of children from the family is to implement support programs designed for families with children. We convinced ourselves that these programs, which now include material and financial support, need to be supplemented with counseling services aimed at preventing abandonment, including of children of an early age,” said Valentina Buliga.
Another two key objectives of the child protection strategy for 2014 – 2020 are: to prevent and combat violence, negligence and exploitation of children in the family, at school and in society, and to reconcile family life with professional activity so as to ensure the harmonious growth and development of the child and the participation of both men and women in this process.
The strategy will be implemented in three staged. The implementation costs will be covered with money from the state budget and from foreign donors and international organizations.
At the end of 2013, there were 41 residential institutions with 3,808 children, in comparison with 65 residential institutions with 11,000 children in 2007.
