The campaign “I’m alone. You can be my family”, which was intended for families looking after orphans or children who remained without parental care, has come to an end. During a month, a number of professional parent assistants were trained how to better take care of the children they accepted into their families.

Contacted by IPN, manager of the parent assistance service of the Municipal Child Rights Protection Division Olga Zaharia said that over a month they sensitized the people to the problems faced by orphans or children who remained without parental care. Six children who were deinstitutionalized or who come from socially deprived families were integrated into professional parent assistance families. “The children will be looked after by professional parent assistants until their status is decided or unit they are put up for adoption. They can live with such families up to a year or even until they come of age,” she stated.

Olga Zaharia also said that such families offer the children the chance to rehabilitate. They are integrated into families where they enjoy love and attention. They are prepared to return to the biological family if this is possible. The professional parent assistants who look after a child have a salary of about 900 lei. By 21 lei a day is provided for the child’s food and by 250 lei a month for hygiene products.

Livia Marginean, family services coordinator at the Association “Child – Community – Family” Moldova, said the number of professional parent assistants who want to look after children is on the rise. “We want to create more social services and to take as many children as possible out of boarding schools as they can be integrated into professional parent assistance families,” she stated.

She added that the process of recruiting professional parent assistants is a continuous one. Twelve assistants are now receiving training. The number of social services intended for orphans has increased from 11 in 2011 to about 30 at present.

The Municipal Child Rights Protection Division is supervising 33 children who were integrated into 28 professional parent assistance families. The youngest child is nine months.