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There are believed to be over 800,000 children still living in formal care in Russia today, yet over 95% of these children have at least one living parent. For many families poverty, alcoholism, disability, being a single parent or problems with registration lead to break ups with devastating consequences for children.
Alternative forms of childcare are virtually non-existent and the state offers little support for vulnerable families. As a result, the decision to place a child in residential care is often the first and only choice for desperate families. Children with disabilities are at a particularly high risk of being placed in institutional care.
EveryChild works alongside Russian and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), state organisations and professionals to support vulnerable families at risk of placing their children in residential care and reuniting families who have been separated. In addition we raise awareness amongst social workers and policy makers about why institutional care is damaging to children as well as providing respite care and support for children with disabilities.
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What is EveryChild doing to help?
Respite care for children with disabilities - St Petersburg
16,000 children are registered as disabled in St Petersburg and approximately 90% of these children are unable to attend school or pre-school because of severe disabilities. EveryChild provides respite care for families with children who are disabled in the region. In addition we run day centres and make home visits, providing families with support through therapists and psychologists who work with children with both physical and mental disabilities.
Preventing children from being placed in institutional care - St Petersburg
Childcare policy in Russia has changed dramatically in the past few years and, partly thanks to EveryChild’s work, we have seen a major move towards reducing the number of large-scale institutions. The government now understands the dangers of institutional care and plans to reduce the number of children living in this type of care by introducing a number of initiatives at regional and national levels.
Regional authorities have been setting up new social services at an impressive pace. Large numbers of social workers are being recruited but, although many have university qualifications in social work or psychology, few have practical experience of working with children in a family setting.
EveryChild believes there are two major constraints affecting this reform initiative. Firstly, a lack of qualified and experienced social workers and, secondly, a lack of constructive input into policy and legislative initiatives by the professional and non-government communities.
EveryChild is working to address these issues by implementing practical changes and through advocacy and constituency building activities. In St Petersburg, we are addressing the lack of skills and capacity among newly created social services. Through advocacy and constituency building activities we are targeting professional social workers and social services managers to ensure their constructive involvement in policy planning and legislative amendments
> The project is funded by the European Union
Veniamin's story
Veniamin is 8 years old. He lives with his mother, father and two older brothers in St Petersburg. Two years ago Veniamin was taken away from his family and placed in a children's home for three months.
Challenging a culture of institutional childcare - St Petersburg and Moscow
In Russia, EveryChild is working with regional governments to ensure that they are more effectively held to account over the success of their child welfare policies and plans in order to prevent children from losing parental care.
Working with local partners we are strengthening national child welfare networks throughout Russia to reduce and address the consequences of children losing parental care.
A series of meetings and conferences will be organised for childcare practitioners, foster carers, early intervention specialists, children, young people and parents. Standards will be developed and implemented in over 100 foster care and early intervention services. A further 130 family support organisations and services will learn about and apply the UN Alternative Care Guidelines and other guidelines to ensure better policy and practices that prevents unnecessary loss of parental care. Useful publications will be available to help ensure that children, parents and carers are better able to hold their government accountable for failures in the child welfare system including in children’s homes, foster care and in child protection services.
Around 50,000 children living without their parents in foster care or in institutions, as well as children living with their families but at risk of losing parental care, will receive better care and support as a result our work. Fewer children will enter care unnecessarily and those that are in state care will have better outlooks.
The project is funded by the European Union
The Road Home by EveryChild - The realities and effects of institutional childcare in Russia
The Road Home was made in collaboration between EveryChild, HealthProm and the Russian NGO the Early Intervention Institute.
This film is about the realities and effects of institutional childcare in Russia. This film has also been awarded an Erasmus EuroMedia Award Medal.
Jo Rogers, EveryChild Country Director in Russia said,
"Many people in the West often refer to the homes portrayed in The Road Home as orphanages, however the reality is that over 95% of all children living in institutional care in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union have at least one living parent. Through the film we are trying to demonstrate the importance of the bond between parent and baby, which cannot form through institutional care"
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