Family-type children's houses in the system of protection of orphans and children deprived of parental care
Family-type children's houses in the system of protection of orphans and children deprived of parental care |
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| Articles - Protecting of rights and interests |
| Written by Administrator |
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Pyesha I.V., candidate of pedagogical sciences
Adoption of orphans and organizing care (guardianship) in Ukraine have been and remain a priority form of settlement of the destiny of a child deprived of parental care. Along with the definition of national priorities of family placement of orphans and children deprived of parental care, creates a precondition of development in Ukraine of relatively new social institutions: family-type children's houses and foster families. The principle of family education, as a precondition for the formation of a harmonious personality of a child deprived of parental care was defined by Austrian pedagogue Hermann Hmeiner who developed the system of functioning of villages for orphans with family-type care - "SOS-Kinderdorf". In the development of educational institutions for orphans H.Hmayner advocated educational forms mostly close to family, the joint training and lodging of boys and girls. Watchwords of the educational system, proposed by H.Hmayner, became the concept of "security", "hearth", and the main priorities - "understanding" and "love." In the Soviet Union's children's campuses by H.Hmayner's principle were established in the form of family-type children's houses. Their organizer was Lenin Children's Fund. In 1987, pursuant to Resolution CCCPSU and the USSR Council of Ministers "On measures to radically improve education, training and financial support of orphans and children deprived of parental care" experimental work began to determine the best type of facilities for education and development of children left without parental care for their placement from the time of birth to the beginning of work. In 1988, a new ordinance was adopted by the Council of Ministers "On the creation of family-type children's houses," which legally enshrines a new form of family placement. By the statement of this resolution two social and educational structures of children's housing were offered:
During the development of the pedagogical foundations of children's villages serious problems appeared with teaching plan, which put into question the existence of such structures of upbringing of orphans. But the rejection of the widespread practice of children's villages has primarily been associated with problems of an economic nature. The only children's village was established near Ryazan (Sasovo). Another form of family-type children's houses got quite a widespread implementation. The legal basis for its development was the "Temporary Regulation on family-type children's houses" in 1989, which defined a family-type children's house as a family having its blood children, takes 5 or more orphans and children deprived of parental care for raising. In late 1990 in the Russian Federation, the number of such families reached 258 with the total number of settled children of over 2 thousand. And as of July 1997 in the Russian Federation there were 368 of such houses , and in them 3214 children were brought up, including 2282 foster children. Family-type children's house as an institution of education of orphaned children is not a particular type of children's institution, i.e., an orphanage, but is a large family, which ensures foster-children a family environment and upbringing. Educational potential of family-type children's houses as a form of family care for orphans and children deprived of parental care has objective advantages over other social institutions, primarily boarding school type, based on the following considerations:
In the family-type children's house formation of the child's personality occurs in vivo, the effect of foster parents on the way of thinking and the self-identification of the child plays a dominant role. Family environment shapes the child's moral and ethical ideals and tastes, behavior, work skills, values, ie, all those qualities which form a personality. The formation of the personality of a foster child is affected by the nature of relationship of parents and of parents and children, and other family members, parents' attitude to work, their participation in public life, interests, values, and the general cultural level and so on. In Ukraine, the creation of family-type children's houses started in 1988. In early 2000 in Ukraine 91 family-type orphanage in 22 regions of Crimea and Sevastopol operated, in early 2005 128 such families operated. State support for family-based care for orphans stimulated significant development of this social institution - as of January 1, 2009 there were 400 family-type children's houses where 2609 children were brought up in Ukraine. The experience of functioning of family-type children's houses in Ukraine proves that their functions as a social institute do not differ from functioning of a normal biological family. However, there is a number of features inherent only in a family-type children's house:
Family-type children's house is a family, created by wish of the couple or a single person who is not married, to provide a family education and living together for at least five orphans and children deprived of parental care (Family Code of Ukraine , Article 256-2). Operation of family-type children's houses is governed by the Regulations of the family-type children's house, approved by the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine № 564 of April 26, 2002.
The purpose of the family-type children's home is to ensure appropriate conditions for education in a family environment for orphans and children deprived of parental care. Family can receive the status of a family-type children's house only if it takes five or more children deprived of parental care to raise, which is certainly a good condition for placement in a family of more orphaned children. But according to the Regulations on family-type children's houses the number of children in the family, both biological and adoptive shall not exceed ten persons, considering the need to create optimal conditions for their proper upbringing and development. Foster children are in a family-type children's house until the age of majority and in the event of further training in a college and higher education institution of I-IV accreditation levels - till its completion, but not later than they reach 23 years of age. Education for orphans and children left without parental care in family-type children's houses can be regarded as a state delegation of rights to the parents for their education and support. This involves monitoring by the state as to how foster parents perform the obligations taken regarding foster children. Such control, according to the enactments relies on local guardianship and custodianship agencies and services for children. From the existing forms of family placement of orphans and children deprived of parental care, a family-type children's house differs primarily by the fact that the state gives a family that takes children for parenting financial and social support. A necessary precondition is to prepare candidates for the creation of family-type children's houses to the social role of educators of foster children, what is provided by their completion of the appropriate training system (training course to prepare candidates). In foster families and family-type children's houses orphans and children deprived of parental care are placed . The key difference from of the children's house to a foster family is a number of children who are placed for upbringing. Education and placement of more than five children in the family, granted a creation of family-type children's house, requires greater parental training, reorientation of such a family to raising children without parental care in the first place. The control of the living conditions of foster-children in family-type children's homes in accordance with the Enactment is fulfilled by bodies of guardianship and office of children's services. Once a year, local service for children prepares a report on the state of education, maintenance and development of children in family-type children's homes on the basis of information provided by the social worker who provides social support of the family, by a kindergarten teacher or class teacher of an educational institution where the child studies, by the district pediatrician and district inspector of the local police station. Parents-caregivers must become acquainted with the report that is approved by the head of the office of children's services. Foster children. To a family-type children's home orphans and children deprived of parental care are placed. The advantage, of course, is given to children who have problems with their future placement for education in the family - children of early age, with poor health, in respect of whom no decision on further placement is made and so on. Selection of students is carried out gradually, over twelve months. Primarily children who are in a family relationship are placed, except when for medical reasons or for other reasons they can not grow up together. Assistance and control of placement of children shall carry out the office of children's services. Obligatory condition of placing into a children's home is the child's consent if he has reached the appropriate age and a level of development so that he can express it. Consent to placement in family-type children's home is established by a representative of the institution in which the child lives in the presence of parents-caregivers and representatives of bodies of guardianship and care and is documented (Family Code of Ukraine). By a guardianship and custodianship agency for each foster child who is placed to the family-type children's home, such documents are prepared and delivered to the foster parents:
In the event that at the time of placement of the child in a family-type children's home some of these documents are not available, local services for children must provide them within two months. Guardianship authority at the place of origin or residence of orphans, children deprived of parental care and the head of the institution where the child lived are responsible for the reliability of information in provided to parents-caregivers documents within their jurisdiction. Children, who are brought up in family-type children's homes, do not lose the status of orphans and children deprived of parental care, which involves keeping the benefits guaranteed by the state for such children: getting a living space, organization of studying, financial support and more. If the child is has property and housing, it is stored until the foster child is of full age, the responsibility for its preservation relies on the guardianship authority in the location of the property. For foster children previously designated alimony, pensions, and other benefits are kept. Amount of funds belonging to foster children like pensions, child support and other types of state aid goes to disposal of parents-caregivers and is spent on foster children. The children preserve privileges established by law for orphans and children deprived of parental care. This primarily concerns the question of invigoration when orphans are primarily provided with free vouchers to camps and resorts. Due to the state of health of children who are brought up in family-type children's homes, this issue is very important. When placing children in family-type children's homes family legal relationships do not appear: foster children have the right to maintain personal contact with parents and other relatives, unless this is contrary to their interests and not prohibited by court order. The form of such communication is determined by the guardianship authority in consultation with parents-caregivers and involving the social worker, who provides social support, based on the analysis of family relationships and the reasons due to which the child has lost parental care. In the construction phase of the family-type children's home there is a need of psychological training of foster parents about the possibility of a temporary stay of the child in the family or even returning of it to the biological parents that necessitates a contact with them and other relatives. If foster parents are psychologically ready to decide on the whereabouts of the foster child, coming primarily from its interests, in the process of upbringing they will take into account the need to improve relations with relatives of the child, maintaining ties with their biological parents. This question has become one of the key during interviews with foster parents at the beginning of their social and educational work. Preserving of legal links of a foster child of a family-type children's home and biological parents, if they did not lose their rights is a feature that affects the relationship between foster parents and children. Who can create a family-type children's home? Foster parents are the people who take orphans and children deprived of parental care for education and cohabitation (Regulation on a family-type children's home). Foster parents are responsible for life, health, physical and mental development of children. They are the legitimate representatives of the children and defense their rights and interests in all organs, institutions and organizations without special powers for it. According to the Law of Ukraine "On Ensuring Organizational and Legal Conditions for Social Protection of Orphans and Children Deprived of Parental Care" № 2342-IV of 13 January 2005 the foster parents have the right to:
By making decision on the establishment of a family-type children's home, requirements are set for not only those who wish to take children deprived of parental care to raise, but also for members of their family. Foster parents can not be persons with whom family members live that have deep organic lesions of the nervous system, alcohol and drug addiction, AIDS, open tuberculosis, psychotic disorders, who have officially registered antisocial manifestations inclinations to violence . The legislation established the age of the candidates for the creation of family-type children's homes, depending on the age of children who are taken into the family. By placement the age difference of parents and children should be such that at the time of reaching of both foster parents retirement ages all foster children would reach the age of leaving the family-type children's home. Age restrictions are determined according to the age of a younger parent. In certain circumstances, there is a possibility to extend the term of activity of the family-type children's home by agreement of foster parents and local authorities. However, this term shall not exceed five years. Candidates for foster parents prepare the following documents to issue a decision on the establishment of a family-type children's home:
Indispensable condition for creation of a family-type children's home is foster parents' attendance of training course for candidates to establish foster families and family-type children's homes which provide local social services for families, children and youth. The main objective of education: to prepare parents to take on new social roles - caregivers of children deprived of parental care. Parents of functioning family-type children's homes have to undergo periodic training every five years which provide regional centers of social services for families, children and youth. According to the study results specialists of the centre of social services for family, children and youth prepare a certificate of completion of the traning by candidates and recommendation to services for children on entering data into the bank's prospective adoptive parents, guardians, adoptive parents, foster parents. According to the number of children who are brought up in the family, in a family-type children's home one parent (usually the mother) does not work and deals with solving issues of a large family. Taking into consideration the need of parents raising children for pension, the Regulation on family-type children's home provides for mandatory state social insurance and tax on mandatory pension insurance of foster parents. Payment of contributions is made from the amount of pay. The period during which the persons were considered to be foster parents in family-type children's homes, is credited to their total seniority. But till this time the issue of pensions of foster parents is not completely solved, as a practical mechanism of accrual of seniority has not been developed. Professions "foster father", "foster mother" are not legally recognized and it is not determined what institution and on the basis of which documents the seniority should be fixed in labor books of parents. Legal registration of family-type children's homes. The decision to create a family-type chilren's home is made by the regional, regional in Kyiv and Sevastopol City Administrations, state administration, executive committee of the city council(cities of republic of Autonomous Republic of Crimea and regional significance) based on the statements of persons or a person who wish to establish such a home, considering learning outcomes, handing of a center of social services for families, children and young people and the conclusion of services for children about the existence of conditions for its creation. The conclusion about the possibility of the couple (or a single person) to raise five children deprived of parental care is made by specialists of services for children on the basis of interviews with candidates, document reviews, recommendations of the Center of social services for family, children and youth. Provision of family-type children's homes does not define a demand for consideration of candidates at the board of trustees, but in practice such a procedure is carried out. Empowerment of the decision of the local executive body is the basis for the acquisition of status "family-type children's home" by a family. An agreement on the organization of family-type children's homes that determines the rights and obligations of each party, formulates requirements for conditions of education and lodging children in the family, regulates the protection of housing rights of foster parents and members of their family, is made between the executive organs and parents who take on the obligation to care for orphaned children. An agreement between administrative authorities and foster parents impose on members of both parties certain rights and responsibilities. Thus, the executive agency shall allocate payments to support foster children, to render all assistance to the family, to pay remuneration to foster parents . At the same time representatives of executive authorities have the right to control the conditions of education, child's support, and if they are not met, have the right to terminate the agreement with foster parents. The basis, which may lead to termination of the agreement can be triggered by internal family reasons: serious illness of foster parents, lack of understanding with children, conflict relationships between children, foster parents don't meet obligations concerning appropriate education, development and maintenance of children and those associated with the release of foster children from the family: the return foster children to biological parents (a guardian, caregiver, an adoptive parent), the child's being of full age and so on. Termination of the agreement may be effected by a decision of the court. As the number of foster children decreases, the services for children together with foster parents provide replenishment of family-type children's homes with new children or provide legal transfer of a family status to a foster family. In case of liquidation of the family-type children's home further placement of foster children is decided by the guardianship and custody agency, and measures should be taken for further family placement of the children. Financial support of the functioning of the family-type children's home. One of the conditions for the creation of a family-type children's home is to provide a family with a housing space, which allows for the harmonious development of children, ensures every foster child and biological children of foster parents normal living conditions and development. Terms of provision of a family-type children's home with a place of accommodation are specified in Article 46-1 of the Housing Code of Ukraine. The Local Administration shall provide foster parents with an individual house or a multi-room apartment out of turn . Usage of the provided living quarters is fulfilled in the manner prescribed by law for the use of office premises. Housing facilities must be equipped with necessary furniture, appliances and other durables, the list of which is determined by the authority that made the decision to create a family-type children's home. Agreement on the establishment of a family-type children's home involves determining the conditions under which family receives a dwelling, the rules for housing, issues concerning the protection of housing rights of foster parents and members of their family. Family-type children's homes should be provided with a land to use for gardening and horticulture near the place of its location and also with a vehicle. Conditions of land transfer and use and the use of transport are defined by agreement of the creation of family-type children's home. One special feature of the functioning of the family-type children's home is a financial support from the state. Till 2006 this funding for foster children was carried out from local budgets and calculated in accordance with the financial support of pupils of boarding schools. One of the foster parents receives monetary remuneration calculated in accordance with the office salaries of the workers of orphanages. In 2006, the social benefits for family-type children's homes and foster families are financed from the state budget, which gave a positive impetus to the development of these social institutions. The funding mechanism of family-type children's homes and foster families is regulated by the Order of appointment and payment of state social assistance for orphans and children deprived of parental care, financial support of foster parents and adoptive parents for providing social services in family-type children's homes and foster families by the principle "money follows the child" in 2006 "(Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated February 6, 2006 № 106). For foster children of family-type children's homes a monthly state social assistance is provided, which is two subsistence levels for children of the age. If the child is paid a pension, child support, scholarships, state aid, the amount of social support is defined as the difference between two minimums of subsistence and total payments for the child. Size of the pay for foster parents is 35 percent of the social assistance for each foster child, but not more than five living wages for the working person. Charge allowance begins with the placement of the child into the family.
Appointment and payment of social assistance and financial support are made by directorates (departments) of labor and social welfare of the population by place of residence of the child. If a new level of subsistence is approved, social assistance and cash security allowance is transferred without additional appeal of parents. By law family-type children's homes may be provided with material, financial and other charitable assistance of enterprises, institutions and organizations regardless of ownership form, of public associations, foundations, individuals. Involvement of extra-budgetary funds allows tp improve conditions for the development and education of children, and this practice is widely used in regions. Social support. One of the specific differences between foster families and family-type children's homes from adoption and guardianship (care) is a state social support of families, which is implemented in the form of social support. According to the procedure of social support of foster families and family-type children's homes the social support of foster families and family-type children's homes is a kind of social activity that implies a provision by an expert (or group of experts) of Social Services for Family, Children and Youth in cooperation with experts from other agencies, organizations and institutions of complex legal (lawful), psychological, social, educational, socio-economic, social, health, and information services to ensure proper functioning of foster care, family-type children's homes. Social support of family-type children's homes is carried out by specialists of centres of social services for family, children and youth. One social worker can perform social support of no more than 7 foster families or family-type children's homes at the same time in which the total number of foster children is up to 35 people. A load on one social worker concerning social support depends on several factors: the newly created family-type children's homes, or with an experience of operation, the number of children they have, their age, state of health, the degree of complexity of social and psychological problems to be solving; place of residence. Specialists who provide social support of family-type children's homes have to undergo a special training program approved by the Ministry of Family, Youth and Sports on January 3, 2006 number 2670, and have a corresponding certificate. The organization of specialists' training that provides a social support, and improvement of their skills relies on regional centres of social services for family, children and youth. One of the activities of social workers with family-type children's homes is an intercessory activity between foster parents and services that protect children's rights, cooperation with different professionals to ensure the best possible conditions for raising a child in a family. In addition to issues related to development issues, education, health, child behavior also those which allow to decide what should be done to resolve the problem and which specialists should be involved, are being solved . Based on information about the child who is placed into the family, the plan of social support of the foster child is made. Implementation of social support is aimed at solving certain problems, depending on the term of a child's placement into a family and his basic needs. In particular, social support is focused on:
Social support appears not as a substitute for care for the foster child, but as an organization of social support and assist for foster parents in solving the issues that they alone can not effectively perform. Based on the best interests of the child that comes to be brought up in the family, the sphere of social support involves not only foster children and foster parents. The objects of social work are also the closest environment of the child and the family that ensures normal conditions of adaptation and development of foster children. Social worker in the process of social support interacts with biological children of foster parents; with biological parents of the child or person in loco parentis; with relatives of foster children; with the closest environment of foster parents; with closest environment of foster children; with community members, that include the family-type children's home. That assistance is given not only to the child, not just to a family-type children's home, but to all environment, in order for the family, environment of the child, the community to create conditions for the proper development of the child. Help for self-help is the main principle of social support. The implementation of social support is based on respect for these basic principles:
Supporting a family-type children's home, social worker follows the provisions of the Code of Ethics for professionals in social work in Ukraine. The solution of the set before the social support tasks is done by providing a family-type children's home with complex social services which can be divided into the following areas: social, economic, legal, social-educational, psychological, social-medical, information. Socio-economic services:
Legal (jural) services:
Socio-pedagogical services:
Psychological services:
Social and health services:
Information services:
Beginning of social support is fixed by the corresponding decree of the centre of social services for families, children and young people on the basis of the decision to create a family-type children's home and an agreement between body which decided to establish a family-type children's home and foster parents about placement of the child (ren) into the family. By the decree, a social worker who will carry out social support is assigned to the created family-type children's home . It is advisable to tie at the family a specialist who led the previous work with parents as candidates for creating, assisting in the choice of a child. In some cases, the center of social services for families, children and youth can offer a settlement of an agreement on the implementation of social support with a family-type children's home, which specify the rights and obligations of each party, the conditions of service, the principles of interaction, responsible people for the execution of obligations and so on. This formalization is necessary in the case of a clear delineation of responsibilities of a specialist and foster parents, preventing the formation of paternalistic relations and defines the boundaries of responsibility for solving the immediate needs of the child and family. Implementation of social support of the family-type children's home involves periodic planning of social work with the child, parents, family members, social environment and so on. Social support plan contains a range of services to ensure the conditions for increasing the educational potential of the family and creating of conditions for the maintenance, education and development of a foster child. The plan provides for specific measures of socio-economic, socio-domestic, legal, psychological, social, medical, socio-educational and information services. The structure of social support plan is identified concerning key challenges:
The plan includes:
In terms of social support the following statements are fixed :
Based on the responsibilities of foster parents most of the items of the social support plan should include them as direct executors. Again, the involvement of social workers and professional specialists is necessary to plan in the cases when the parents are not able to provide solutions to the problems: legal paperwork, establish cooperation between different agencies, to protect the interests of the child at the local government level and so on. If we consider the distribution of liabilities of foster parents and social workers to provide basic vital needs of foster children, the majority of points will be determined as a joint interaction. However, the process of social support should not become a permanent intensive care. The main task is to achieve maximum independence of the family to perform inner family and social functions. Social support plan is approved by the Director of the Centre of Social Services for Family, Children and Youth, and kept in the personal file of the family-type children's home. During the first six months of operation of the family-type children's home the social support plan is made for each month, then - for the next six months, further planning is performed annually. Plan of social support, as needed, but at least once a year is analyzed and adjusted with foster parents and child based on his age and health. If a child is brought up in an orphanage family has significant health problems (disability, is HIV-infected, chronic illness, injuries) and requires constant medical supervision, a social worker with the district pediatrician develops a plan of medical support of the child that captures medical measures that are necessary to ensure the health and development of the child, and duration of their execution. Medical support plan is signed by the head of the department of health facility and determines medical grounds to be followed by parents, a district pediatrician and a social worker. Medical support plan is reviewed annually during the taking of the foster child a compulsory medical examination or adjusted as needed. The main criterion for determining the effectiveness of family education of an orphan can determine the level of his adaptation in adulthood according to the requirements of public relations. Evaluation of educational work should depend on how well the foster parents managed to prepare the child to act independently and make decisions based on the fact that independence, creative initiative and social responsibility are becoming the defining features of the educational process at the present stage of development of our society. Expanding the network of children's homes as a necessary condition for the protection of rights of children deprived of their biological family for family education requires formation of specialized social services, oriented on training, help and social support of only family-based care for orphans. References: Source: Social pedagogy: Tutorial / Ed. of prof. A. J. Capska. - Kyiv: Centre of Educational Literature, 2009. - 412 p.
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| Last Updated on Saturday, 22 May 2010 17:44 |
International experience of placing children left without parental care shows a phase-out of states having humanistic direction of social policy, of boarding school forms, focus on creating and maintaining a family-based care for orphans and children deprived of parental care.