Transcript CHILDREN UNDER THREE YEARS IN FORMAL CARE IN CEE/CIS COUNTRIES THE BIG PICTURE IN THE REGION Presentation by Jean-Claude Legrand Senior Regional Advisor Child Protection UNICEF.

CHILDREN UNDER THREE YEARS
IN FORMAL CARE
IN CEE/CIS COUNTRIES
THE BIG PICTURE IN THE REGION
Presentation by Jean-Claude Legrand
Senior Regional Advisor Child Protection
UNICEF Regional Office CEE-CIS
Separation: More children continue to be separated
from their families. Children below three are, in general,
at higher risk of family separation than older children
Probability of losing parental care for children 0-2 and children 0-17 in 2009
(number of cases per 100,000 children of relevant age)
NB: data for other CEE/CIS countries were not available through TransMonEE.
Numbers: The « positive » overall decrease of the
rate of institutionalisation of children 0-3 hides
« negative » country specificities
A look at today’s numbers
Proportion of children 03 in institutions by
location (as of 2012)
Rates: Rate of children 0-3 in residential care in 2000
and 2009 (by country and by sub-region)
Trends: A look at the trends in rates 2000 - 2009
Number of young children in institutions
2000
South Eastern Europe
Bulgaria
3,375
Romania
2880
Albania
168
Bosnia & Herz.
328
Croatia
Montenegro
19
Serbia
TFYR of
70
Macedonia
Turkey
Western CIS
Belarus
1,300
Moldova
355
Russian
19,345
Federation
Ukraine
4,969
Caucasus
Armenia
80
Azerbaijan
197
Georgia
187
Central Asia
Kazakhstan
2,476
Kyrgyzstan
254
Tajikistan
192
Turkmenistan
232
Uzbekistan
766
Rate (per 100,000 children 0-3 years)
2005
2007
2009
2011
2000
2005
2007
2009
evolution
between
2000/2009
2,960
446
124
330
34
99
2,715
134
207
28
214
106
2,334
575
131
397
23
174
98
2,421
641
140
28
84
-
1,244
78
180
3.04
68
1,095
65
216
5.44
108
956
75
133
4.48
118
780
66
76
298
3.68
41
108
- 37%
N/A
- 3%
+ 65%
N/A
+21%
N/A
+ 59%
-
-
-
882
-
-
-
-
1,250
361
20,621
1,083
361
18,480
1,113
288
17,767
1,110
279
-
356
223
383
353
247
358
287
241
309
275
188
273
- 23%
- 16%
- 29%
5,200
4,398
3,704
3,666
308
318
249
191
- 38%
74
156
224
80
105
222
67
122
120
131
51
85
32
42
96
34
32
121
37
18
119
29
20
56
- 9%
- 52%
- 42%
2,095
258
174
232
706
2,134
238
169
219
752
1,692
269
299
-
1,653
206
278
219
-
286
63
28
49
35
207
63
25
52
34
184
53
23
48
35
169
55
39
-
- 41%
- 13%
+ 39%
N/A
N/A
Percentages: A look at the percentages of children 0-3
among children 0-17 in institutions
NB: 22,2% is the average percentage of children 0-3 among children 0-17 (if
we consider that all age groups are equal – it is therefore an approximation.
Access to services: There is too little use of foster
care for children 0-3
Percentage of CEE/CIS countries with foster care for children 0-3 (as of 2012)
The rights of children 0-3 are violated and
unrealized when they are placed in institutions
Rights of
children 0-3
Impairments linked to institutionalisation
Survival and Development Rights
Right to develop to one’s fullest potential
Right to health
Rights to adequate food
Right to protection of a family life
Right to leisure and recreation
.
Rights of
children 0-3
Impairments linked to institutionalisation
Protection Rights
Freedom from discrimination
Protection from abuse and neglect
Protection from sale, trafficking and abduction
Rights of
children 0-3
Impairments linked to institutionalisation
Participation Rights
Respect for the views and feelings of the young child
Right to a private life
The right to a personal history
CEE/CIS States have
an obligation to
Respect, Protect and
Fulfil the rights of
children 0-3
contained in the CRC
1) An equity issue …
Western Europe Vs. Central and Eastern Europe…
Reasons for the
institutionalisation of
children below 3 years of age
in Western Europe countries
parental abuse
or neglect
orphans
disability
social reasons
Source: EU Daphné Programme (2004)
Reasons for the
institutionalisation of
children below 3 years of age
in Central and Eastern
Europe countries
parental
abuse or
neglect
true orphans
disability
social
reasons
Specialists Vs. Mothers…
a case study from the Karaganda oblast, Kazakhstan (2011)
The profile of a mother who is forced to abandon
a child …
“aged about 25, with more than 3 children,
illiterate or without completed education,
unemployed before the birth of the abandoned
child, with about BGN 85 monthly income per
household member, with Roma ethnic identity
(54.7%), living in a village or in a small town, the
father is unknown or reluctant to recognize the
child”.
UNICEF Bulgaria (2010)
PERSONAL AND FAMILY FACTORS
- Unity and stability of the family:
- .
- Age of the mother:
- Size of the family:
- Health of parents and children:
- Disability of the parents or the child:
- Low level of education of the parents
- Parental abuse and neglect (lack of statistics)
- Financial issues:
Any factor, including financial issues is sufficient to lead to
institutionalization but set the stage for conditions by which other elements
can lead to institutionalization.
MAIN SOCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
Societal factors:
- Socialism inheritance: “Professionals”/”State” know best; defectology
tradition;
- Stigmatisation of children with disabilities
- Vulnerable groups deprived of adequate support
- Migration of parents
- Abandonment and relinquishment as loving choices (parents
“offering a better future”);
Institutional factors:
- Weaknesses within the health sector
- Lack of coordination and decentralization of social services:
- Lack of legal prohibition of placement of infants in residential
institutions
- Lack of community-based social services to support parents to
take care of their children.
THE WAY FORWARD
FOCUSING ON RESULTS
UNICEF’s Call to Action: END PLACING CHILDREN
UNDER THREE YEARS IN INSTITUTIONS
The 5 core interventions:
1. Legislative changes limiting to last resort, and setting strict
conditions for, the placement into institutional care of children
below three years;
2. Allocation of resources giving priority to the development of
appropriate local services allowing alternative solutions for
children below three with special attention to the needs of
children with disabilities;
3. Proper budget allocation for supporting vulnerable families
through the development of appropriate family-based
responses and services;
4. Capacity-building and standards of practice for maternity
ward and paediatric hospital staff to support parents of
newborns with a disability and parents from most vulnerable
groups, in order to discourage institutionalisation;
5. Partnership with media and civil society to promote social
inclusion of children deprived of parental care and children
with disabilities.
Helping governments …
-
Establish a monitoring system of
abandonment and relinquishment from
maternity hospitals
-
Establish patronage nurses and
home-visitation
-
Improve interaction between social
welfare services and health services
-
Encourage early mother-to-child
relationship
-
Improve health and social care
professionals’ training
-
Establishment of standards of practice
Communic
ations
Romania
and
Azerbaijan
Helping society ….
“Every Child Needs a Family” campaign
(Croatia)
-
Help the general public to be aware of
children’s rights and the risks of
institutionalisation for children below
three years
-
Help families to understand more
social services available
-
Help the public understand the foster
care system
-
Help people understand
discrimination (children of Roma
origin and children with disabilities)