Orphanages in Russia

2023: The number of failures from newborns in 10 years decreased by 4.5 times - Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation

According to the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, over 10 years, the number of refusals from newborns, including those with serious diseases, has decreased by 4.5 times. Such figures were given by the deputy head of the department Evgenia Kotova in early November 2023.

Thanks to the operational interaction of medical organizations, all children with identified diseases are immediately sent for dispensary monitoring and provision with drugs, including through the Circle of Good Foundation, Kotova added.

Over 10 years, the number of failures from newborns decreased by 4.5 times

Since 2023, all newborns have been screened for more than 40 hereditary diseases. Children with identified deviations are immediately registered with the dispensary and receive the necessary treatment, including through the Circle of Good charity foundation, the Deputy Minister of Health of Russia said.

Registration of a refusal from a child is enshrined in the relevant legal acts. Practice is different, but, as a rule, refusal of a child is possible within a certain period after birth, followed by the procedure for issuing this refusal. Parents must contact the registry office to perform the necessary formality.

According to the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM), which were released in September 2023, almost 40% of Russian women refuse to have children in the next five years. The main reason is the lack of suitable housing conditions and financial situation - this reason was named by 39% of respondents. 38% of respondents explain their decision by the fact that there is no stability in life, a negative political situation in the country. 37% of Russian women of reproductive age do not want to give birth, since they already have children.^[1]

2022: The number of children in orphanages is named - 34 thousand.

By the end of 2022, there were 34 thousand orphans or children left without parental care in children's institutions in Russia. Such data at the end of August 2023 were cited in the office of the Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights in the Russian Federation.

As Izvestia writes with reference to Margarita Netesov, a lawyer of the Volunteers to Help Orphans charitable foundation, there are more pupils in orphanages in reality, since about 20 thousand more children are temporarily placed in these institutions by their parents. Official statistics on this matter are not published for the general reader, the publication notes on August 28, 2023.

By the end of 2022, there were 34 thousand orphans or children left without care in children's institutions in Russia

To place a child in a children's institution, parents must send an application to the guardianship and guardianship authorities and receive a referral from them to a specific organization. Then a tripartite agreement is concluded between the parent, the guardianship authority and the organization. If the parent does not pick up the child at the end of the term, the management of the orphanage reports this to the guardianship authorities. This may become the basis for filing a claim for deprivation of parental rights.

Tatyana Butskaya, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Family, Women and Children, said that the temporary placement of children in orphanages is aimed primarily at saving a child in a critical situation. She stressed that such a form should exist, since different life situations happen.

The solution to the problem of social orphanhood, according to experts interviewed by Izvestia, could be the development of a variety of forms of home and semi-residential care at the place of residence, such as home care, correctional and psychological work with a child and parents, day centers. Another way that will help in solving the problem is to send children to crisis accommodation families.^[2]

2021: Closure of all orphanages in the Moscow region

On November 25, 2021, the Governor of the Moscow Region Andrei Vorobyov announced the closure of all orphanages in the region. According to him, back in 2013, there were 44 such institutions in the Moscow region.

As you know, there are very caring educators, teachers, but it is better that there are no orphanages. And I am very pleased that today I can say that this 2021 all our orphanages are closed, - said Vorobyov at a solemn event dedicated to Mother's Day in the Government House (quoted by RIA Novosti).

In January 2021, the Ministry of Education of the Moscow Region reported that in five years the number of orphanages in the region has decreased by more than 5 times - from 44 to 8. The department noted that the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic did not affect the work on the arrangement of orphans in families.

All orphanages were closed in the Moscow region

In total, according to the department, by November 2021, more than 23 thousand orphans and children left without parental care live in the Moscow region. More than 15.5 thousand of them are raised in guardianship and foster families, more than 7.5 thousand live in the families of adoptive parents.

From the budget of the Moscow region, according to local authorities, 12 billion rubles are allocated annually to support orphans and foster families. Every month, the foster family, as they say in the regional ministry of education, "on average receives 50 thousand rubles per child." At the same time, judging by the data of the regional department of guardianship, the final amount of payments depends on many factors.

On November 25, 2021, Andrei Vorobyov noted that almost 91 thousand large families were registered in the Moscow region. In less than nine years, their number has tripled.

Of course, the president with all his ideology, politics draws attention to the support of those who need help, who are under additional strain. For our part, we understand that all these benefits, all payments that are provided for at the state, federal and regional levels, should also be automated and not cause trouble, he added.[3]

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