Abandoned Children în România

In the period of the communist regime the issue of abandoned children was hided from the eyes of the people.

But beginning with the year 1990 this problem has emerged and so we have find out that in the mammoth-placements were crowded and there were living in atrocious conditions approximately 100 000 children.

After these awful conditions emerged, in which the children were living, the state has begin to take out of service all the mammoth-placements one by one, trying so to give a chance to the children to have a healthy development.

The abandoned children from Romania are a complex issue and with a very difficult way of resolving it and that why we can see the issue from more than one perspective:

I. Rational Model: getting data, information

II. Incrementalism Theory : making small steps; resolving the problem “Step By Step”

III. Governance Approach : Activating state – the present way of living;

I. Current situation:

- In Romania there are still 60 centers working, with at least 100 children each;

- The rate of abandon in Romania is still high, although in the last years the number has decreased;

- In the centers are approximately 25 000 infants under the edge of 18 years old;

- The abandon of the infants comes with the birth of the child, because Romania doesn’t have a system to prevent mothers leaving their just – born child at the hospital.

- However the number of abandons has decreased over the years.

Table 1: Total number of children abandoned.

Year

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Total no. of temporarily abandoned children in to sanitary units :

5130

4614

2580

2216

1710

Table 2: Children let in the sanitary units in 2008

No. of children left in sanitary units in 2008:

1093

- babies abandoned in nursery 628

- abandoned in the pediatric department 377

- abandoned in others sides of the hospital 88

I. After framing the problem the state tried to resolve it by making small steps:

- Smaller residential condos were built-up;

- If the mother abandoned her child at the sanitary units, the authorities tried to do the best for the future of the child, that the infant will have a healthy growth and an easy social inclusion.

- So after the abandon, the child will be placed by the authorities:

1) Back to his biological family;

2) Placed with relatives (until the IV grade);

3) Placed at a maternal assistant;

4) Placed in new smaller residential condos;

5) Placed in treatment centers in the emergency system;

6) Others situation (ex. National adoptions).

1) The main objective is to keep the child with his biological family when this is possible and sure for the child.

To prevent the separation of the children from their parents the authorities has provided some programs and facilities for the parents, like:

- Day centers for the children: this centers provides for the children from poor families with condition of education and “social control” after- school program, to avoid the children to be attracted on the streets and to prevent the children to become an uneducated and lazy adult without the desire to work and leaving from the social assistance help, at the protection of the State;

- Psychological counseling and evaluation for the children;

- Activities to prevent the abandon of the school;