Outside of the cell. Why Ukraine should disappear children’s homes

In Ukraine, there are prisons for children. Officials ashamed of them, to the local authorities they are often profitable, volunteers and community organizations for years have been struggling, so that fewer children got there.

Talking about boarding schools. According in 2016, Ukraine 751. They are divided into more than 10 types, subordinated to three ministries — the Ministry of social policy, the Ministry of education and the Ministry of health, but manage in most cases, appointees of the Governor. Thus the real control in what conditions there live children, no. All at the mercy of the heads of boarding schools.

“I lived in an orphanage almost all his childhood, because on the 4th day after the birth I was abandoned by parents. We were trapped in one boarding school where he studied and lived. And we would like to study in a normal school. We did not want to show the society that, perhaps,” — with this his speech from the rostrum of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in December 2015, the start Cindrova angelina (Lina Decvar). After the girl finished her story, deputies of all fractions gave a standing ovation. Many believe that this speech began a large-scale campaign to promote inclusive education and the reform of orphanages in Ukraine.

100 thousand abandoned children

Today in institutions across the country is home to around 106 thousand. About 6 thousand of them have no parents. Others they are, but because of various reasons, moms and dads entrust the custody of their child to the state.

The representative of the President of Ukraine for children’s rights Mykola Kuleba calls this method for solving the problems of the legacy of the Soviet past — the ingrained belief of much of the population that the education of the child must deal with the state. Does not affect this belief and the UN Convention on the rights of the child, ratified by Ukraine 26 years ago, where is it written that every child has the right to equal opportunities for development and decent living conditions. “For irresponsible parents it is very convenient, — said Kuleba. — When I go to a boarding school, a desire as soon as possible of these children to withdraw”.

Often children end up in orphanages due to the fact that parents do not have enough money to feed his family, or not their own homes. “Parents write statements and send their children to institutions. Sometimes, parents drink, no work, nothing to feed the child”, — said the head of the National office for the reform of the deinstitutionalization Marianna Onufryk.

Give children in state care because near (especially in rural areas) no school or kindergarten or they are not willing to adopt a child from a dysfunctional family. Mykola Kuleba believes that such cases are indicators of irresponsibility of local governments.

“The Ministry of social policy in the summer has changed the order of placement of children in boarding schools. Now enrolling children in secondary boarding schools will be only in connection with the duration of hospitalization of their parents or because of the difficult work schedule, frequent travel, shift method of work. The deputies of the Council of the Chortkiv district Ternopil region, where is a boarding school for 390 children, asked the Cabinet to change this order” — gives the example of Commissioner for the rights of the child. Deputies believe: if the distance to school in the village more than three miles or if the child is being raised by a single mother, such children should be given to boarding schools. Kuleba asks the question: would it not be easier to deputies to buy a bus for transporting children to school, help single mothers financially or to organize social assistance? Today, according to him, the government allocates enough funds for this.

The story of a girl Wiki

“I have a perfectly normal mom. Us kids, she has five, my sister and twin younger. She doesn’t drink and doesn’t smoke, doesn’t do drugs, she has two higher education. Just the circumstances were such that her she threw me out relatives, and she was going nowhere. She lived in the hospital with us, and then she was advised to write an application for temporary abandonment,” says 19-year-old Victoria, who came to the orphanage at the age of two years. Today she lives in the orphanage of family type, although I managed to visit a baby in the House, and at several boarding schools and social rehabilitation center. All this time, she maintains a good relationship with your mother that constantly comes to visit his children, but to take and can not.

Smaller than the other. Some children end up in residential care system in early childhood and do not know another life

Vika remembers his early childhood in a foster Home. He says it is strange that clearly remember many moments when she was 4-5 years old. That’s just the memories are different. Used to be able to hit, if not obeyed, although taught well there. The first class Vick had a quick read, believed, and knew how to write. But in the boarding schools themselves, the training program was much weaker than in regular educational institutions.

“A baby in the House weren’t all bad. Nurses often fed us. Even sometimes singing a lullaby. But it was not very good teachers. We had one big bedroom when I put him to bed, I was closing the curtains is a big red stick. I remember there was a girl Nadia — she was so afraid of that stick, which literally climbed the wall,” continued Vic.

She somehow got the same stick on the head. When the governess watched the series, forbade the children to be quiet. While Vicky accidentally played music in the game. Telling these stories, Vika laughs, although she also says that there is nothing funny about them.

In other boarding schools Vika didn’t beat: says tried anything “not to meddle”. Lucky it’s not everything. Her older sister, the teacher broke his nose. Heard Vick and sexual abuse of older children over younger. “I’ve always tried to stay away from such. Not conflict, not fought anyone, knew how it could end,” — said the interlocutor of Focus.

Most children did not complain about violence. However, there was one girl who decided to write a statement to the police. But the case was quickly hushed up.

Violence, swearing, insults, abuse of children in institutions will not be news to anyone involved in attempts to reform the system. About abuses, violations of the rights of the child say officials and experts. Why, if you know about it, don’t do anything?

The house is gated

“Appeals to law enforcement authorities, virtually none. Who will return? Children who are subjected to violence are afraid to talk about it,” explains Kuleba.

The child today is often someone you can talk about the problem. But if such a man appears, he is not always strong enough to fight the system. The situation can change mentors for children-orphans and children deprived of parental care (2016 mentoring in Ukraine received the recognition at the legislative level). But mentors in Ukraine, the massively will appear not earlier than in a year. Kuleba says that only in 2018 will start preparing those wishing to become mentors. Will mandatory certification of these professionals, and boarding schools in an order will be obliged to allow the child a mentor. Yet to get to the orphanage the same volunteers is not easy. How difficult it is — illustrates a terrible story that took place in Zhitomir in 2016. Then 6-year-old Andrew, a child with cerebral palsy who had a temperature under 40, the staff of the boarding school were locked in a room. A seriously ill baby was simply left to die. Miraculously, helped the volunteers, literally fight to break into the orphanage and took the boy to the hospital with a temperature of almost 41.

But the reformers claim that everything will change soon. In August 2017, the government adopted the strategy for reform of institutional child care. According to her, until 2026 boarding schools should be almost completely cease to exist. The children will be subject to different forms of education: ideally they will remain in biological families, if not in adoptive, foster families or orphanages of family type.

The main goal of this reform was to prevent children to boarding schools. To this end, the regions should understand what happens in families. How many of them disadvantaged and why, and what can be done to change the situation.

Then local authorities will need to establish or develop services for these families, to protect and to protect children from nesamani forms of education. For example, a child might be at boarding school because of a disability, and in his hometown no inclusive education or services day stay. So now a territorial community (and where they do not exist, districts) conduct an inventory of medical, educational, social and rehabilitative services. They also analyze which children live in the community, what are their characteristics of development, how many orphans, etc.

Without a mom. Even the best teachers will not baby relatives

In parallel with this assessment is residential care establishments. Regions with this helps the national office for the reform of deinstitutionalization. The result of the work done until mid-2018 each area (region) will develop and approve a regional plan of reforming the system of institutional care and education of children.

But even after creating all the plans and clarifying is not necessary to hope that the boarding school system will cease to exist next year.

Big money

“Often the boarding — forming enterprise. People get paid to hold tenders for the purchase. Is your scheme” — the Director for development of programmes of non-governmental charitable organization “SOS Children’s villages Ukraine” Daria Kasyanov.

Money in this system really spinning a lot. For the maintenance of boarding schools from different budgets allocated 7 billion annually. About 85% of the money goes to the maintenance of buildings of boarding schools and payment of salaries to employees of institutions. And that’s not counting the charity, which is also not always gets to its destination.

“It was a shame, when I selected the gifts. We came to the Germans, the Americans. Gifts are always forbidden to open, and then we have them stacked on the table and go to sleep, when I woke up, everything was gone,” recalls Vic.

Such cases is not news to officials. Kuleba gives the example of a boarding school in Kiev region, where two weeks before New year the children had painted 17 matinees for sponsors. “For me this is exploitation of children. Sometimes the very young 2-5 years. They need to “work out” the assistance that was sent to a boarding school throughout the year, and is to receive gifts. Most of these children will never see: gifts somewhere dissolve,” says Ombudsman for children.

Experts argue that reforming the system will require a lot of money. In the transition period, to run and to Finance social services, every year will need the same amount as the maintenance of boarding schools. Also the money will be spent to earned social.

“In 2012 adopted a strategy for prevention of social orphanhood, which strongly focused on working with families. Trained in social work, gave a variety of tools. But in July 2014 specialists in social work was reduced. The social service centres for families, children and young people, but people are overloaded,” says Daria Kasyanov.

Today, the system of social assistance is actually ruined. Load per social worker can be up to 1500 people. And the total funding for a service that deals and dysfunctional families, and settlers, and veterans of the ATO, — not more than UAH 300 million per year.

Ideally, the social workers of the new formation involved with children will be required to work with families not only on weekdays during business hours, and to be on call around the clock in conjunction with the police, teachers in schools and educators in kindergartens. They will have to focus on individual work with people, as each troubled family in particular. Sometimes you need a young mother to learn to care for a newborn, sometimes to organize day care for a child with a disability, so that parents could work. With families where parents drink, where there is domestic violence or sexual violence, is more complicated. Then you need to connect foster families, the police, to provide psychological assistance to the child, to help with the treatment of parents.

Where to get the money for such a comprehensive and ambitious reform, while difficult to say. Most likely, will increase pressure on local budgets, reformers also hope for the help of international funds.

A healthy approach. Reform boarding schools puts one of the main goals of prevention of child abandonment

Heroes every day

Anyway, successful reform will not only if it is fully Fund. Will the children to live in normal conditions, depends first of all from the people conducting this reform.

Representatives of various local governments in one voice say that almost faced with child protection issues. It was always the prerogative of senior levels of government. About 10 years ago, conducted an experiment, when the village Council had proposed the creation of departments of social protection. Of the 11 thousand village councils then reacted with not more than 50.

“A dual attitude to this reform. If the objective, on the ground not ready for it, but since the system still does not work, then the probability of running it at the local self-government will be higher”, — said the Deputy head of Executive Directorate, all-Ukrainian Association of village and settlement councils Ivan Fursenko.

But the footage for reform will have to search. If in the vicinity of large cities it is still possible to do in remote villages is almost impossible. As a variant of the community can enter into intermunicipal agreements and jointly develop the system of social allowances.

While on the ground thinking, the Central authorities have already decided everything. And are quite categorical. “In Ukraine, boarding schools are accountable to the three ministries. This leads to systemic problems and irresponsibility towards the child. The only solution is to place the responsibility directly on the local authority or GSS. This responsibility, including criminal, should be subject to the safeguarding of children with the involvement of omission”, — said Nikolay Kuleba.

To help local authorities willing volunteers. “In the Balkan region after the war opened a lot of local public organizations funded by international foundations, there are many professional volunteers, was organized and systematic work to rescue refugee families. We have a similar situation”, — quotes the example of Daria Kasyanov. She believes that if it is reasonable to direct the efforts of volunteers in the social sphere, to systematize their work, to make a good prevention of child abandonment.

Life after the orphanage

But the future is the future, and the present children in boarding schools rather than live in a cozy house, and how severe the barracks. For them, for example, happy to help out in the kitchen, as there can not only feed, but also to teach the basic skills of management — how to wash the dishes, peel the potatoes. Then comes an independent adult life. Even at the very least for her to prepare from residential institutions produced children who simply have nowhere to live.

In 2017 for the first time in many years, the Ministry has allocated 555 apartments for graduates. Next year promises twice. But how about the fact that today the streets are tens of thousands of former internatovtsy? Often after graduation young people are offered housing in dilapidated buildings or even real estate Fund.

After running the chain of command in trying to understand the bureaucratic intricacies, many graduates eventually or remove the housing (if possible), or try to stay longer in the orphanage — at least until graduating from high school (if you were able to do).

“Cool, now I want to help other families like ours. If once my mom helped, we are unlikely to find themselves in this situation. And so we asked to be deprived of parental rights. Because of the fact that orphans eligible for benefits, we have more opportunities to learn. One it we would not be pulled. Mom at first did not want. And then agreed,” he said at the end of our conversation, Vic.

She was lucky to arrive on the budgetary form of training in one of Kiev universities. Now she is a sophomore and still lives in the orphanage of family type. Where will be live in a couple of years while is not. I decided that I would try to organize your small online business selling clothing and hoped that in a few years the situation with housing from the state will be solved.

• See also: Parent school. What parents and children teach each other

Reform boarding schools — the future 10 years. These changes will be for the Ukrainians a test of humanity and civilization. It is likely that it is a good excuse to get rid of eternal excuses that we would be happy to do something, but the system does not. After all, the system will change only when people change.