Prevention of Child
Abandonment
Sofia, 3 May 2007
Rodica Paslaru
National Authority for the Protection of Child’s
Rights
ROMANIA
What “abandonment” means?
Romania the country with
orphans/abandoned children (’90s)
over
100,000
- The term included children separated from their parents,
placed in different institutions, such as: children’s homes,
special boarding schools, hospital sections, institutions for
disabled children, but also children placed in substitute
families (extended family, other families or persons)
-Very few of these children were orphans
-Many of them had families and visited them, being placed
from economical reasons or in order to give them a
chance to continue their studies
What “abandonment” means?
Law on judicial declaration of the abandonment of
children (Law no.47/1993):
-The child found in the care of an institution of state social or
medical protection, of a private institution of legal protection
legally constituted or entrusted to a natural person under the
terms of the law, may be declared as abandoned by a judicial
decision, as a result of the fact that the parents took, obviously,
no interest in him, for a period longer than 6 months;
-By disinterest is understood the imputable cessation of any
relation between the parents and the child, relations that should
prove the existence of normal parent relations. The lack of
interest shown towards the child may be attested by any means
of proof
What “abandonment” means?
Law on
judicial
declaration of
the
abandonment
of children
(Law
no.47/1993)
Contributed to the
corruption in the
system of
international
adoptions of
Romanian children
moratorium
instituted in 2001
over international
adoption
AGROGATES
moratorium
instituted in 2001
over international
adoption
quasi – banning of
the international
adoptions in
Romania: Law on the
juridical regime of
adoption, adopted in
2004 and entered
into force at the 1st of
January 2005 (Law
no.273/2004)
What “abandonment” means?
Law on the protection and promotion of child’s rights Child’s Law (Law no.272/2004), adopted in 2004 and
entered into force at the 1st of January 2005
- replaces the word “abandonment” with “children left” by
their mother/parents or “children separated from their
parents”.
- the word “abandoned” can still be found in the text of the
law
What “abandonment” means?
UNICEF Report “The situation of child abandonment
in Romania” - January 2005:
-9,000 babies “abandoned” in maternities and hospital
units each year (2003 and 2004)
National Authority for the Protection of Child’s Rights
(NAPCR):
-5,130 children left in hospital units in 2003, out of which,
2,512 were re-integrated in their biological families;
- 4,614 children left in hospital units in 2004, out of which,
2,389 were re-integrated in their biological families
What “abandonment” means?
The UNICEF report:
-important from the perspective of the observance of the
child’s right to get an identity as well as of the child’s right
to know his/her parents and to be raised and educated by
them
- brought to the attention of the authorities the need to
intensify their efforts to address this phenomenon
Prevention measures and interventions
Recommendations of the working group set up by the High Level
Group constituted the basis of an action plan for prevention of
child abandonment adopted by the Government in March 2007
and include:
- focusing the prevention programs towards the regions and categories
of population with increased risks of abandonment;
-setting up a coherent reporting and monitoring system as regards the
abandonment and the risk of abandonment;
-hiring social workers in all sanitary units depending on the number of
doctors existing in the unit;
-hiring community medical assistants and physicians in all the
communities presenting increased risks of abandonment;
-standardizing the written forms and the procedures of registering women
which get admitted in maternities in order to give birth;
-elaborating procedures for keeping records of mothers and children
without identity papers and creating a database on this matter
Prevention measures and interventions
Child’s Law already contained detailed provisions
concerning the establishment of children’s identity
and the identification of the parents of the abandoned
children:
-implementation of the law was needed
- Action Plan for the implementation of the law adopted in
September 2005, setting responsibilities for several central
public authorities, as well to local public authorities with a
view to ensure the observance of children’s rights through
practical measures.
Prevention measures and interventions
Medical and social assistance staff are obliged to report cases in
which pregnant women and children have no identity papers (art.
13 (1))
Intervention in the
case of child
adandonment
Medical institutions with a maternity or pediatric unit are obliged to employ a
social worker (or a person with this responsibility)
Police units are obliged to appoint a policeman to take care of registering the
birth
Prevention
of abandonment
Action to be taken in cases of child
abandonment
(1) Issue a medical record of birth within 24 hours (doctor).
(2) Report birth to the GDSACP and police within 24 hours of the mother’s dissapearance (medical institution).
(3) Within 5 days of (2), issue a report stating child abandonment, signed by GDSACP, the police and the
representative of the medical institution to allow for the child’s immediate placement by the GDSACP director.
(4) Within 30 days of (3), the police must conduct specific investigation to locate the mother.
Mother is found
GDSACP offers counselling and support
Mother is not found
GDSACP gives the child’s details to PSAS. Within 5 days, PSAS
names child (Law 119/1996) and issues a birth registration
declaration
GDSACP provides care for the child
Prevention measures and interventions
Administrative measures undertaken by NAPCR during 2005
and 2006 :
-monitoring the implementation of the legal provisions regarding the
obligation of hiring social workers or at least persons with social
assistance responsibilities in all the maternities and paediatric units;
-nominating social workers from the GDSACP for this matter, where
necessary;
-monitoring the phenomenon by creating a monthly mechanism of
reporting the nominal data concerning these children from
GDSACPs and the Public Health Departments;
-establishing a periodic dialogue between NAPCR and the Ministry
of Health in order to find solutions for reducing the extent of the
phenomenon (including Joint Order, establishing a coordination
methodology between the interventions of the involved institutions as
regards the preventions of child’s abandonment
in hospital units).
Prevention measures and interventions
Measures undertaken by other central institutions
during 2005 and 2006 :
-future modification the Law on the civil status in the sense
of instituting the temporary identity (NAPCR and the
National Institute for Evidence of Population within the
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Reform of Administration);
- 2006 Woman and Child Health Program, including: the
editing, printing and free distribution of the Pregnant
Woman’s Book and training of the medical staff for using
it, as well as sustaining the initiative “Baby Friendly
Hospital” and the Regional Centers for promoting the
breastfeeding (Ministry of Public Health)
Preventive mission of the local authorities
The activities aiming at the prevention of the children’s
separation from their parents (in cases where there is a
risk situation which, by non-intervention, could lead to the
establishment of a special protection measure), are
carried on, according to the new legislation, by the Social
Assistance Public Services set up at the level of the
local communities (municipalities, towns, communes).
In order to prevent separation, the local councils have the
task of organizing day care services:
-day care centres;
-counselling and support centres for parents;
-monitoring, assistance and support centres for pregnant
women facing the risk of abandonment.
Supporting the preventive mission of the
local authorities
National interest programs (2005, 2006, 2007) for the setting
up of community based social services for children and families
to prevent the separation of the children from their families and to
support the reintegration or integration of the children in family.
Results of the 2005 and 2006 NIPs:
-32 day care centres;
-10 counselling centres;
-16 pre-natal abandonment prevention services;
-293 social workers or persons with social assistance
responsibilities were trained and/or hired.
The total number of day services (day care centres, counselling
centres etc.) currently functioning at the local level is of 236.
Supporting the preventive mission of the
local authorities through training
Training programs addressing the professionals
working in the community that interact with children
and parents:
2005: dissemination of the provisions of the Child Law
-86 1-day workshops for the social workers from the
county and local level, attended by approx. 2600;
- 100 2 days seminars plus 96 1-day follow-up sessions
for teachers, medical staff, policemen, magistrates (judges
and prosecutors) and priests, attended by 1,750
professionals
Supporting the preventive mission of the
local authorities through training
Training programs addressing the professionals
working in the community that interact with children
and parents:
2007: training the professionals on their roles and
responsibilities in the protection and promotion of
child’s rights
- 41 3-days training courses for local social
workers/persons with social assistance attributions,
attended by approx. 1,000 persons;
- 141 3-days training courses for teachers, medical staff,
policemen, magistrates (judges and prosecutors) and
priests; approx. 4,000 participants
Supporting the preventive mission of the
local authorities through training
Training programs addressing the professionals
working in the community that interact with children
and parents:
2007: training the professionals on their roles and
responsibilities in the protection and promotion of
child’s rights
-specific manuals for each of the six professional groups;
-teaching manuals, including all the power point
presentations, case studies, role-plays and other useful
materials;
-posters and brochures
Supporting the preventive mission of the
local authorities through training
Supporting the preventive mission of the
local authorities through training
Supporting the preventive mission of the
local authorities through training
Supporting the preventive mission of the
local authorities through training
Training programs addressing the professionals
working in the community that interact with children
and parents: seeking to ensure the sustainability
- training courses organized at the county level;
- local trainers prepared;
- large-scale dissemination of the training materials;
- approaching the universities
Supporting the preventive mission of the
local authorities through training
Future programs:
- unique training materials at the national level;
- lots of specialists involved in their elaboration;
- materials should be clear, concise, and specific to each
professional category.
Prevention of child abandonment
Thank you!