The first regional forum of foster families in Vitebsk identified problems and trends in foster parenting
As reported by Elena Bogdanovich, First Deputy Head of the Main Department for Education of the Regional Executive Committee, today 76% of orphans and children left without parental care are in family-based upbringing. The number of foster families in the Vitebsk region has increased 11 times since 2001; currently, there are over five hundred of them, and they are raising 835 children. In addition, 31 family-type children's homes are functioning, under which more than 220 boys and girls are growing up. More and more people are willing to take a stranger's child into their family as their own: over the past two years, 94 orphans from the Vitebsk region have been adopted by Belarusian citizens.
The increase in the number of substitute families is interconnected with the reduction of boarding institutions. Today, only two boarding schools and the same number of children's homes operate in the region. In Dokshitsky, Lepelsky, and Sharkovshchinsky districts, all newly identified orphans are immediately placed in substitute families.
To achieve this, it took more than one year and more than one department to work. At the same time, some problematic issues remain.
– Unfortunately, there are cases of orphans returning from foster families to institutional care; last year, there were 13 such children. Guardians were removed due to improper performance of their duties concerning eight minors. Seven children lost their families again as a result of adoption revocation. Subjective reasons in some cases include specialists' errors in identifying candidates for foster parents. The creation and support of a foster family is not a formal procedure but a long-term systemic process. Therefore, when preparing candidates for foster families, it is necessary to consider risks, correctly assess the experience, and the level of psychological and pedagogical literacy of people to whom children with complex behavioral characteristics are entrusted for upbringing, – noted Elena Bogdanovich.
Among the difficulties faced by foster parents, apart from the initial adjustment period when children enter the family, are low motivation for learning, deviant behavior of wards, and interaction problems during adolescence.
Even foster parents with many years of experience are not immune to difficulties. For example, Elena Divak from the Vitebsk region has been raising other people's children for almost 30 years. Her calling as a foster mother was determined by a family tragedy: her own sister died, leaving seven children. At that time, Divak had two biological children, but they could not abandon their nephews to fate and took them in. Later, the couple decided to become foster parents for a family-type children's home. Over time, the foster mother has raised 30 children to adulthood. Currently, she and her husband are raising 8 children.
– As a rule, children who come into our family adapt quickly. In communicating with them, I mainly rely on my maternal experience, but there were cases when a psychologist's consultation was required. Two difficult preschool boys appeared in our family. Unfortunately, one had to be sent to the Begomlsky special boarding school in the Dokshitsky district. The second boy is already in the second grade, has a phenomenal memory, but is very difficult to communicate with, requires a lot of attention, – shared Elena Viktorovna. – I am glad that there is close contact with the school, the education department, and other services that help in solving complex issues where common sense alone is not enough.
By the way, the interaction between state structures and foster families was emphasized by the Chairman of the Regional Council of Deputies, Vladimir Terentyev.
– Solving the problems of arranging orphans and children left without parental care, as well as protecting their rights and interests, full rehabilitation, socialization, and successful integration into society are one of the most important directions of our state's social policy, which is effectively implemented primarily through the development of family-based care. The family is the most favorable environment for raising a healthy personality, as it has a significant advantage in socializing a child, introducing them to universal human values, moral and cultural norms of behavior, – emphasized the head of the Vitebsk region's deputy corps.
– The first regional forum of foster families helped to discuss the most pressing problems of social orphanhood, the protection of the rights of orphans and children left without parental care, to organize a dialogue between representatives of various departments, to exchange positive experiences of foster parents, and to adopt a resolution that will define guidelines for the further development and strengthening of the institution of foster families in the Vitebsk region. There is no doubt that the forum will have a continuation.