A PLAN OF ACTION BY NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS TO DECREASE THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN WHO ARE HOMELESS, WITHOUT SUPERVISION, AND NEGLECTED BY SOCIETY
Over the past ten years, due to unfavorable socio-economic conditions and the crisis in society, the homelessness and neglect of children has reached catastrophic proportions. The estimates run from 150,000 to five million (N.A. Shakhina). According to data from the research team of Academician N.M. Rimashevskaya, Russia has about 2.8 million homeless and neglected children. In effect, these children are social outcasts, deprived of both childhood and a future.
According to official government statistics, Russia has more than 670,000 who are orphans or are without any parental supervision. The overwhelming majority, about 95%, are orphans with living parents. The government spends a lot on their upbringing. But the problem is not just an economic one. There is great anxiety about the fate of most of these orphans. Research done in Russia by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) shows that of the children graduating from the orphanages and other homes for neglected and delinquent children, 40% are registered as having committed crimes, 30% are alcoholic and drug addicted, and 10% have attempted suicide.
These orphans, and homeless and unsupervised children are the main source of replenishment for the criminal organizations, and for child and adolescent prostitution. “The dregs of society” are a serious threat not only socially but also politically because as research shows, a considerable part of this “dreg” is hostile to the very foundations of society (N.M. Rimashevskaya, 2002).
The problem of these children is becoming one of national security, both today and for the future. If these children continue to exist in large numbers, in the context of an overall decline in numbers of the young generation, this can have long-term unfavorable consequences, including the following ones:
A larger segment of a-social children and adolescents.
The development of socially-maladjusted children and adolescents with problems.
A sharp decline in the physical and psychological health of the population. A reduction in that segment of the population which is the educated, intellectual, professional, hardworking potential of the nation as a whole.
President Putin in his speeches has repeatedly expressed concern about the situation of these orphaned and homeless children, and this led to the elaboration and implementation of some government measures to reduce the problem, both on the national and regional levels. In 1999 the whole issue was taken up at Russian government meetings on the highest level, and in 2001 at a meeting of the government’s Security Council.
In 2000-2001 the Duma [national parliament] held several hearings and special meetings on the homelessness and neglect of minors. There is an interagency commission on minors and the defense of their rights, which regularly analyzes the state of prophylactic work with these children. There is also ongoing work to improve legislation in this field.
Beginning in 1997 the federal program on “the prophylactics of neglect and law infringement regarding minors” has provided support for the development of a whole system of institutional prophylactics for these children. For the past three years the program has been fully funded. A network of social-rehabilitation centers was created, and there was a broadening of the network of children’s homes for temporary stays and of homes for infants and young children, for the upbringing and rehabilitation of these children. In the Russian Federation’s Family Code, adopted by the Duma in 1995, there is a series of articles on the rights of the child and the protection of his or her interests.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was ratified by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in 1990, says that:
For the full and harmonious development of his or her personality, a child should grow up in a family in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding.
The family as the basic cell of society and the natural environment for the growth and well-being of all its members, and especially children, should get the necessary protection and assistance, so that it can fulfill these obligations within the society.
The system of prophylactic measures presently in effect in our country is not effective enough. In our conditions of socio-economic and political instability, they do not produce a sufficient effect, because of the weakened role of the basic institutions of socialization – the family and the school.
Today’s families are not prepared to carry out their upbringing function. Parents know exceedingly little about the physical and psychological growth characteristics of the child, and about the psychology of interacting and establishing relations of trust with a child. Not every family accepts as a norm of life its responsibility for the birth and life and health and fate of a child.
For the struggle against homelessness, neglect and social orphanhood, we need large-scale prophylactic programs focused on the child’s family. Such programs could curtail and over the long run reduce these negative trends.
[The article goes on to say that Russia needs effective methods of work with the family. The existing network of institutions is not focused enough on the family and the social workers are not sufficiently knowledgeable and trained. There is virtually no interaction between the social, juridical, medical and employment agencies that are involved. Foreign experience shows that home visiting by social workers is an effective way of giving help and support to the family.
Resolving the problems call for highly qualified and experienced specialists in social work, but the salary for this category of government work is one of the lowest.
The article defines the required strategy and tasks as follows:
Developing a responsible attitude, especially among young people and parents, toward one’s reproductive behavior, and about having and raising children, and the life, health, and future of the child.
Elaborating and implementing a program, with government support and funds earmarked for the purpose, that would prepare young people for the above- mentioned responsibilities and train specialists to work with families and inform both the specialists and the public.
Involving the community in the process so as to have a partnership between government and non-governmental institutions.
Reorienting existing social services to focus on the highest priority of helping families with children that are encountering social-psychological problems and living in complex situations.
Introducing modern effective methods of work with these families, including early diagnosis of problems, comprehensive evaluation and responses by social workers, doctors, psychologists, jurists, etc., and taking an individual approach to each child and family.
The plan calls for dialogue between NGOs and government agencies, and for NGO participation in all phases of the action plan. It identifies many specific aspects including the drafting and implementing of a program to provide services, observing the principles of the UN convention on the rights of the child, ongoing contacts with the mass media to publicize the action plan and educate the public, and developing a volunteer movement to help on the local level.]