Russian Government Turns to IREX Partner to Prevent Child Abandonment

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia was devastated by poverty and social instability, resulting in a sharp increase in child abandonment. Rising alcohol and drug addiction rates also placed many children at risk of abuse and neglect. In response, Russian social workers founded the National Foundation for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NFPCC), which has advocated for innovative child welfare models and policy change since 1994. Since teaming with IREX in 1999 to implement the USAID-funded Assistance to Russian Orphans (ARO) program, the NFPCC has established itself as an expert voice on child welfare issues. As Russia places a new focus on child welfare, leaders from all levels of the government are turning to the NFPCC for consulting and technical assistance, tapping into the organization’s rich experience developing successful models of child abandonment prevention throughout the Russian Federation.   

Although a booming gas and oil industry has seen Russia prosper in recent years, child abandonment remains a major problem, with over 730,000 orphaned and abandoned children reported by UNICEF in 2007. However, these issues were virtually ignored by high-ranking officials until 2006, when then-president Vladimir Putin publically addressed child welfare and child abandonment in particular. Moving children out of orphanages and into loving families became a national priority, and government subsidies were introduced for foster and adoptive parents.  2008 was named Year of the Family, and Putin’s successor Dmitri Medvedev has also adopted the issue, advocating for support systems to save children and families in crisis.     

The Russian federal government is now taking notice of the NFPCC’s accomplishments in developing and launching new child welfare services, which have garnered local funding in Tomsk, Khabarovsk, and other regions, ensuring their sustainability. The Ministry of Education and Science and the Federal Agency of Education selected the NFPCC in 2007, and again in 2008, to conduct an all-Russia project competition and conference on family-based forms of care for orphaned and abandoned children. The $150,000 government grant was the first of its kind in Russia and fell under the federal “Children of Russia” Program (2007-2010), which seeks to improve children’s quality of life and health.

The NFPCC will continue its expert role by conducting an in-depth analysis of child abandonment trends and social services for at-risk families and children in Russia, including foster care centers. Commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Health in June 2008, the report will include practical recommendations on the use of innovative social welfare models and technologies developed under ARO to improve the quality of social services and decrease rates of child abandonment and family crisis.   

As the NFPCC continues its mission to save children and families, it is encouraged by the growing cooperation and dedication of the Russian government, without which the prospects of bringing sustainable change to Russia’s child welfare system would be bleak. “Conducting grant competitions and analysis for the Ministry allows us to see the situation across the whole country and analyze the work developed in many regions,” said NFPCC Executive Director Marina Egorova. “There is quite a lot of experience in the child welfare sector in Russia, and each region has innovative models. Working with the Ministry allows us to see what’s going on all over Russia and helps us understand how best to protect children and families.”