This spring, the USAID-supported Assistance to Russian Orphans (ARO) [7] program, administered by IREX, sent a group of six Russian child-welfare professionals to the Children’s Aid Society (CAS) in New York City to observe US models and share lessons learned in family-based (foster) care for orphans, as well as to forge new working relationships.
The Russian delegation—winners of a competition to identify best practices and innovative services in foster care—gained invaluable insight into US family-based forms of care, and developed new ideas for implementing progressive initiatives necessary for preventing child abandonment and ensuring that every child has a place in a family environment.
Exposure to international best practices in foster care is essential for Russian specialists at a time when Russian federal and regional authorities are seeking alternatives to institution-based care. ARO’s mission is to stop the unprecedented growth of child abandonment by providing each child with access to education, the opportunity to live in a stable family, and the ability to become a productive member of society. Through trainings, discussions, and on-site observation, the study tour focused on issues such as therapeutic and medical foster care, foster-home development, post-adoption services, and supervision in social services. Discussions and trainings led by a variety of Children’s Aid Society staff were enhanced by visits to actual foster homes and observations of family team conferencing.
The Russian participants, traveling from several different regions of Russia, represent a diverse cross-section of Russia’s child welfare community, including an executive director of a local orphanage, a regional head of the department of education, and a journalist from the Agency for Social Information. ARO’s lead partner in Russia, the National Foundation for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NFPCC), also sent a program director to enhance the NFPCC’s expertise in preventing the unprecedented growth in child abandonment in Russia, and providing services to at-risk families and children.
Study-tour participants plan to share the newly gained knowledge and skills with their colleagues and peers, in order to increase the effectiveness and reach of family forms of care in Russia. Participants are also interested in forming a working group to augment and share best practices with the Russian child-welfare community.
Russian participants were not the only ones to benefit from the week’s activities; CAS employees noted the valuable insight they gained through discussion and comparative analysis of the various challenges and successes of both the US and Russian child-welfare systems. In addition to theoretical skills and practical methods gained, ARO participants formed new relationships with international peers in their efforts to protect and care for children. For over 150 years, CAS has been providing services including adoption, foster care, health, and education to underserved children and families and remains on the cutting edge of children’s services to this day.
