This article is a summary of part of a study carried out by Fundaţie Josif in conjunction with government organizations and NGOs. The study investigated several points of comparison between programs for at-risk children in Iaşi, Romania and Chişinău, Moldova. This summary deals only with those aspects of the study that have particular relevance for Shelter of Care, and includes our own comments on data included in the article (italicized paragraphs).
The original study involved a mixture of questionnaires and focus group interviews carried out with those involved in work with at-risk children, representing both government services and NGOs. It also included much statistical data from local, national and European sources.
At-Risk Children
 In Iaşi, children identified as 'at-risk' are categorized as shown on the graph (click on the image to see the full-sized version). The largest category are those suffering from neglect, although those who are deemed at-risk because one or both parents lives/works abroad also form a large percentage of the total.
It is important to note that here the term 'abandoned' does not refer to children who have been given up by their parents. There will be a fuller discussion of abandonment in this context in the next section. Here, abandonment includes those who are deemed to be emotionally abandoned, as well as those who are left unsupervized for long periods of time, etc.
Specialists in both cities agreed that the causes of a child becoming at-risk were frequently related to poverty, absent parents, or poor parenting skills, although poverty was the main factor. They spoke of the necessity for small-scale, family-level interventions, as opposed to macro-social solutions.
This has been our experience at Shelter of Care as over the years we have been able to build up meaningful relationships with a relatively small number of clients, which has allowed us to have a profound input into their lives. Although this kind of one-to-one work is more time-consuming than the larger weekly clubs we also run, our experience shows that for our clients, these deep and trusting relationships remain an important stable factor well into adulthood.
Interestingly, specialists in Chişinău include 'institutionalization' as a cause of a child becoming at-risk, as well as a result of it. They believed that life in a residential institution could have adverse affects on a child as they are so removed from a real family environment that even if they return home at the end of the school year, they enter their natural family as a guest. Their counterparts in Iaşi took a different view, believing that a child enters the institutions already 'at-risk' and remains so throughout their stay and beyond into adulthood. In this sense, the institution itself is a neutral factor in the child's life.
At first glance, these might seem like unimportant semantic distinctions, but at Shelter of Care, we believe that it is vital to understand the damage caused to a child by life in an institution. An abandoned child is damaged in layers: damaged caused by the circumstances that led up to their abandonment; damage caused by the event of their abandonment; damage caused by a childhood without the love and security of a stable family.
Even if the institution is well-run, and the workers care deeply for the welfare of the children (and most do in our experience) it is still no substitute for a real, safe, stable family upbringing.
If childcare experts in Iaşi believe institutions to be a neutral influence, then what incentive is there for them to provide services to mitigate the negative effects of the insititutional life? What incentive is there for them to push towards foster care as a first resort, or actively seek out foster-care placements for children already in institutions? What incentive is there for them to ensure that foster care is of the highest possible quality?
We contend that it is not enough to remove children from a potentially dangerous or neglectful situation. Care must be taken to ensure that at-risk children are not only safe from harm, with basic physical needs met, but also that they are appropriately nurtured emotionally and spiritually.
| Therefore, we feel that it is important that those involved in child protection accept the premise that the child's living conditions after abandonment can have an adverse effect on them in addition to the results of previous trauma. |
We believe that the results of accepting this premise could be two-fold: firstly it encourages authorities to work with families to prevent situations where children are abandoned or removed from their families, especially where the harm caused by separation is likely to be worse than that caused by the insufficiences of the family situation. We believe that removing children from their families should be a last resort. Secondly, it encourages childcare authorities to ensure that placements found for these children are of the highest quality, providing a stable, family-like environment in which the child can grow up with adequate supervision, input and affection.
 Children who are removed from their families by the child protection department can be placed in a number of settings. The most common placements in Iaşi are currently with foster carers, or within the extended family of the child (up to four degrees removed). However, nearly 40% of children are still being placed in non-family settings, such as large institutions, and smaller community placement units (categorised within 'placement' and 'urgent placement' on the graph). 'Specialist supervision' is used for those who have been involved in a crime for which they cannot be held legally responsible because of their age.
Abandoned Children
This term is not one that is quantified in childcare legislation. For the purposes of this study, it includes all children who are living permanently in placements organized and supervized by the child protection department, including foster placements, and placements with extended families.
 Abandoned children include all of the children identified as 'at risk' and removed from their families, plus several other categories, as shown in the chart. Children whose parents have relinquished their rights refers to those children whose parents have voluntarily given them over to the care of the child protection department. Theoretically, these children are adoptable, although the chances are very small for older children. Some children whose parents work abroad are left in an unsustainable situation, e.g. several children left with an older sibling, or with an infirm grandparent. Although these children are not technically abandoned as their parents anticipate returning to Romania, they end up in the care of the child protection department because of their circumstances.
Professionals believe that the causes of abandonment are cumulative, and a mix of short-term and long-term factors, leading to a crisis situation. The most common issues seem to revolve around family problems (bereavement, relationship problems, sickness) and financial difficulties. Around 9% of abandoned children are abandoned because they were simply unwanted or because of the sickness or disability of the child.
When asked to comment on the effects of abandonment, the respondents indicated that attachment disorders, behavior disorders, difficulties with social integration, problems in school and delayed physical, eductional and emotional development were the most significant effects.
These are the same effects that we at Shelter of Care have recognized for many years. It is because of this damage that we believe that counseling needs to be a vital part of any work with abandoned young people, in order to mitigate the long-term effects of such disorders in their overall development.
graph4_t.jpg) 36% of all abandoned children in Iaşi are still living in non-family settings, despite the fact that childcare workers considered adoption, placement with the extended family and foster care placements to be the best solutions for abandoned children.
The childcare department collaborates with many other agencies in its work, including schools, the police force and other official and non-governmental organizations like Shelter of Care. When asked to rate the level of trust they had in these different groups, NGOs were rated very highly, with over 84% of respondents rating their level of trust in NGOs as 'very good' or 'good', significantly ahead of mainstream organizations such as ANDPC (National Agency for the Protection of the Rights of Children). This is very encouraging for organizations like Shelter of Care as it is indication of an appreciation of the quality of our work in the past, and promises fruitful collaborative opportunities in the future.
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