Orphans in Russia

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Orphanage in Vladivostok US Navy 050703-N-9851B-002 Children living at Cape of Turtle orphanage perform a dance for crew members of the guided missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG 54) during a community relations project.jpg
Orphanage in Vladivostok

As of 2011 from the numbers presented from Russia at the UN states that, Russia has over 650,000 children who are registered orphans, 70% of which arrived in the orphanages in the 1990s. Of these, 370,000 are in state-run institutions while the others are either in foster care or have been adopted. [1] Reports have ranged saying that between 66 and 95% of all of these children are considered social orphans, meaning that one or more of their birth parents are still alive. [2] As of 2023 there were 34,000 orphans in Russia according to Deputy Prime Minister of Russia for Social Policy. [3]

Contents

Historical background

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, there was an increase in the number of orphans. In 1995, there was a reported 300,000 children in the orphanage system. Although difficult to accurately count, there are an estimated 1 million to 5 million homeless youth. [4] The number of orphanages has increased by 100% between 2002 and 2012 to 2,176. [2] Some of the reasons for children to end up in the orphanages are domestic abuse, parental substance abuse, having lost their parents, or being found alone on the streets. [4] As for those who are social orphans there are various reasons why they end up in orphanages. For instance one girl's parents were told when she was born that she wouldn't live long so her parents refused to take her. [5] Other children have been abandoned due to reasons such as their disabilities, or their parent's drug or substance problems. [5]

Conditions in orphanages

RIAN archive 635660 Orphans and disabled children are celebrating Christmas RIAN archive 635660 Orphans and disabled children are celebrating Christmas.jpg
RIAN archive 635660 Orphans and disabled children are celebrating Christmas

There have been reports over the years that the conditions in the orphanages are not providing proper mental and physical care. Researchers have stated that the cognitive development of children in institutions lags behind those of their peers. [6] [7] Children adopted from Russia are also more likely than any other country to have fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Doctors visiting some of these institutions have even reported seeing toddlers sitting alone, rocking back and forth, staring blankly, or even banging their heads against walls. [6] Children in the 1990s were often not provided with proper nutrition and were not given quality living and sleeping conditions [8]

Regional differences

The situation is the best in Voronezh Oblast and the worst in Jewish Autonomous Oblast and Magadan Oblast. [9]

Transitions out of state institutions

Children are sometimes returned to their orphanage. This is not always due to the wishes of adoptive parents; instead, sometimes children will find it difficult to adjust to living outside of the orphanage and will request to return. In 2011, it was estimated that as many as 4,600 children were returned by their adoptive or foster parents. [1]

In the 1900s, at the age of 16, children have to leave the orphanages. Approximately 15,000 children leave Russian orphanages each year, usually at the age of 16 or 17. [2] They are given housing, benefits, and a stipend, but often are not given sufficient advice or direction on how to transition into the world. The education that they are given is often lacking. Some institutions only provide the children with six grades worth of schooling. This takes away the opportunity to go onto higher education and many will go into vocational schools that only offer a few trades to study. [1] Statistics have shown that of these youth only 4% are admitted to universities, 50% fall into a high-risk category, 40% become involved in crime, 10% commit suicide, 33% stay unemployed, and 20% become homeless. [2]

Adoption ban

On December 28, 2012, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the Dima Yakovlev Law, prohibiting Russian children from being adopted by American citizens. [10] The law was described by the BBC as "a reaction to the US Magnitsky Act", which blacklisted high-ranking Russian officials. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adoption</span> Parenting a child in place of the original parents

Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from the biological parents to the adoptive parents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orphanage</span> Residential institution devoted to the care of orphans

An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusive. There may be substance abuse or mental illness in the biological home, or the parent may simply be unwilling to care for the child. The legal responsibility for the support of abandoned children differs from country to country, and within countries. Government-run orphanages have been phased out in most developed countries during the latter half of the 20th century but continue to operate in many other regions internationally. It is now generally accepted that orphanages are detrimental to the emotional wellbeing of children, and government support goes instead towards supporting the family unit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foster care</span> System of non-parental temporary child-care

Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home, or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent", or with a family member approved by the state. The placement of a "foster child" is normally arranged through the government or a social service agency. The institution, group home, or foster parent is compensated for expenses unless with a family member.

The international adoption of South Korean children was started after 1953 because a large number of mixed children became orphaned during the Korean War, but later, the children who were adopted in accordance with the international adoption program included orphaned Korean children. Religious organizations in the United States, Australia, and many Western European nations slowly developed the apparatus that sustained international adoption as a socially integrated system. However, this system is essentially gone as of 2020. The number of children who were given up for adoption is lower than it is in OECD countries which are similar in size, the majority of adoptees are adopted by South Korean families, and the number of international adoptees is at a historical low.

International adoption is a type of adoption in which an individual or couple residing in one country becomes the legal and permanent parent(s) of a child who is a national of another country. In general, prospective adoptive parents must meet the legal adoption requirements of their country of residence and those of the country whose nationality the child holds.

Closed adoption is a process by which an infant is adopted by another family, and the record of the biological parent(s) is kept sealed. Often, the biological father is not recorded—even on the original birth certificate. An adoption of an older child who already knows their biological parent(s) cannot be made closed or secret. This used to be the most traditional and popular type of adoption, peaking in the decades of the post-World War II Baby Scoop Era. It still exists today, but it exists alongside the practice of open adoption. The sealed records effectively prevent the adoptee and the biological parents from finding, or even knowing anything about each other. However, the emergence of non-profit organizations and private companies to assist individuals with their sealed records has been effective in helping people who want to connect with biological relatives to do so.

Disruption is ending an adoption. While technically an adoption is disrupted only when it is abandoned by the adopting parent or parents before it is legally completed, in practice the term is used for all adoptions that are ended. It is usually initiated by the parents via a court petition, much like a divorce, to which it is analogous.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adoption and Safe Families Act</span> Act of the 105th United States Congress

The Adoption and Safe Families Act was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on November 19, 1997, after having been approved by the United States Congress earlier in the month.

In clinical diagnostic and functional development, special needs refers to individuals who require assistance for disabilities that may be medical, mental, or psychological. Guidelines for clinical diagnosis are given in both the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the International Classification of Diseases 9th edition. Special needs can range from people with autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, dysgraphia, blindness, deafness, ADHD, and cystic fibrosis. They can also include cleft lips and missing limbs. The types of special needs vary in severity, and a student with a special need is classified as being a severe case when the student's IQ is between 20 and 35. These students typically need assistance in school, and have different services provided for them to succeed in a different setting.

The China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) was established on June 24, 1996 by China's Ministry of Civil Affairs. The CCAA is responsible for the welfare of children in the care of Child Welfare Institutes (orphanages), domestic adoption, and international adoption.

Child laundering is a tactic used in illegal or fraudulent international adoptions. It may involve child trafficking and child acquisition through payment, deceit or force. The children may then be held in sham orphanages while formal adoption processes are used to send them to adoptive parents in another country.

Family preservation was the movement to help keep children at home with their families rather than in foster homes or institutions. This movement was a reaction to the earlier policy of family breakup, which pulled children out of unfit homes. Extreme poverty alone was seen as a justified reason to remove children. This new movement began in the 1890s, and in the 1909 White House Conference on Children it was the top ranked issue. In order to keep families together, the family would be given enough money so that the mother would not have to work a full-time job. The families that were given this assistance were usually headed by widows.

There are several notable cultural variations in adoption. Adoption is an arrangement by which an orphaned child or one whose biological parents are unable to care for them is "adopted". While all societies make provision for the rearing of children whose own parents are unavailable to care for them, cultures and legal systems treat an adopted child in different ways ranging from equivalent status to legitimate biological children to guardianship.

Orphanhood in Romania became prevalent as a consequence of the Socialist Republic of Romania's pro-natality policy under Nicolae Ceaușescu. Its effectiveness led to an increase in birth rates at the expense of adequate family planning and reproductive rights. Its consequences were most felt with the collapse of the regime's social safety net during the Romanian austerity period, which led to widespread institutional neglect of the needs of orphans, with severe consequences in their health and well-being. A series of international and governmental interventions have taken place since the 1990s to improve the conditions in orphanages and reform the country's child protection system, with variable degrees of success.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pavel Astakhov</span> Russian lawyer and politician

Pavel Alekseyevich Astakhov is a Russian politician, lawyer and television personality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orphans in the Soviet Union</span>

At certain periods the Soviet state had to deal with large numbers of orphans and other kinds of street children — due to a number of turmoils in the history of the country from its very beginnings. Major contributors to the population of orphans and otherwise homeless children included World War I (1914–1918), the October Revolution of November 1917 followed by the Russian Civil War (1917–1922), famines of 1921–1922 and of 1932–1933, political repression, forced migrations, and the Soviet-German War theatre (1941–1945) of World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foster care in the United States</span> System of non-parental care in America

Foster care is the term used for a system in which a minor who has been made a ward or a non-minor, typically aged 18–21, who volunteers for placement, is placed in a relative placement, a non-related extended family (NREFM) placement, a community family home, an institution, a group home (residential child care community, residential treatment center, etc. Relative, NREFM, and community caregivers certified by the state are typically referred to as "foster parents," "kin caregivers," "resource parents," or other local terms. The placement of the child is usually arranged through state or county social services. The institution, group home, or caregiver is reimbursed for the expenses related to caring for the child. The state via the family court and child protection agency stand in loco parentis to the minor, making all legal decisions, while the caregiver is responsible for the day-to-day care of the minor. Even while their child is in Care, typically birth parents retain Education and Medical rights and the right to contact with their child unless parental rights are terminated by the Court.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dima Yakovlev Law</span>

Federal Law of 28 December 2012 No.272-FZ "On Sanctions for Individuals Violating Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms of the Citizens of the Russian Federation", popularly known as the Dima Yakovlev Law, is a law in Russia that defines sanctions against U.S. citizens involved in "violations of the human rights and freedoms of Russian citizens". It creates a list of citizens who are banned from entering Russia, and also allows the government to freeze their assets and investments. The law suspends the activity of politically active non-profit organisations which receive money from American citizens or organisations. It also bans citizens of the United States from adopting children from Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Institutionalization of children with disabilities in Russia</span>

Institutionalization of children with disabilities in Russia is the placement of children, who have been abandoned or whose parents cannot support them, into a facility which can be similar to an orphanage. This often occurs in countries where alternative methods of care are not available. The definition of an institution can be ambiguous; the "Report of the Ad Hoc Expert Group on the Transition from Institutional to Community-based Care" defines an institution based on the following guidelines:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Child abductions in the Russo-Ukrainian War</span> Forced Russian adoption of Ukrainian children

During the Russo-Ukrainian War, Russia has forcibly transferred almost 20 thousand Ukrainian children to areas under its control, assigned them Russian citizenship, forcibly adopted them into Russian families, and created obstacles for their reunification with their parents and homeland. The United Nations has stated that these deportations constitute war crimes. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for President of Russia Vladimir Putin and Children's Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova for their alleged involvement. According to international law, including the 1948 Genocide Convention, such acts constitute genocide if done with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a nation or ethnic group.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Odynova, Alexandra (Mar–Apr 2013). "State of the Wards". Russian Life. 56 (2): 28–35.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Statistical Snapshots: Russia's Children at Risk". Russian Children's Welfare Society. Archived from the original on 10 March 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  3. "Число детей в российских детдомах сократилось за 10 лет на 65%". TACC. Retrieved 2023-12-09.
  4. 1 2 Rudnicki, Ann A (Winter 2012). "The Development of Russia's Child Protection and Welfare System". Demokratizatsiya. 20 (1): 29–44.
  5. 1 2 Whewell, Tim (April 2, 2013). "Russia: Are efforts to help thousands of 'abandoned' children being resisted?".
  6. 1 2 Pickert, Kate (June 28, 2010). "Russian Kids in America: When The Adopted Can't Adapt". Archived from the original on June 21, 2010.
  7. "Cognitive Development and Adaptive Skills of Children in Institutions of Russian Federation".
  8. Delaine, Linda (May 1, 2000). "The Plight of Russia's Orphans". Russian Life.
  9. "Сиротство. Статистика проблемы в России и регионах". Если быть точным (in Russian). Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  10. "Russia's Putin signs anti-U.S. adoption bill". CNN . December 28, 2012. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  11. "Magnitsky case: Putin signs Russian ban on US adoptions". BBC . December 28, 2012. Retrieved April 28, 2021.