Latvia has major problems with finding children with appropriate foster families, and the possibility of finding appropriate out-of-family care is getting worse and worse as times goes by, according to information from information from the institutions and specialists involved in the children’s rights protection system available to the State Children Rights Protection Inspectorate (VBTAI).
VBTAI leading expert Simona Saule notes that information from orphan courts and decisions made so far indicate that the options to provide out-of-family care are limited not only in cases involving teenagers, but also in situations involving much younger children.
VBTAI receives information that indicates that often care institutions sometimes refuse to admit children left without parental care. They explain this by saying that there is no space or that an institution only accepts children from its own municipality.
This means orphan courts are unable to implement a full protection of children’s rights and interests by failing to find independent, stable out-of-family care providers and legal representatives. There are situations when crisis centre services are not used in accordance to their intended purposes – provide a social rehabilitation service for children. Instead are adapted to ensure the daily care and upbringing of children.
Additionally, VBTAI found in some institutions formed as a result of the de-institutionalisation procedure principles of the family environment service are not observed – children were not separated for living in separate apartments, and no a sufficient number of employees was provided in the “family model” apartments.
Similarly, VBTAI regularly receives information from orphan courts on the problems of ensuring that children transferred to out-of-family care can receive the necessary specialised training programme at the nearest educational institution of a foster family or guardian or nursing institution, despite the fact that it is the obligation of the municipality to ensure the inclusion of such programs in educational institutions.
VBTAI has asked the Ministry of Welfare to work with other ministries and institutions responsible for providing children’s rights, as well as NGOs, to agree on solutions to various problems related to provision of out-of-family care for children.
Also read: 54% of Latvian families forced to save up or borrow money to send children to school
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Latvia experiences difficulties with providing children with out-of-family care
