Report on the seminar
”Foster care-between reality and grievance”
Piatra Neamt County, Romania
21.03.2014
FICE (International Federation of Educational Communities), Section Romania, ONG of professionals in education and social protection, active for over 20 years dedicated to promoting and protecting the rights of children, especially of those in need, organized, in partnership with the Directorate of Social Assistance and Child Protection Neamt, the regional seminar about foster care, „Foster care-between reality and grievance”.
In fact, this scientific event is the first from a series of actions that FICE Romania intends to organize, on this teme, in the whole country.
The event was attended by specialists in psychology and social work from the profile institutions (DGASPC) from Bacau, Iasi, Neamt, Vaslui county, foster parents, young people in foster care, local government representatives, academics, politicians.
The scientific materials presented at the event („Psycho-social issues concerning foster care in DGASPC Iasi”, authors Niculina Karacsony, Elena Dana Filiche, DGASPC Iasi, „The relevance of intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors for foster parents”, authors Ionel Armeanu Ştefănică, Larisa Cazan, DGASPC Vaslui, „Foster parent-psycho-emotional resource of thechild”, authors Mihaela Mătăsaru, Irina Stan, DGASPC Iasi, „General highlights concerning the actual foster care sistem”, authorsIonel Armeanu Ştefănică, Anca Băbăscu, Beatrice Moşneagu, DGASPC Vaslui, „Normative regulations in the field of continuous training of the foster parents –initial and continuous training of staff from the social field inIaşi”, authors Alina Frunză, PhD, Mădălina State, DGASPC Iaşi, „Resilience training methods at the children in foster care”, author Eugen Simion, PhD, DGASPC Neamt)revealed characteristics of foster care as a basic component of the current system of child protection in Romania.
- Analytical and causal elements
Specialists in psychology and social work which attended the activity outlined the advantages of placing the child at a foster parent, especially, in terms of its psycho-emotional development, compared to residential placement.
Also, the need for adequate training of the foster parent was highlighted, targeting both its initial and continuos training, so that this resource can act in full compliance with the chracteristics and development needs of the children, especially of those entering the foster care system because of the abuse in the family of origin or gross negligence, so that they can develop resilience, their adaptative capacities.
There were touching interventions of the young people in the foster care system, which emphasized the particularly formative role of foster parents preparing for the inclusion for the social integration, including the fact that they were taught abilities of independent life, to participate in all the activities of the family, from the help in household (to cook, wash clothes, do the housework, etc.) at times of anniversary and celebration, the key message conveyed being the membership at a system of family values.
Foster parents present at the event said that they are trying to maintain and to foster children the need of belonging to the birth family, but they disagree with the idea of letting go the children or they disagree with their forced return to their families homes, if they are not properly prepared, in case it will be proposed a law of foster care only for very young children and only until they turn three, like they heard it will happen.
Also, referring to the need to provide financial-accounting documents justifying the money allocated for the meals of children, to be found another legal form, eventually by personal declaration, because in many cases they end up with denials from village shops to release them invoices, thereby having to resort to gimmicks that may rise to suspicions (for example, if they purchased from a supermarket a larger amount of nonperishable food items, they were wondering how can a child consume an amount of eight liters of cooking oil a month!).
Simultaneously, it was highlighted, both by the experts present, by the directors of the General Directorates of Social Assistance and Child Protection and the foster parents present, that the child’s need to belong must be driven and materialized and in the preparation of the birth family of the child for the family reunification, through a joint effort of local authorities from the native places with the specialists from DGASPC.
Academics present stated that the mission and the efforts of some of the foster parents, especially of those who have foster children with disabilities, children infected with HIV, demonstrate courage and strength and that, in general, foster parents, who assumes also the position of supporting the school in the educational approach of school, are maybe more interested and more responsible than other parents and that such cooperation can only honor them.
Politicians stressed the special role of FICE Romania in clotting professionals in the social-sistemic scope of child protection, of the specialists from the field of education, of representatives of civil society, of the local authorities to limit the negative effects of removing the child from its natural environment. Also, they reassured us that, their future political interventions they will use the services of FICE Romania specialists to propose and adopt legislative elements leading to the principle of the best interest of the child, including a new law on foster care that takes account of the developmental characteristics and the complex-formative needs of the child.
- Proposals for intervention, measures
A child can develop in an adequate way, can learn and internalize values, norms, appropriate developmental milestones, including psycho-emotional, only in a family, be it the birth family or the foster family. Family environment can be beneficial, stimulative, focused on promoting some authentic virtues and values or, conversely, can be an intensely traumatic environment (in some cases).
In the latter case, when we have to deprive the child from the support of the birth family, we must identify institutions that would replace the care and affection of natural parents in the lives of children in need.
Considering both the professional and act expertise for over 20 years of FICE Romania and the results and conclusions of the regional seminar „Foster care-between reality and grievance” and given that only together we could find solutions to support the strategic resource, of the future of Romania, children, not just those who are temporarily in the care of state institutions, FICE Romania makes a number of proposals and recommendations:
development of long-term goals for raising the living standards of the people, for limiting chronic poverty, as an important factor of the decision to remove the child from the family;
supporting local authorities in their action of early identification of cases at risk of abandonment or abuse/neglect in which the children may be, by hiring social workers, community social workers in sufficient numbers, understanding that prevention should be considered an lasting community investment and not an expense, an additional effort;
social mapping of the risk areas, vulnerable from the viewpoint of the aggregation of risk factors of abandonment, child abuse and neglect (extreme poverty, excessive consumption of alcohol, children or parents with disabilities, etc.);
developing programs to adequately inform parents about the rights they have, in terms of health care, children’s access to education, employment, obtaining identity documentation and so on etc.;
developing support programs, for the rehabilitation of the families whose children have entered temporarily the protection system, to prepare the reunification of the children in safety, in a time short enough to prevent distorsion and disintegration of the attachment, programs conducted by the local authorities with the help of the general departments of social assistance and child protection, of the church, of another social actors, of NGOs, etc.;
change of foster care to favor the creation of structures for secure attachment to the child and family preparation originating for safe reintegration of the child;
creation of a national information system containing children in child welfare, including foster care and an interface to enable foster parents to take in foster children, particularly disabled, in another county, the settlement of proper expenditure;
initiation of an adequate system of training foster parents, taking into account the specific features of the child (psycho-emotional characteristics, history of abuse, neglect, the need for secure attachment, need for affiliation, etc.);
actions for encouragement of local community economic environment, government institutions, of NGOs in collaboration dedicated to promoting the rights of children.
FICE Romania strongly supports the idea that the state, through its institutions, to get involved more significant in protecting children's rights, children coming from poor families, in the training of socio-professional skills of young people in care, to prepare them to integratesocially and professionally and to get access to a competitive community market.
Prof. Toma Mareş,
President of FICE Romania
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