Who are orphans according to Russian laws?
The main “orphan” law of Russia is 159-FZ of December 21, 1996 “On additional guarantees for social support for orphans and children without parental care.”
At the same time, it should be borne in mind that in Russia single children are divided into two large categories :
- Orphans : these include persons under the age of 18 whose both or only parent has died
- Children left without parental care : these include all children under the age of 18 who actually have parents, but for a number of reasons they cannot support their children (abandoned newborn children, deprived of parental rights, missing, incompetent , are in prison, etc.)
In terms of their social status, children from these two groups are in approximately the same conditions, with the only difference being that those who were left without care have a chance that their alcoholic parents (criminals) will someday return to normal life and take their children to the family. Practice shows that this sometimes happens.
After boarding school: how to help orphans in independent life
In order not to leave graduates of organizations for orphans and foster families alone with adult life, there is a special type of social assistance in Moscow - post-boarding foster care . It appeared in 2010-2011, when several relevant laws and resolutions of the Moscow Government were adopted. It is dealt with by so-called authorized organizations. There are currently 54 of them in the city. Among them are Centers for the Promotion of Family Education, Family and Childhood Support Centers, non-profit organizations, as well as. Support is guaranteed to all graduates aged 18 to 23 years.
What difficulties do orphans face in adult life? How and why do post-boarding support specialists help them? About this in an interview with Ekaterina Smartseva , head of the department for organizing social work with orphans and children without parental care.
— Ekaterina Viktorovna, how long have you been providing support to graduates?
— She has been providing post-boarding care since 2015. This activity is gaining momentum and expanding. In January 2019, it was separated into a separate area: our department was created.
The work of the department is divided into three major areas: post-boarding school patronage for graduates; coordination and consultation of services involved in post-institutional care in the capital; organizing and holding city events for all graduates.
Now there are 24 people in post-boarding care at our center: these are those who have expressed a desire to conclude an agreement. It is tripartite: between the graduate, the guardianship and trusteeship authorities and the post-boarding care organization. The contract specifies the rights and obligations of the parties. It is concluded for a year and can be extended if necessary. The graduate can count on psychological, legal, pedagogical, social and other assistance.
— How do young people become clients of the escort department? Do they seek help themselves or do employees seek out those in need?
— When the Center just started doing this work, we ourselves offered our services to the guys. But the moment came when we saw that it was not the department that was looking for graduates to conclude agreements on post-boarding patronage, but they themselves wanted to have reliable people nearby.
— What are the main problems of orphans who have gone out into independent life?
- Psychological difficulties: unprocessed traumas, fears, inability to build relationships with society (colleagues, neighbors, etc.), the eternal problem - lack of funds due to the fact that the guys cannot distribute them correctly. They are not always able to get a job or hold on to it. Employees of the post-boarding foster care service often act as intermediaries between the graduate and neighbors. Often, specialists from the Moscow Service for Psychological Assistance to the Population are involved in solving problems.
— How do you work with the guys?
“Our common task is to support the graduate, let him get used to the new world, teach him to build his own life, plan for the future, develop and move forward. Every graduate who contacts us can count on assistance in registering at their place of residence and preparing to move into the apartment they receive. For example, we tell you how to install water and electricity meters, help organize repairs, get social support, get a job or study, organize your free time and summer vacation, and solve legal problems. We also provide psychological assistance and teach how to build relationships with other people.
I’ll tell you about the most memorable cases in which graduates, with support, were able to solve their problems. Thanks to the interaction of specialists with the River of Childhood charity foundation, graduate Anastasia I. was helped to find a professional doctor when she had health problems and to choose the right therapy, which made the girl’s life much easier. They also helped her realize her right to receive severance pay, which she was unable to obtain on her own.
For graduate Alexander B., who is preparing to take the Unified State Exam this year and paid for expensive tutoring sessions, volunteer tutors were again found through interaction with a charitable foundation. Now Alexander is preparing to take exams for free.
Without our help, graduate Christina F., who has two small children, would have had a very difficult time. Thanks to the specialists of our Center, the girl was not left alone with her problems, which seemed to fall on her as if from a cornucopia. Together they wrote off the debt for utilities and electricity left by the previous tenants. They helped with the purchase of furniture, including cribs for children. They taught how to register a mother and children to a clinic, register for baby food at a dairy kitchen, and enroll children in kindergarten. They sent Christina to study at night school and at the same time to work. She is currently doing well. Let's hope that thanks to timely assistance, mother and children will be happy in their home.
— You mentioned your joint work with the River of Childhood charity foundation. How do relationships with non-profit organizations develop?
— Recently, we have expanded our area of interaction with charitable foundations and non-profit organizations. They help the children settle into new apartments: they provide them with furniture, household appliances, and help make repairs. Charitable foundations also organize career guidance and financial literacy classes for them, business meetings with successful people, etc.
Charitable foundations and non-profit organizations become our constant partners during events: they provide volunteers and presenters, give gifts to participants and winners of competitions and sports competitions.
I would like to note with gratitude our most active partners: the charitable foundation for helping people in difficult life situations “River of Childhood” (founder Olga Pozdeeva), the Union of Social Pedagogues and Social Workers (vice-president Denis Davletkaliev), ANO “Socio-cultural (scientific director) Denis Davletkaliev), Youth regional public movement “Moscow Students” (headed by David Harutyunyan).
— Let's return to the areas of work of the department. You said that you are involved in coordination, methodological support, and consultation of specialists from authorized organizations in Moscow. What are they?
— These are organizations that, in accordance with the order of the Moscow Department of Labor and Social Protection, have passed a competitive selection and have the right to engage in post-boarding care. They have all the necessary resources and conditions for this. These organizations have the ability to provide emergency assistance to graduates, including remote information and advisory assistance.
Currently there are 54 of them in the city. Among them are Centers for the Promotion of Family Education, Centers for Assistance to Family and Children, and non-profit organizations. Any graduate who finds himself in a difficult situation can contact any of them and receive timely professional help. In addition, a large selection of authorized organizations allows graduates to conclude an agreement on post-boarding patronage with the institution that is closer not only territorially, but also in spirit, and that meets all their needs.
— How does he interact with authorized organizations?
— is a conductor of the ideas of the Moscow DTSZN in this area. He can act as a third party in resolving the most pressing issues during post-boarding care.
At the end of last year, a social directory for tenants of residential premises from a specialized housing stock in the city of Moscow, “On a good journey,” was published. This brochure is a guide to independent living. The handbook is intended for both graduates and specialists who will work with them. He became a really good help in resolving many issues that arose along the way for the guys.
— What events do you organize for graduates?
— We have a lot of events. Photo competition “Moscow through my lens”, essay competition “My New Year’s wish to the graduate of 2019”, mini-football tournament “Street Zabivaka”. In 2021, one of the landmark events was launched - the “My Moscow - My Opportunities” competition, where successful graduates meet.
The guys take part in them very actively. This suggests that they are in demand and relevant. Communication between graduates in an informal setting allows them to exchange opinions, experiences, discuss and build prospects for growth and development, building relationships on the “graduate-to-graduate” principle, when a successful young person becomes a positive example for younger comrades.
The idea for 2021 was to hold the “My Sports City” Spartakiad, within which two stages have already taken place: tournaments in Russian checkers and table tennis. There is a mini-football competition ahead. Now there is a very interesting situation in the Spartakiad standings: the second line of the table is shared by as many as three teams! The intrigue is developing, and we will be able to see its denouement in September, when the mini-football tournament will take place. Taking this opportunity, I invite everyone to become spectators at the completion of these sports competitions!
Also in the fall, the second competition “My Moscow – My Opportunities” will be held, where the most successful and socialized graduate of the year will again be named.
— Do you see a positive effect from the work of supporting graduates?
“Currently, there are ongoing debates in society about the need for post-boarding support for graduates. Experts express two polar opposite opinions: some consider this work inappropriate, others advocate its transformation and active development. Looking ahead, I will say that based on the results of the analysis of the post-boarding support system in the Russian Federation by the Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights Anna Kuznetsova, conclusions were drawn about the need for its renewal and development. The Children's Ombudsman has developed a roadmap, which is a program for updating the post-institutional care system. After finalization, the document will be introduced into the practice of organizations dealing with issues of social adaptation of graduates.
I would like to add that post-boarding support for graduates is simply necessary. The specialists who deal with it are people who are ready to come to the aid of the children, support them and work together to find a solution, often at any time of the day. I always say that it is impossible to deal with orphanhood issues formally, there is no concept of “work according to a schedule”, this can only be done by a person with a burning and living soul, mobile and proactive, someone else simply cannot achieve results.
Our children, thanks to post-boarding care specialists, have learned to independently solve a variety of issues that can be encountered in life. They have a ready-made algorithm for action in a given situation. They will be able to use it even when there is no support nearby in the form of our specialists. I'm calm for them.
How is orphan status given?
Orphan status must be obtained in order to take advantage of all the social support measures provided to such children by the state. For example, get free separate housing, or a discount when entering a university.
The list of benefits and other social support measures provided to orphans is quite wide. Perhaps the most “weighty” preference for orphans from the state is the right to receive separate comfortable housing . In addition, orphans can count on benefits when receiving education, free holidays in sanatoriums, free travel on city public transport, preferential rates for housing and communal services, benefits and subsidies and much more.
Separate benefits and advantages for orphans can be established at the regional level.
In order to confirm the status of an orphan or a child left without care, it is necessary, first of all, to have documents confirming the death of both or only parents, or other documents (a court decision on deprivation of parental rights, a sentence imposing a prison sentence on the parent etc.).
Each child with orphan status is included in the corresponding list, the responsibility for maintaining which is assigned to state bodies.
Child - orphan - definition of category
The Russian Federation is constantly improving its legislative framework and trying to provide for children deprived of parental care. Various social assistance programs for this category of children provide for the provision of various benefits and payments for living.
Funding this year for orphans is financed, according to the adopted budget of the Russian Federation, from regional funds. To understand where to turn for help, which specialist to go to, and what a child left without parents can expect, let’s consider who has the right to be officially called an orphan.
Is a child without parents an orphan?
Before we understand who really is an orphan according to the law, let’s analyze 2 main criteria and the main life situations in which children get the above-mentioned status.
- Those whose both parents have died.
- This is also a citizen, although perhaps of a young age, who finds himself in a difficult life situation. Mom and dad were deprived of parental rights through the court.
- The father and mother are considered officially missing or have not been identified.
- Both parents cannot work, take care of the child, and do not have enough funds and legal capacity.
- The mother or father together, or one of the parents, is serving time in prison. Alternatively, they are wanted by law enforcement agencies.
- Mom and Dad have an incurable disease and are physically unable to take care of the children.
Very often, one of the orphan's parents may be deceased, and the other is serving time in prison or cannot take care of the child. In this case, the baby is officially considered deprived of care.
Important: the status is awarded and must be approved by a Russian government agency. Otherwise, social services and other departments do not have the right to recognize the status of an orphan.
Ways to support orphans by the state
Today, there are two main ways out of a situation where a child is left an orphan. Let us consider in more detail what is provided by government agencies in this case.
There are no parents - where is the orphan sent?
- The child is sent to a boarding school. There he is fully supported by the state. Has the opportunity to eat, live and get an education.
- The second method, which has recently become popular, is to find a guardian for the child, who is obliged to provide normal nutrition, living conditions and education for the child.
Guardianship is a priority, as the child develops better at home, receives the necessary care and attention, tolerates stress more easily and adapts more quickly to everyday life. For this reason, government officials strive to find a guardian for every child who has lost his mom and dad.
If the child is under 14 years old, guardianship is established over him. In cases where children have lost their parents at an older age, caring for them is called guardianship.
Where can guardians and trustees take a child?
There are several types of family institutions. The state in every possible way encourages conscientious citizens to take in orphans.
- This could be a foster family, which often completely replaces the child’s real one. All members become family over time. Adults are able to fully provide such children with everything they need and maintain a wonderful microclimate, surrounding the orphan with love and care.
- Children who have lost their mother and father can be taken to a family-type orphanage. The advantage of this form is its friendly atmosphere and comfort. In addition, children in such conditions become more organized and disciplined. Since there can be many children in such a large family, responsibilities are usually distributed among all members.
Adoptive parents and guardians can completely make an orphan happy, self-sufficient and provide him with all the conditions for a full life. Everything depends on the responsibility of adults for the life of a little person; the state controls the microclimate in the new family.
