The concepts of “orphans” and “children without parental care”
Orphanhood is a social phenomenon caused by the presence in society of children whose parents have died, as well as children left without parental care due to various social factors. These may include: deprivation of parental rights of both parents or a single parent, recognition of parents as legally incompetent, missing, etc. This also includes children whose parents are not deprived of parental rights, but do not actually provide any care for their children and, in accordance with the procedure established by law, have given consent to their adoption.
Orphanhood, as a social phenomenon, has existed as long as humanity has existed, and is an integral element of civilization. At all times, wars, epidemics, natural disasters, and other causes led to the death of parents, as a result of which children became orphans. But only in recent years the number of social orphans has significantly exceeded the number of so-called biological orphans, i.e. children whose parents have died.
Orphans are persons under the age of 18 whose both or only parent has died.
Children left without parental care - children under the age of 18 who were left without the care of one or both parents due to the absence of parents or deprivation of their parental rights, restriction of their parental rights, recognition of parents as missing, incompetent (partially incapacitated), located in medical institutions, declaring them dead, serving sentences in institutions executing sentences of imprisonment, being in places of detention, suspected and accused of committing crimes, parents' evasion from raising children or from protecting their rights and interests, parents' refusal to take their children from educational, medical institutions, social protection institutions and other similar institutions, and in other cases of recognizing a child as left without parental care in the prescribed manner.
The law does not make a fundamental distinction between these categories of children in terms of general principles, content and measures of their state support. In the Family Code of the Russian Federation, for example, the concept of “orphans” is absent; they are also considered to be left without parental care.
The most formidable phenomenon in recent years has been a significant increase in the size of “social” orphanhood and the emergence of its new characteristics. The so-called “hidden” social orphanhood is being discovered, which is associated with the deterioration of the living conditions of the family, the decline of its moral foundations and changes in attitudes towards children, up to their complete displacement from families, as a result of which the homelessness of a huge number of children and adolescents is growing. Social orphanhood is the phenomenon of elimination or non-participation of a large number of people in the performance of parental responsibilities (distortion of parental behavior). The responsibilities of parents include: raising children, preparing them for socially useful work, supporting minor children, protecting their rights and interests in all institutions, etc.
Due to the imperfection of the accounting system and the high dynamics of growth in the number of children who have lost parental care, it is hardly possible to accurately indicate the number of orphans and children left without parental care in our country. According to some estimates, it ranges from 500 to 700 thousand, of which 95% are social orphans, i.e. their parents are alive, but have been deprived of parental rights or have abandoned the child themselves. The reasons for abandoning children and placing them in government institutions are: single-parent families, insufficient material security and poor living conditions, alcoholism of the mother or both parents. Only a small proportion of children were abandoned by their parents due to the discovery of one or another physical defect in the newborn, with a diagnosis of known forms of mental retardation with an unfavorable prognosis, or with minor congenital malformations. There is also a category of mothers who need special mention - these are teenage mothers who are trying by any means to get rid of an unwanted pregnancy, including using drugs that are harmful to the health of the unborn child. As a result, children are born who are not needed by their parents and are raised in institutions for orphans. Subsequently, after reaching adulthood, such children leave boarding schools into “adult” life with the status of “orphans and children left without parental care” and with a number of unresolved problems “behind them.”
Persons from among orphans and children left without parental care - persons aged 18 to 23 years, who, when they were under the age of 18, died both or a single parent, as well as children who were left without the care of a single or both parents.
Such cruel realities of modern Russian life as the economic crisis, unemployment, impoverishment of large sections of the population, living below the poverty line, widespread weakening of family foundations, loss of moral values by older and younger generations, drunkenness and alcoholism, drug addiction, the spread of mental illness among children and adults, undoubtedly formed fertile ground for many negative social phenomena and social orphanhood in particular.
According to Article 1 of the Federal Law “On additional guarantees for social support of orphans and children left without parental care” (dated December 21, 1996 No. 159-FZ, as amended on August 7, 2000 No. 122-FZ ) the number of children orphans include children whose both or only parent (single mother) has died.
The number of children left without parental care includes those who were left without the care of one or both parents due to deprivation of their parental rights, recognition of parents as missing or incompetent, declaring them dead, long-term illness of parents that prevents them from fulfilling parental responsibilities, serving a sentence in places of detention and being in custody during the investigation period [32, Art. 1].
The absence of parents must be confirmed by relevant documents:
Copies of their death certificate.
Copies of court decisions on deprivation of parental rights, taking away a child, declaring them missing, declaring them dead, declaring them incompetent.
Copies of the court verdict convicting the parents.
A medical document confirming the long-term illness of the parents, which prevents them from performing their duties.
A document confirming that the child was abandoned.
Materials about searching for parents and others.
These documents are the legal basis for providing persons from among orphans and children left without parental care with material support and benefits.
In cases where there is a document confirming the deprivation of the child of parental care. Only in relation to one parent, and the other parent for a long time does not take part in the maintenance and upbringing of the child, and the latter was placed in care and maintenance, in a children's boarding school or under guardianship (trusteeship), then these children are considered to be children, in fact left without parental care [25].
Who belongs to the category of persons left without parental care?
It is necessary to distinguish between the concepts of orphanhood and lack of parental care:
- orphans – minors whose parents have died or been killed due to various circumstances;
- children without guardianship are minors whose biological parents can perform parental functions due to:
- deprivation of parental rights;
- persistent, long-term health disorder;
- declaring them incompetent;
- those serving sentences in correctional institutions for committing criminal offenses;
- evasion of parenting duties;
- recognition as missing or dead by court decision;
You can often come across the concept of “social orphanhood” . The essence of the definition is that although a minor child has biological parents, the latter, for various reasons, consciously abandoned the child and abdicated full responsibility.
In most cases, child abandonment occurs in a medical facility immediately after birth.
Other situations related to child abandonment occur due to the degradation of parents due to the influence of addiction to alcohol or drugs, which leads to an antisocial lifestyle.
Adoption of persons left without parental care
The state puts forward a number of requirements for potential new parents wishing to adopt a child.
Requirements:
- new parents reaching adulthood;
- having full legal capacity;
- the absence of deprivation of parental rights in the past, as well as the absence of violations of guardianship and adoption;
- health status at a level that allows you to adopt a child;
- no criminal record;
- availability of residential real estate.
The procedure for judicial adoption is regulated by 125 of the RF IC. The guardianship and trusteeship authorities, as well as the prosecutor's office, fully ensure the protection of the legal rights and interests of the minor when studying the financial status, actual living conditions, and lifestyle of the new parents.
Required documents:
- statement;
- conclusion of the involved authorities on living conditions;
- certificate of employment (organization form) or 2-NDFL;
- passport;
- certificate of family composition and an extract from the house register.
Perhaps you will
How to obtain the status of a person without parental care?
The status of a person without parental care must be officially assigned. First of all, this is necessary for processing social payments provided for by law.
You can learn about depriving a father and mother of parental rights in this article.
The guardianship and trusteeship authorities have been given a period of 1 month to resolve the issue of arranging the residence and upbringing of a minor from the moment the basis for taking the child under guardianship (trusteeship) is identified).
The second important point is that registration of such status is necessary to relieve the child of obligations to provide financial support for the parents in the future.
The procedure for obtaining the status of “orphan” is quite simple, because to obtain it, it is enough to provide documentary evidence of the death or death of the parents, usually a death certificate.
Note!
The only authority authorized to assign such statuses is the court.
The initiator of the proceedings may be:
- guardianship and trusteeship authorities;
- relatives of the child;
- workers of medical, educational, social institutions;
- child, upon reaching 14 years of age.
In order for the court hearing to take place and the necessary decision to be made to the court, it is necessary to provide documents confirming the legal basis for granting special status:
- a court decision to place a parent in custody or a prison sentence;
- certificate from the Department of Corrections;
- birth certificate with dashes in the parent information columns;
- official abandonment of the child;
- confirmation of deprivation of parental rights;
- certificates from medical institutions confirming the health status of the parents;
- other supporting documents.
As soon as the guardianship and trusteeship authority becomes aware of violations of the rights of a minor, the countdown of a three-day period begins, during which they are obliged to visit the child’s place of residence.
As soon as the fact of violation or infringement of the rights and interests of a child is confirmed, protective authorities are obliged to take measures to eliminate them.
