Ray of Hope for Ukraine’s abandoned children

Ukraine has officially closed the first of its 636 orphanages and established a new multi-purpose community centre – paving the way for a complete overhaul in the country’s outdated state-run childcare practices.

The Ray of Hope Social Centre was officially opened in the Makariv region of Ukraine yesterday by the UK-based charity Hope and Homes for Children. The centre will support vulnerable families in the local community and the family of the children who were previously resident in the state-run Barvinok orphanage - which Hope and Homes for Children shutdown earlier this year.

The orphanage closure and opening of the Ray of Hope centre makes Makariv the first region in Ukraine to develop a childcare system free of institutional care.

Less than 10 per cent of the 80 children who lived in the Barvinok orphanage were actually orphans – with most having parents or extended family living in the local community.

By working with the Ukraine Government, Hope and Homes for Children placed all the children in alternative family-based care or supported them to live independently.

The Ray of Hope Social Centre will help prevent further family breakdown among the 600 vulnerable families living the Makariv region. It provides emergency care for vulnerable families, emergency shelters for mothers and children, day care services for children in the community and training for foster carers, educators, social workers and parents. The centre will ensure no child in the region will ever again be abandoned to a childhood in an orphanage. The centre also includes a ‘Small Family Home’, providing an environment as close to a family home as possible for a maximum of 12 children who cannot be reunited with their families, or placed in foster care.

Hope and Homes for Children – which is a world leader in the field of Deinstitutionalisation - now hopes to replicate the Ray of Hope project across Ukraine.

“Today’s opening is a groundbreaking achievement and it will have far-reaching impact,” explained Halyna Postoliuk – Hope and Homes for Children’s country director in Ukraine.

More than 80,000 children currently live in orphanages across Ukraine, with a further 800 children abandoned and warehoused each year. Widespread poverty and the highest HIV infection rate in Europe have perpetuated this dependency on orphanages.

Halyna added: “We will bring people to Makariv from other parts of Ukraine and show them it is possible to transform a region’s childcare system from one which is based on orphanages, to one which is based on families.”

With 80 young inhabitants, the Barvinok orphanage used to cost the Ukraine Government more than £700,000 a year to run. The Ray of Hope Social Centre will help 600 vulnerable people, but only cost £200,000 a year.

Mark Cook OBE, the founder of Hope and Homes for Children, said: “Orphanages cost governments far more money than alternative family-based care, but more importantly they seriously harm a child’s physical and psychological health.”

According to the Bucharest Early Intervention study, every 2.6 months spent in an orphanage before the age of three stunts a child’s growth by one month and significantly lowers their IQ levels. For those who leave an orphanage in early adulthood, life chances are limited. Studies have shown that one in three children become homeless; one in five end up with a criminal record; and one in ten commit suicide.

Mark Cook added: “The Ray of Hope Centre will transform lives and can be used as a model of best practice to be rolled out across Ukraine.”

Working in ten countries across Eastern Europe and Africa, Hope and Homes for Children is a leading charity in transforming harmful and outdated childcare practices. During the past 17 years, it has closed 54 orphanages in seven countries. Its work in the field of Deinstitutionalisation is recognised as a model of best practice by UNICEF.

The Ray of Hope project was part funded by The St James’s Place Foundation – a long term supporter of Hope and Homes for Children and the charitable arm of the St James’s Place Wealth Management firm.