We are delighted to announce that on 4 March 2010 we successfully closed the Comanesti institution – the 15th institution we have closed in Romania. Our team were joined by staff, members of the local authorities, journalists and children who had previously lived in the institution to celebrate the occasion.

When we began working on the Comanesti closure project the institution was ‘home’ to 134 children, many of who had been institutionalised for most of their lives. As a result, the majority of the children have mild to moderate special needs. A small number have severe special needs. Our team began the project by discussing the children’s wishes and plans for the future so that we were able to ensure that these wishes were met.

We were able to reunite 30 of the children with their families. Parents and extended family members were involved in resolving the issues which had lead to their children being placed into care. We supported these families to find jobs, improve their living conditions, and secured access to basic services such as healthcare, education, day care and transportation.

For another 24 young people living in the institution, our team developed individual plans for them to begin living independently. With help from local NGOs and businesses they were supported to find accommodation, a job placement and to develop their independent living skills.

A further 45 children were supported to move into established family based alternative care systems in the country. The team ensured that these were based closer to their families and education facilities, which will help them to realise their dreams.

The final 35 children in the institution were amongst the most severely disabled and required a higher level of support. For these children we built three family type homes and recruited and trained 30 members of staff to care for them. In their new homes the children will receive the support they need to fulfil their true potential.

As the leaders in deinstitutionalisation in Romania, we have contributed to 39 institution closures in the country. These have resulted in moving 4,132 children into loving family environments. We also work to prevent children entering institutions and as a result we have ensured that 2,903 vulnerable children have remained with their parents.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our supporters and our dedicated team in Romania for ensuring that we can continue with our work in the country.

March 2010

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