Ukraine

Ukraine has one of the highest numbers of children in institutions in Europe. More than 70,000 children are growing up in institutions and 800 babies are abandoned every year.

Alarmingly, there are now more institutions in Ukraine than there were 11 year ago - 573 in 2000 to 636 today. This is primarily due to more families falling apart after the county’s economic collapse post independence in 1991 and little support for vulnerable families.

In 1998, we were invited by the Ukrainian Government to help establish a family based childcare programme. We first developed Family Type Homes in 13 regions and promoted foster care as an alternative to institutionalisation. By 2009, 7000 children were in foster care, up from a mere 700 in 1998. In 2003 we developed the first two Mother and Baby Units.

We continue to improve services to prevent young children being abandoned. The government has replicated our childcare model and has created another 15 Mother and Baby Units and has created 688 ‘consultative desks’ in maternity units across the country to support mothers who are at risk.  We are working with the Ministry of Health to pilot a new project for babies with special needs. The Kharkiv Oblast Specialised Infant Home will deliver social, psychological, rehabilitation and medical services for children and families and training foster parents to bring up children with special needs. This will help ensure that more children benefit from the individual love, care and attention provided by a family.

Late last year, we worked with the Government to complete the closure of the Barvinok Institution in Makariv, placing all the children in alternative family-based care and developing services to prevent further children being abandoned. Less than a year later, by October 2011, we opened the Ray of Hope Social Services Centre which now supports up to 600 vulnerable individuals every year. The hub provides a space where families can interact with local authorities and other organisations that can support them, and offers a range of services aimed at preventing family breakdown. A Small Family Home provides residential care for children and young people who need special support from qualified carers and who cannot live with their parents or in foster care. 

Makariv now stands as an example of how a childcare system based on institutions can be transformed into one that is based on families. Over the coming months, our success in the region  will help us show decision makers what can be achieved across the Ukraine to help ensure no child is left to whither in an institution.

Visit the HHC Ukraine website.