Our work in Moldova & Transnistria

Moldova

Since we started working in Moldova in 2001 we have played an integral role in the creation of a national network of 53 Small Family Homes which provide a stable, caring environment for children who can not be raised by their birth and extended families. This was one of the first widespread family-based care services to be developed in the country and it showed that there is an alternative to the institutionalisation of children.

In June 2009 we completed our first institution closure by moving all 59 children from the Cupcui institution into caring families. The institution was based in Leova, one of the poorest regions in South Moldova, and its closure was a watershed moment for our work as it proved that there was a way to close institutions that safeguards children.

We are undertaking further institution closures and these include the Orhei institution for children with special needs and the Municipal Institution for Babies in Chisinau. The Orhei closure is a complex project because we have had to change legislation. Before, children who were in the care of the state and had special needs could not grow up anywhere but in an institution. We are now developing family-based care services for each of the 321 children and young adults so that we can move them out of the institution.

Developing the services needed to prevent newborn babies from entering the institutional care system is a key part of our approach to reforming Moldova’s care system. We have begun work to close the Municipal Institution for Babies in Chisinau. This will be Moldova’s first pilot project on closing an institution for babies and will serve as a model for closing the remaining two institutions for babies in the country.

We are actively sharing our approach and findings with Government Ministers, Local Authorities and interested institution directors and it is hoped that across the country, more institutions will be closed as a result of this.

Transnistria

In 2000 a journalist alerted the Western media to the plight of a group of girls with special needs in Transnistria. They were living in appalling conditions in a large neuro-psychological hospital called the Bender Institution. The public outcry was strong and because of our expertise in deinstitutionalisation we were invited into Transnistria to help the children.

Some of the girls have been relocated to Small Family Homes, so they can live in a caring, stimulating environment where they can reach their full potential. The other girls are living in a new Rehabilitation and Resource Centre, which we have recently been renovated and adapted.

The Centre provides a short-term alternative to institutional care whilst their long-term individual needs are addressed. It offers services such as remedial therapy and medical care. Additionally, it provides support to local families with children who have special needs, thereby helping to prevent child abandonment.

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