1. Prevention of Newborn Abandonment through Development of
MINISTRY OF UKRAINE OF FAMILY, YOUTH AND SPORT
State Social Service for Family, Children and Youth
Prevention of Newborn Abandonment through Development of
Community Services
Irina Dubinina,
Deputy Director of State Social Service
for Family, Children and Youth

2. Deterioration of socio-demographic situation;
MINISTRY OF UKRAINE OF FAMILY, YOUTH AND SPORT
State Social Service for Family, Children and Youth
Background (2002):
Deterioration of socio-demographic situation;
Increasing number of single-parent families, mothers under 18 years;
Growing orphanhood, incl. social orphanhood;
Unofficial data suggest that about 1,000 newborns became orphans in the first minutes of their lives;
Only health care bodies were concerned with protection of children’s rights aged 0 to 3;
Residential care was the prevailing form of placement of children without parental care.

3. Main categories of women at risk of abandoning their newborns:
MINISTRY OF UKRAINE OF FAMILY, YOUTH AND SPORT
State Social Service for Family, Children and Youth
Main categories of women at risk of abandoning their newborns:
Women with newborns with severe disabilities;
Incapacitated women (with mental problems);
Alcohol and drug addicts;
Women who demonstrate unpreparedness for motherhood;
Internat graduates;
Mothers under 18 years from antisocial families;
Victims of rape and incest;
Women without permanent employment, workers at unstable workplaces (saleswomen at markets, etc.) who have to place temporarily their children in infant homes;
Unmarried pregnant women (if they are reproached by close people);
Women with material and housing problems, poor women.

4. causes of newborn abandonment were studied;
MINISTRY OF UKRAINE OF FAMILY, YOUTH AND SPORT
State Social Service for Family, Children and Youth
Project «Creation of Reintegration Platform for Returning Children without Parental Care into Biological Families. Prevention of Early Social Orphanhood» (implemented by Representative Office of ‘Hope and Homes for Children’ in Ukraine in cooperation with State Committee of Ukraine for Family and Youth, Ministry of Health of Ukraine, and technical assistance by UNICEF Office in Ukraine).
Results:
causes of newborn abandonment were studied;
3 experimental grounds were established at Kherson’s maternity hospital, infant home and hospital’s child division, where new social technologies were tested;
first mother and child centre in Ukraine was established;
methodological manual with description of the first experience of prevention of newborn abandonment was published;
‘Road to Family’ film was released and shown on different Ukrainian TV channels;
18 trainings for 146 specialists on prevention of early social orphanhood were held.

5. 14 children were reintegrated from infant homes into families.
MINISTRY OF UKRAINE OF FAMILY, YOUTH AND SPORT
State Social Service for Family, Children and Youth
Project «Child Care Reform «Mother and Child Support» (implemented by European Children’s Charitable Organisation (now Representative Office of ‘Every Child’ in Ukraine), Main Department for Family and Youth and Department of Health of Lvov Oblast State Administration).
Results:
model of interaction of social and medical workers on prevention of newborn abandonment at maternity hospitals and reintegration of babies from infant homes into biological families was developed and tested;
67% of mothers within the project changed intention to abandon their newborns;
14 children were reintegrated from infant homes into families.

6. MINISTRY OF UKRAINE OF FAMILY, YOUTH AND SPORT
State Social Service for Family, Children and Youth
Project results laid the foundation for further steps aimed at establishment of state system of early social orphanhood prevention, while State Social Service for Family, Children and Youth led this initiative.
These steps included:
Introduction of interagency mechanism of interaction of social and medical workers;
Setting up a network of consultative desks of centres of social services for family, children and youth at maternity hospitals, antenatal clinics and infant homes;
Setting up a network of social mother and child centres;
Developing methods of social work and training experts.

7. The goal of all technologies is
MINISTRY OF UKRAINE OF FAMILY, YOUTH AND SPORT
State Social Service for Family, Children and Youth
The goal of all technologies is
to help parents understand that their difficult life circumstances can change if they receive necessary support, taking into account especially that the time which children live without parents affect their psychological development and result in numerous deviations, and later it takes the whole life to correct them;
to convince parents that the widespread opinion that internats provide the best environment for children is a myth as compared to parental care.

8. MINISTRY OF UKRAINE OF FAMILY, YOUTH AND SPORT
State Social Service for Family, Children and Youth
In , the following important regulatory documents were approved:
Procedure of Interaction between Centres of Social Services for Family, Children and Youth and Health Care Bodies on Early Social Orphanhood Prevention (joint order by the Ministry of Health and Ministry for Family, Youth and Sport, in force since 2004);
Typical Regulation on Consultative Desks of Centres of Social Services for Family, Children and Youth at Maternity Homes, Antenatal Clinics and Infant Homes (order by the Ministry for Family, Youth and Sport, in force since 2004);
Typical Regulation on Social Mother and Child Centres (resolution by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, in force since 2005);
Typical Equipment Standards, Personnel Standards and Payment Terms, Nutrition Standards at Social Mother and Child Centres (relevant orders by the Ministry for Family, Youth and Sport came into effect in ).

9. Assistance in preparing necessary medical documents; social workers:
MINISTRY OF UKRAINE OF FAMILY, YOUTH AND SPORT
State Social Service for Family, Children and Youth
In accordance with Procedure of Interaction between Centres of Social Services for Family, Children and Youth and Health Care Bodies on Early Social Orphanhood Prevention, the functions were divided:
medical workers:
Referral of intended abandonment of the newborn or abandonment proper on the same day;
Informing patients in difficult life circumstances about available social services;
Assistance in preparing necessary medical documents;
social workers:
Direct work with women who have announced their intention to abandon the child or women who are preparing documents for abandonment;
Providing social services and ensuring social supervision;
If necessary, placement of the woman (in cooperation with the health care body) in the social mother and child centre.

10. Prevention of newborn abandonment;
MINISTRY OF UKRAINE OF FAMILY, YOUTH AND SPORT
State Social Service for Family, Children and Youth
Main functions of consultative desks of centres of social services for family, children and youth at maternity hospitals, antenatal clinics and infant homes:
Prevention of newborn abandonment;
Social and psychological support of pregnant women and women with newborns, especially mothers under 18 years;
Social and psychological support of parents of newborns with disabilities;
Reintegration of abandoned newborns and children under 3 years into family environment;
Development of responsible parenting skills.
Expansion of CDs (consultative desks) in Ukraine:
2005 – 374 CDs
2006 – 566 CDs
2007 – 579 CDs
2008 – 688 CDs
(90% of maternity hospitals)

11. MINISTRY OF UKRAINE OF FAMILY, YOUTH AND SPORT
State Social Service for Family, Children and Youth
Number of newborn abandonments prevented by centres of social services for family, children and youth
2009
(9 months)

12. MINISTRY OF UKRAINE OF FAMILY, YOUTH AND SPORT
State Social Service for Family, Children and Youth
Social mother and child centre is a facility for temporary residence of women in the 7th-9th months of pregnancy, as well as mothers with children from birth to 18 months in difficult life circumstances which hamper fulfilment of their maternal duties.
The network of social mother and child centres in Ukraine has been set up through state expenditures.

13. Number of persons at social mother and child centres
MINISTRY OF UKRAINE OF FAMILY, YOUTH AND SPORT
State Social Service for Family, Children and Youth
Institutions
Persons

14. Results achieved by social mother and child centres
MINISTRY OF UKRAINE OF FAMILY, YOUTH AND SPORT
State Social Service for Family, Children and Youth
Year
Number of women who restored relations with their relatives
Number of women provided with housing
Number of women provided with basic documents
Number of women who entered educational institutions
2006 34 13 45 8
2007 65 15 9 18
2008
103 40 20
2009
140 53 84 25

15. Began independent life (with a child) Married (with a child)
MINISTRY OF UKRAINE OF FAMILY, YOUTH AND SPORT
State Social Service for Family, Children and Youth
Results achieved by social mother and child centres (% of positive residence – 95)
Year
Left
Returned to husband
(with a child)
Returned to parents
Began independent life (with a child)
Married (with a child)
2006 32 11 9 12
2007 58 10 28 4
2008 74 16 18 23 13
2009 98 25 42 14

16. Number of children abandoned at maternity hospitals (data by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine)
MINISTRY OF UKRAINE OF FAMILY, YOUTH AND SPORT
State Social Service for Family, Children and Youth

17. МИНИСТЕРСТВО УКРАИНЫ ПО ДЕЛАМ СЕМЬИ, МОЛОДЕЖИ И СПОРТА
Государственная социальная служба для семьи, детей и молодежи
Results of cooperation of State Social Service for Family, Children and Youth with international and non-governmental organisations:
Representative Office of ‘Hope and Homes for Children’ in Ukraine with technical assistance by UNICEF:
Training Programmes for Specialists of Social Mother and Child Centres and Specialists of Consultative Desks of Centres of Social Services for Family, Children and Youth at Maternity Hospitals, Antenatal Clinics and Infant Homes have been developed;
As the result of implementation of the Programmes, 19 regional trainers on early child abandonment have been prepared;
5 trainings for 29 specialists of social mother and child centres and 58 specialists of consultative desks have been held;
Methodological guide ‘De-Institutionalising and Transforming Children’s Services’ has been prepared and published;
Criteria of monitoring and evaluation of consultative desks are developed;
Standards of social services provided by social mother and child centres are developed;
Social mother and child centre has been opened in Kiev Oblast; technical and methodological support has been provided to all social mother and child centres.

18. Representative Office of ‘Doctors of the World - USA’ in Ukraine:
МИНИСТЕРСТВО УКРАИНЫ ПО ДЕЛАМ СЕМЬИ, МОЛОДЕЖИ И СПОРТА
Государственная социальная служба для семьи, детей и молодежи
Representative Office of ‘Doctors of the World - USA’ in Ukraine:
Training module for specialists of centres of social services for family, children and youth on work with HIV-infected women who have announced intention to abandon their newborn;
Within this module, a training has been held for 40 specialists of centres of social services for family, children and youth and social mother and child centres;
7 types of thematic posters on prevention of abandonment of children born by HIV-infected mothers and de-stigmatisation of HIV-affected children have been prepared, published and distributed;
Educational film ‘MAMA+: Model of Prevention of Abandonment of Children Born by HIV-Positive Mothers’ has been released.
Representative Office of ‘Every Child’ in Ukraine:
Social mother and child centre has been opened in Chernigov Oblast;
Website for all social mother and child centres has been opened with the goal of their methodological support.

19. MINISTRY OF UKRAINE OF FAMILY, YOUTH AND SPORT
State Social Service for Family, Children and Youth
Conclusions:
Social and psychological support of women who intend to abandon their newborns is the main component of abandonment prevention;
Successful introduction of the state model of prevention of early social orphanhood in Ukraine has been made possible due to cooperation with non-governmental and international organisations, as well as the interagency mechanism;
Prevention of early social orphanhood is an important component of responsible parenting, therefore mandatory measures include prevention of family troubles, preparation of teenagers and youth for family life, responsible parenting, etc.
More efficient work aimed at prevention of early child abandonment in Ukraine requires inclusion of social workers in village and town councils, needs assessment as the main mechanism of problem detection, adoption of standards of social services, and development of the market of social services.

20. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION! Our website: www.dcssm.gov.ua
MINISTRY OF UKRAINE OF FAMILY, YOUTH AND SPORT
State Social Service for Family, Children and Youth
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!
Our website: