'Good impulses' Strand Romanian Orphans

'Good impulses' strand Romanian orphans

By Elisabeth Rosenthal International Herald Tribune
TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2005

BUCHAREST Romania's new law on the "protection and promotion of the rightsof the child" has done little to protect Vasile, a 7-year-old who has lived his whole life in an orphanage in the town of Botosani.

More than two years ago, Becky Hubbell, a pharmaceutical executive from Overland Park, Kansas, submitted the required papers to adopt the wide-eyed, dark-haired boy, whom she and her husband had met during several medical missions to Romania.

But before that process was completed, the government passed its new childwelfare law, which forbids international adoptions, among many other provisions. The measure, known as Law 272, has left hundreds of families inWestern Europe and the United States without children they had counted as theirs. More important, critics say, the sweeping law leaves thousands of abandoned Romanian children stranded indefinitely in institutions or foster care.

"You have a child in your heart and you've made all the arrangements, and it's clear that child wants a family, too," Hubbell said. "But for Vasile, time is passing without the stability of a home. And that's harder and harder to make up for.

"When, in 2002, officials in Brussels demanded that Romania clean up a chaotic and sometimes corrupt child-welfare system as a condition for admission to the European Union, Romanian politicians jumped into action, desperate to be included in the club. Law 272, written in collaboration withEU advisers, aimed to halt decades of mismanagement in just a few years, with edicts that many critics now say are overzealous and impractical.

In response to criticism that orphans were growing up in sterile institutions, the government mandated that no child under the age of 2 could live in one; the new law, it noted, favored reuniting children with biological relatives or placing them in foster care. In response to charges that adoptions by foreigners were so poorly managed that they sometimes resembled child trafficking, the government declared that there would be no further international adoptions.

Experts both in and out of the country applaud the law's central goal: to encourage Romanian families to stay together and to end the long standing practice here of abandoning unwanted children. But many child advocates doubt that this poor country, just 15 years out from a brutal dictatorship, will quickly be able to find good living situations for its huge population of orphaned and abandoned children. Many children currently in orphanages and hospitals, they say, will be stranded.

"There are good impulses behind the law - to provide more assistance to mothers, to keep children out of institutions - and we all felt the system needed more standards," said Gabi Mihaela Comanescu, program director of ProChild, a Bucharest nongovernmental organization.

"But there are problems," Comanescu said. "For example, there are older children who are as adoptable as ever, but there is no one to adopt them now. Also, the law says every abandoned child under 2 should be in foster care, but as far as I know there aren't nearly enough foster homes.

"The unintended result: A number of deserted infants now pass their precious first year in a hospital ward. There are close to 10,000 children abandoned at hospitals each year inRomania, according to a new study by Unicef, and up to 50,000 children in care of the state.

Before Law 272 took effect on Jan. 1 this year, politicians from France, Italy and United States, among others, vigorously lobbied the Romanian government to rethink the ban on international adoptions - or at least to allow cases already in process to proceed. In January, the new Romanian prime minister, Calin Popescu Tariceanu, said that he would "not forget foreign families" who had taken steps to adopt Romanian children.

According to the Romanian Adoptions Office, 467 babies were adopted by foreigners in 2002, although a partial moratorium was already in effect. Before that, several hundred Romanian children were adopted annually by families in Italy, France, Israel and the United States, according to adoptions groups in those countries. Today the number is zero.

Instead, Romanian county child welfare officials are now required to "reintegrate or integrate the children into their biological/extendedfamilies or to place them with a Romanian foster family," said Theodora Bertzi, head of the new Romanian Office of Adoptions.

New families are being trained in foster care to meet the need, she said. Romanian couples (or grandparents living overseas) are being encouraged to adopt unwanted children. Orphanages, euphemistically called "placement centers," can take children over 2 when no home is available.

Florin Catanescu, 28, grew up in the centers after being abandoned at birth by a schizophrenic mother. He carries his past in one small photo album decorated with a child's glittery stickers. He is skeptical about Law 272, at least in the short term.

"I just don't think the resources are sufficient in our country for this new law, and attitudes will not change that quickly," said Catanescu, who is starting a nongovernmental organization to help graduates of the centers integrate into society: find jobs, rent apartments, buy coffee.

"Children will be stuck - there are still so many families who abandon children. "In Romania, the law has recently come under fire because of news reports that large numbers of abandoned infants under 2 now live in Bucharest hospitals. The new law says that abandoned children in this age bracket can be placed with families, but not in orphanages, since research shows that institutional upbringing impedes their development. But there are not enough willing families.

When a Romanian journalist, Adriana Oprea-Popescu, stayed in the hospital with her sick infant this year, she was shocked to find herself rooming with two toddlers who were growing up in hospital beds. One, a healthy 8-month-old, had lived there since the age of 7 days.

The result of that experience was a series of exposés in the newspaperJ urnalul National describing feeding rooms where newborns get bottles from their mothers and abandoned babies are fed with a bottle propped on a cloth.

"What is happening is really tragic," Comanescu said. "The law compares a home with an institution, and concludes a home is better. But a hospital is even worse, since there are no play programs" at a typical hospital.

A new Unicef report, marked "not for distribution" but provided to a reporter, concludes that "children under the age of 2, and especially newborns left without their mother, constitute an emergency segment that requires immediate priority."

Romania's unusual tradition of child abandonment began with a ban on birth control imposed by Nicolae Ceausescu, the former dictator, in 1966, in the aim of increasing the population. Within a year, women began dropping off unwanted children at state orphanages or hospitals. Their logic was that"the government wanted them, so the government should raise them," the UNreport said.

Child abandonment has continued at the same level for 40 years, said Pierre Poupard, head of the Unicef office in Bucharest, even though birth control is widely available in post-Communist Romania. Now, mothers desert babies because they feel they cannot afford to raise them.

Many of the abandoned children continue to have contact with their mothers even if they live in placement centers for years, making it hard to define their family status. Under the old law, if a mother disappeared for more than six months, the child could be put up for adoption. But the new law stipulates that amother's right to her child is indefinite, extending through years of absence.

In order for a child to be put up for adoption, the mother must sign a paper formally ending the relationship, which is impossible in cases like Vasile's when the mother has long since disappeared. Other relatives have to decline the child as well.

At the Sunbeam Complex of Community Service, a placement center 100 kilometers, or 60 miles, from Bucharest, 15 of the 16 children (aged 4 to 9) have had in their lives some contact with their biological families. Only one girl, aged 4, is technically adoptable.

The tidy two-story house, lying amid dusty fields, is far superior to the huge, impersonal orphanages in Communist Romania that made its child welfare system so notorious. On a recent afternoon, young residents busied themselves drawing pictures at low tables and playing with blocks.

But before Law 272, five children left here each year, adopted by foreign families, said Letitia Stefanescu, the home's director. The new law "has many good aspects," Stefanescu said, such as offering preventive counseling and financial assistance to young mothers deemed at risk of abandoning babies. But she acknowledged the downside for the children in her care: "International adoptions gave them a chance for afamily.

"A cute 9-year-old with pigtails, who can only be identified as M.S., said, "I like being here, but I would like more to be with my mom." The girl'smother, who lives nearby, hasn't visited for several years.

Stefanescu has faith that the new system will find solutions: New programs will encourage or force some mothers to pick up abandoned kids; other children will find foster homes. The 4-year-old, she hopes, will be adopted by Romanians, even though they traditionally do not adopt older children.

Becky Hubbell, who spends holidays volunteering here, thinks it's great that the Romanian government is now helping families stay together. But in the meantime, she said, "there are kids like Vasile who have no options but adoption abroad. We already provide support for him. We will be his family, no matter what."

Copyright © 2005 The International Herald Tribune
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/21/news/adopt.php

Take Away the Maternal Assistants?!?!?!?!?

It goes from bad to worse. The maternal assistants have a huge impact on the chidlren in the orphanages. They are only contact these kids have for normal development. They are the ones that hold the children. The situation with the children in the orphanages is beyond belief. A true unreported humanitarian crisis. If you read this, let your elected federal officials know and email them the link to this blog.

From Vali (the translation is mine - A)

I don't see how the pontifications of the "Baroness of Munchausen" jive with the crushing reality presented in the following article. Oh, and one more interesting detail: the county council for
Constanta (obviously with CPS) wants to move the children back to the orphanages because there isn't any more money to pay the "maternal assistants". I'm not even going to comment on the absolute stupidity of such measures, nor on the grave effects that such measures have on children. I only want to add that according to the data published by the National Authority for Child Protection (http://www.iz.ro/copii_/Prezentare_sistem_Ianuarie_2005.xls) the cost per child per month in the first quarter of 2004 was approximately 7,400,000 lei per maternal
assistant compared to 9,400,000 lei per child per month in the public "placement centers". In other words, it cost 2,000,000 lei more per month to care for a child in the orphanage than with the maternal assistant. If the county council (or DPC or whoever) complains about not having enough money to pay the maternal assistants, where then is the logic of moving the children back to the orphanages??!!??

Vali
Here's the article from http://www.jurnalul.ro/index.php

The Constanta County Council maintains that there is no more money for the children and that
county income has registered a decline of about 25% allegedly due to the introduction of the
flat-rate tax. Alexandrina Chicheanu understands that only maternal assistants are in danger of
losing their jobs (and the children they have in their care) Because there are "no resources from
which to pay the salaries of the maternal assistants", the Constanta County Council is threatening to return the 400 children currently in placement with foster families or maternal assistants back to the orphanages. Alexandrina Chicheanu trembles with indignation at the situation as she and more than 30 colleagues protest at the Child Protection headquarters. The thing which has terrified these maternal assistants is not primarily the fact that they haven't
received money for several months nor the threat that they won't receive any. The thing which has grieved them most is that the children under their care will be taken from them and returned to orphanages. A little girl implored her maternal assistant, "Don't give me over to them, Valentina!" In most cases, these children consider their maternal assistants "mother". Even some psychologists from the Child Protection Bureau have observed panic among the children when the children heard about the possibility of going back to the orphanage. One maternal assistant said, "It will be traumatizing for them to be incarcerated again in an orphanage. No matter how nice the physical conditions might be, it's not a family and it's not a home. The thing that really hurts is that we have invested so much in these little souls.

One family who has had numerous children in their care said, "Many of the children that we've
cared for have been adopted by foreigners. Those parents write to us often and also ask how we we are doing. I'm ashamed to tell them how it is here. But I'm going to tell them so that those abroad can see how the authorities 'care' for the children here in Constanta." The wife in this family has cared for a child for over 4 months and the child still doesn't have a birth certificate. And yet without this document, the baby can't benefit from health insurance provided for children by the government nor for free milk. Thus, if this baby becomes ill, these foster parents must pay for it themselves.

The problems would fill a huge sack. Instead of doubling the salary for taking a second child (as
it was in the days when foundations were allowed to operate), these foster parents receive an
increase of only 15%. Carmen Cristian is a "substitute" mama who accepted a little girl into her
home at the age of two months. She's now two years old. "Can't these people understand what it will mean if they take this child and put her in an orphanage!? What kind of attention do these people think the children get in an orphanage? These children will die there", she said.

Everybody is blaming the local governmental authorities and more particularly the Romanian
Government for doing things which resulted in the collapse of child welfare system which was
already fraught with problems. Those authorities only end up pointing the finger at one another.

The most threatening solution is the restriction of the network of maternal assistants. But this
is now hidden under pressure. The president of the Constanta CPS, Peter Dinica, says, "They sought a proposal for a solution to the problem. This solution [to send the children back to the
orphanages] was posted by someone on our website. But those with whom I spoke at CPS Constanta condemned this solution." "It would be traumatic for the children. They are not toys. In addition this solution, under these conditions, would be equal to zero [nothing]", said Mirela Gene, assistant director of the CPS. Nicusor Constantinescu, head of Constanta County Council, who is a little less concerned about this soulution, is in fact the initiator of this proposed
project/solution. He even admits that the return of the children to orphanages isn't excluded,
despite the protests from every direction. "It's about making it, getting through this year. We're thinking of giving an unpaid vacation to a third of the maternal assistants and 60% of the CPS
employees." The children who have been placed with the approximately 100 maternal assistants would be sent back to the orphanages. According to the law, babies under two years of age may not be "institutionalized", but Nicusor Constantinescu will do it in a way so that it won't break the law, that is, the youngest ones would be kept maternal assistants. Another
solution proposed by Constantinescu would be the dismantling all the food banks and cafeterias at the orphanages. In exchange, they would make a single one for all and the food would
brought with refrigerated trucks.

Along with the proposals of the president of Constanta County Council (Constantinescu), the
government came up with a solution. But a part of those proposals was eliminated by the County Council. For example, a National Child Protection Authority official proposed transferring third and fourth quarter funds to the current quarter. But according to Cristian
Moldovanu, the funds for the third and fourth quarters don't exist. "Have you ever seen a proposal from the national CPS that implicates the government in it's application?!? We've always got to do it ourselves."

The head of the County Commissioners believes that this crisis has been generated by a political conflict. Says one commissioner, "Constanta is a major constituency of the Social Democratic Party (the party in opposition to the current governmental leadership). We are accusing the current Government of being unable to resolve this crisis." But Dan Culetu says, "Did anybody ever stop to think that the Social Democratic Party spent all of 2005's funds on expenses from 2004? Now we have to pay those bills." In response, Nicusor Constantinescu says that when
the Social Democrats were in power, "we didn't have this problem." Of course the current law,
questioned by many and instituted by that same Social Democratic Party, wasn't in force then either.

Even though the County Council shops and tries to save money, it puts the health of the children in danger. According to Magdalena Dumitrana, specialist in the child psychology of institutionalized children, there are many negative effects on the development of a child caused by his placement in an orphanage. Among these are the slowed motor and physical development, as well as a greater sensitivity to illness. Furthermore, there can also be a slowing of the development of the mind and speech. Loss of adaptability, loss of self-control, apathy,
indifference, mental pressure, and a greater tendency toward neurological problems can also be the consequences of institutionalizing a child. The major behavioral problems are, she says, hyperactivity, inability to concentrate, sleep disturbances, excessive need of affection accomplished by attempts to attract attention, selfishness in play, lack of knowing how to play, insubmission, and rages. Along with a reduced social adaptation, rigid social relationships, and absence of social feelings, there can also appear more frequent anti-social behaviors and delinquency. Because of institutionalization there are also specific problems in adolescence: difficulty in finding friends, holding lasting relationships, difficulty in handling money, and in organizing and leading their lives.

Maternal assistants accuse the CPS of Constanta that the food they receive for the children is
spoiled. According to one of the regulations, children placed with maternal assistants don't
receive money for food, but receive the food directly. An assistant spoke anonymously of receiving spoiled meat spread, cheese that stank, and chemically altered chicken breasts. It is true that there were groceries that were fine, but there were also foods that, if not already expired, were very near their expiration dates. In other words they received two wash tubs full of cabbage rolls that had a guaranteed term of only two more days. "But can a child eat two wash tubs of cabbage rolls in two days?" Wholesalers in Constanta County receive about
$10,000 per month. But not one representative ever checked on things until now such that, "no one ever made a written complaint about this matter", said Nicusor Constantinescu. Another thing the maternal assistants are not happy with concerning the food is that the food is not distributed with attention paid to the age of the child. Babies four months old receive the same groceries that a child of four years receives. "You can't give a four month old baby cabbage rolls. Why don't they give us coupons or money to buy appropriate food for our children?" asks a mother. "Because that's how we save money," says Nicusor Constantinescu.

Some Widsom

"Solve the problem yourself or accept a fate you may not like...from this perspective, the ethic of personal responsibility gains appeal."

Noel M. Tichy

Romania's Infants

News from Romania concerning the plight of infants. It seems like things are going back to the old Communist days when life was not valued. If as people we do not care about infants and children, what does that say about us??????? It is so frustrating to see these poor children being persecuted. If people in power would just do the right thing, these children could have loving homes. From my source in Romania.

Romanian news (13 June 2005) once again highlighted (albeit without intending to) the plight of abandoned infants in Romania. Though it wasn't directly stated, the cause of all this mess is in fact the new law which Emma Nicholson says is "up" to EU standards (DOWN to Hellish standards is more like it, Biblically speaking).

1. About 150 infants were abandoned in Timis County hospitals in the first five months of 2005 (That works out to about one a day doesn't it, just in one county??!!) The hospitals are really stuck.

2. A spokesperson for one hospital said, "The new law makes things very difficult for us because abandonments can only be declared/approved by a judge, and that takes forever. So we have to keep them here. Of course after the judges decision, they go to a 'placement center' before anything is done with them." (There is some question about this as it may not be in strict conformity to the law -- but what else is new in Romania.) Along with this is the fact that the babies have no identity papers because either the mothers gave false info or the mothers didn't have any identity papers.

3. The national news said that Romania is in first place in infant mortality in Europe. There are four reasons: poor hospital conditions, mediocre preparation of hospital personnel that deal with infants, poor preparation of the mothers, poor conditions at home. [of course per the new adoption law in Romania it's always better for the child to be in the birth-family -- NOT!]

Somebody really ought to be called on the carpet to account for these abuses caused in great part by the new law (Emma?, PSD & Iliescu/Nastase?, the whole EU?, Basescu et al for not processing the registered cases and for not changing the law?, all of the above?!!)! Any takers?

DISASTER IN CONSTANTA (AND ELSEWHERE)

It amazes me how the Romanian Orphans are being treated. We think we live in an enlightened world but not really. Comments by A are from an in-country source.

March 18, 2005

"Romania occupies one of the top spots in the child protection domain and is at the head of the class in becoming a model country on an international scale, not just in the region or in Europe. Today we can say the Romania is a success story in the area of child protection. Romania is in first place ahead of everyone in this area and other countries must take into consideration Romania's progress."

Emma Nicholson at a press conference.

It hasn't been three months since these "eulogies" were delivered by the "champion of child protection", "the best friend of Romanian children, blah, blah, blah . . . . But look below for what has happened in fact to the children in the country "in first place in the matter of child protection", in the "model country". Does anybody here understand the trauma(s) which descend on these children who are moved from their "family" [foster] back to the orphanage?!? All the progress that these children may have made in their foster families has basically gone out the window now. The trauma and destruction seem even worse than if the children wouldn't have been moved from the orphanages ("placement centers") in the first place.

Vali

From The GuardianHttp://www.gardianul.ro/index.php?a=societate20050602.xml

By Claudia Marcu

Tariceanu's government seems to be more and more overwhelmed by the problems which are coming to light in more and more domains (areas). Now the problem area of institutionalized children has been called on the carpet. Maybe the serious sickness that has been hidden in the social assistance and child protection system would not have come to the surface if the boil hadn't been broken in Constanta County. There, the president of the County Commission, Nicusor Constantinescu, decided to lay off the maternal assistants [paid foster care givers or 24/7 babysitters depending on one's point of view - A] and send the children in their care back to the orphanages. This involved hundreds of children who had benefited from the care that had been given them in their foster families (by the maternal assistants). The reason given was the lack of money in the budget to pay these maternal assistants [what if they were males? - A].

The representatives from the National Authority for the Protection of the Rights of the Child said, " This situation is in no way unique here in Romania.

Stefana Costea, a maternal assistant [foster care giver - A], said, "I beg you to please help us resolve this disastrous situation. I had a little girl in my care for over two years. She has a serious handicap and if she goes to the orphanage like they said, I'm afraid for her. She has a real need for special medical care that she won't get there. Personally, I don't care if they pay me or not for two months, I'll protect and keep this child." Probably a few, but not all of the 351 registered maternal assistants have this attitude. However it's certain that for these orphans, the trauma of returning to the orphanages ("placement centers") will be a huge problem.

At the end of last week, several maternal assistants protested in front of the offices of the local DPSDC (DPC), the Agency for the Social Protection of the Child and for the Protection of the Child's Rights [the Directie pentru Protectie Sociala si Drepturile Copilului Constanta]. They were unhappy about the fact that this governmental institution told them that they wouldn't be paid their salaries due to the lack of funds. Not only that, the president of the County Commission, Nicusor Constantinescu, had declared that these maternal assistants would be laid off without any pay for an indefinite period of time and the children in their care would be sent back to the orphanages ("placement centers"). Peter Dinica, the director of DPSDC, affirmed that the agency had received a smaller amount than was requested. The calculated need was 161 billion lei and they were given 117 billion. Requests for additional funds from Bucharest were ignored. Dinica stated, "the leadership of this agency, in order to solve this financial crisis, has decided to return about 400 [!!!! - A] children to the orphanages ("placement centers") and to lay off without pay the maternal assistants who cared for them."

Cosmina Simion, spokesperson for Bogdan Panait (head of the ANPDC/National Authority for Child Protection), said, "In nearly every county in Romania we are having these same kinds of problems." [I have heard this directly from maternal assistants, though in those counties, the problem hasn't arisen yet as far as we know - A]

Recent campaigns to prevent abandonment via the promotion of the system of maternal assistants now are in peril. And whatever has been done to this point is at risk to collapse. These "budget holes" have crushed and are crushing the chances for these children to have even the illusion [!!!! - A] of a family.

Letter from Romania concerning the Children

This is from a letter from Romania concerning how hard it is getting for the abandoned children over there.

For those that are keeping up with the plight of orphans in the country, we have had some news. Not only is adoption to foreigners not allowed, but foster care is now in the battle ground. Humanitas, the group our infant orphanage is licensed under, has made a decision to not place any children with foreigners - and looks like with good reason. A set of twins that has been with a British couple for years is now being decided on in Bucuresti, the capital of Romania. It looks like they are being taken away from the only parents they have known. Don't know how many other cases like this exist, but we know it is hard on all concerned, so please keep these young ones and their parents in your prayers.

Aggression against Children in Romania

Comments from my Romanian Source: It's good this new law protects children so well--what worse neglect or violent act can be committed, than leaving newborns uncared for in a hospital somewhere because a home operated by Americans is now illegal??!! And the 'families' abusing these children are NOT foreigners (one reason given for not allowing foreign adoptions--they're always better off with their natural family) .

Most cases of aggression against children occur in family and school
published in issue 3439 page 5 at 2005-05-31

The family is the first place where violence against chiddren mostly occurs, followed immediately by the school, and by the placement centres and prisons, shows a report presented at the seminar 'Violence against Children' organised by the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs.

Violence occurs in all the social media and at all levels, in the family, at school, in care institutions, in the street, in prison or detention centres, in the mass-media, but also in sports, stated Gabriela Alexandrescu, President of 'Save the Children' NGO.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) claims that the number of sexual abuse cases against children in Romania is similar to the number in other countries. However, from the point of view of physical abuse, Romania is doing worse than other European countries, Alexandrescu added. 'We all know that the mentality hasn't changed, although the law prohibits one from beating a child humiliating or maltreating the child. It seems that we need comprehensive awareness raising campaigns, to re-educate parents and professionals in order to stop all forms of violence', added the 'Save the Children' President. A report of the Crime Research and Prevention Centre shows that 4,100 juveniles were maltreated, abused and neglected in 2003, and 2,071 in the first six months of 2004. The same source reveals that in 2002 - first three months of 2005, the total number of sex victims was of 2,348 minors and adults. The sex offence structure is as follows: 1,160 rapes, 601 sexual intercourse with a minor, 79 - seduction, 199 - sexual perversion, 260 - sexual corruption and 49 - incest. 848 of the victims were under the age of 14, 824 between 14 and 16 years of age 676 between 16 and 18.

The incidence of abuse and sexual exploitation by trafficking in children cases increased alarmingly. In 2004, the seven counselling centres for abused, neglected and trafficked children (Bucharest, Iasi, Timisoara, Suceava, Targu Mures, Targoviste and Resita) dealt with 506 children victims of abuse in the family or in care institutions. The statistics of the Directorate for the Combating or Organised Crime and Drugs indicate that, in 2004, 27 children victim of internal traffic and 53 of international traffic were identified.

Of the children working in the street more than 8 hours a day 44 per cent beg in difficult conditions, 61 per cent dropped out from school (the majority around the age of 11), 34 per cent are illiterate and 40 per cent have poor writing and reading skills. Over 70 per cent of the 400 children from rural areas interviewed with aged from six to 14 believe it is normal for them to work.

The Executive President of 'Save the Children' says that a comparative analysis had been more difficult to conduct in specific areas, as a study on violence in schools had not been conducted before. Such investigation reveals a very bad situation: in 75 per cent of the schools there is violence of some form: teacher-child or among the children themselves.

The UNICEF study regarding the violence in children's houses and placement centres shows that 30 - 26 per cent of children mentioned abuses, only four per cent admitted they had been sexually abused. Many of them, however, were aware of such situations involving older or younger children. 'This is a situation where measures have not been taken to contain the phenomenon', Alexandrescu also said. The seminar on Monday also addressed the phenomenon of violence against children in conflict with the law, the violation of the rights of the child during proceedings from arrest to prison. All this itinerary is abusive, added the SC Executive President.

The domestic violence is very often met. 70 - 75 per cent are physical abuse, some 70 per cent mental abuse and nine per cent sexual abuse, according to the consolidated data in a WHO, UNICEF and ANPDC joint study. 'We, the adults, need re-educating in child up-bringing and attitudes to him/her', said Alexandrescu.

ANPDC Director General Izabella Popa said that violence against children must be approached globally, and not sectorally, as it has been done so far.

<http://www.nineoclock.ro/copyright.php> (C) 2000-2005 Nine o'Clock
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Vali

Court Rules Closure of American's Shelter for Homeless Mothers

Court rules closure of Americans' shelter for homeless mothers

Over 40 homeless young women risk being put on the streets after a court ruling to dissolve the American foundation sheltering them.

In its feature on May 20, Bucharest Daily News wrote about the Inasmuch Foundation ran by Sue and Ron Bates in the villages of Bolintin, Giurgiu County, and Ciorogarla, Ilfov County. The charity foundation created in February 1999 was sheltering homeless women, most of who had been sleeping in parks and sewers for years. Money for all the foundation's activities was supplied by churches in the West and by U.S. families. Because some of the women sheltered by the Bates family gave birth to children, the foundation decided to buy and arrange two homes where mothers could live and take care of their babies.

In all, the Bates' bought and improved three houses in the counties of Ilfov and Giurgiu, where dozens of women from the streets found shelter and food, and a place where they could raise their children. Social workers in the Inasmuch foundation also supported them with birth control information. But Ilfov County child protection service decided the houses were not built to European standards, and, unless they were improved, they had to be closed. Another issue invoked by authorities was that Inasmuch had no right to function as a maternal care foundation. The case was taken to court and a first decision ruled in favor of the foundation. However, at the beginning of this week, a Bucharest Court Panel, answering Ilfov County's appeal decided the foundation is to be dissolved because, according to the law, it was not authorized to shelter infants and to carry out child protection activities.

Since first confronted with the danger of being closed down, the people at Inasmuch have been making efforts to improve their standards, with help from abroad.

"They last visited our homes last year in September, and since then we tried to do our best. We added thermopane to the windows, we rebuilt some parts, we even put in a bathroom for the cook," says Nelu Nica, the foundation's administrator, "but nobody came back to see the changes we made."

Also according to the foundation's administrator, an appeal based on the first court's decision was not a solution in Romanian law. Consequently, the only logical conclusion is closing the three homes. The most serious outcome could mean that even the house in Bolintin, the one sheltering grown up women will have to be closed down, and accordingly, 42 homeless people will be put on the street unless Romanian social services can find another solution.

"The foundation has been functioning outside the law for quite a while," Florin Constantin Gate, chief of the juridical service in Ilfov Child Protection Service, explained.

"I know there is also a house in Bolintin, which is in another county, and that one will close too, following the dissolution of the foundation, but there is nothing we can do about it,because now we have legal decision in our hand and nobody is above the law." Gate continued.

Copyright C 2004 Bucharest Daily News

Romanian Adoption Update as of 5/25/05

Adoptions In Romania

Update as of May 25, 2005

Background: The Romanian Government imposed a moratorium on intercountry adoptions in 2001, formalizing a de facto moratorium that began in December 2000. Between 2001 and June 2004, the Romanian Government worked to promulgate new child welfare legislation and reform Romania's adoption system. Draft adoption legislation developed in consultation with the U.S. and other donor countries, as well as selected NGOs, was ultimately scrapped by the Romanians in favor of a new, more restrictive law that was passed in June 2004 and went into effect on January 1, 2005. This legislation severely limits the possibility of intercountry adoption for Romanian children for whom permanent family placement in Romania is not feasible. According to the new law, only biological grandparents may adopt.

Adoption Cases: Between 2001 and 2004, the Romanian Government continued to approve "pipeline" cases, involving orphans who had already been matched to adoptive parents, as well as some special needs cases. Between 2001 and 2004, approximately 900 Romanian children entered the U.S. as a result of adoption by U.S. citizen parents. Since the announcement of the new legislation, the Department of State has repeatedly pressed the Romanian Government, including at the most senior levels, to clarify how it plans to resolve the adoption cases in which prospective parents have accepted a referral of a Romanian orphan and whose cases have been registered by the Romanian Adoption Committee.

Plans for an International Commission: In October 2004, Prime Minister Nastase and French Prime Minister Raffarin announced plans to establish an international commission to review pending intercountry adoption cases. Establishment of such a committee will require modification of Romanian law. The Department of State welcomed the Prime Ministers' stated commitment to helping children and families affected by Romania's ban on intercountry adoptions. Since October, we have sought further details from the Romanian Government on the scope and mission of the proposed commission. In a January 12, 2005 Reuters interview, Prime Minister Tariceanu reportedly announced that an international commission would be established to handle all adoption applications . We have seen no further movement by the Romanian Government to establish a commission or resolve in any other way the many pending adoption cases.

Romania and the European Union: The European Commission has said that the restrictive law passed in June 2004 is consistent with EU practice. In December 2004, a European Parliament resolution welcomed the new Romanian child welfare law's introduction of national child protection standards and of strict rules governing intercountry adoptions. But the report also called upon Romania to provide a definitive reply to all families affected by the moratorium and, in that regard, supported "the idea of creating an international commission to study certain cases."

Current Efforts: The USG continues to press the Romanian government to finalize adoptions by the approximately 200 parents whose applications to adopt had been registered with the Romanian Adoption Committee (RAC). The President and Secretary of State have emphasized to Romania's leaders that resolving the pending adoption cases is an important bilateral issue. In May 2005, Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Maura Harty met with President Basescu to discuss a consular working group, and made clear that adoptions would be the first issue to be addressed by a working group and progress on adoptions was essential before progress on any other bilateral consular issues was possible. We are committed to working with the Romanian Government to resolve this situation in a way that prevents abuses in the adoption process and promotes domestic adoptions in Romania.