"PROBLEMS IN ROMANIA OBSERVED BY MENTAL DISABILITY RIGHTS INTERNATIONAL WHICH EXIST IRRESPECTIVE OF ANY SPECIFIC INSTITUTION." Part III

Numbers 56 and following are from pages 17 through 28.

56. Foster families will not take children even with mild disabilities that are no longer infants because they are "too old" to be placed in foster families (the age range was 3 years to 14 years making it hard to understand how they could be "too old" for placement in foster families). P.17 LEGAL PROBLEMS AND BUREAUCRACY; NOT ENOUGH FAMILIES TO FOSTER OR ADOPT.

57. When asked to define what constitutes a "severe disability" the authorities stated that the criteria were, for example, physical paralysis, inability to eat, not toilet trained. P.17. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT ISSUES.

58. Some need specialized services which are not available. The child will be placed in an institution if services are not available in the community to meet his or her needs. P.17. THEORY NOT PRACTICE; POSSIBLE VIOLATION OF ROMANIAN LAW; VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW.

59. Children found in institutions were actually younger than reported by the child protection officials. P.17. LYING, DENIAL, INTEGRITY PROBLEMS.

60. Many of the children would have little or no disability except for the fact that of what has been caused by institutionalization. P.17. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

61. Despite the existence of psychologists, however, staff said that there were no programs to respond to the problems of self-abuse. P. 18. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

62. There is no program to teach toilet training skills. P.18. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

63. The unwarranted diminished expectations of staff for the children could easily be self-fulfilling. Newly refurbished buildings are likely, with age, to decay and look like the older buildings. But most important, the critical needs of these children are not being met. There are no consistent care-givers in their lives. They are growing up without a family with whom they can form a permanent emotional attachment. P.18. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

64. Group activities are established for the convenience of the staff rather than the needs of the children. P.18. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

65. The children in smaller institutions will likely become more developmentally delayed over time [simply because they are in an institution and not in a permanent family - A]. P.18. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

66. Romania's child protection system has included the establishment of 200 new institutions with 50 children or less. These are considered "smaller" institutions. However, they retain all of the harmful characteristics and results of larger facilities. P.19. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

67. There is a parallel process that explains the APPARENT decline in numbers of large facilities. Patients were re-classified into smaller "administrative units" without actually moving them. This was confirmed by a representative of the National Authority for Persons with Handicap. The same number of patients shared the building. P.1. LYING, DENIAL, INTEGRITY PROBLEMS.

68. While smaller institutions may APPEAR to be an improvement, they do not provide the family environment that a child needs and deserves. P.19. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

69. Researchers have documented the damaging consequences of placing children in any institution. In addition to physical dangers, there are cognitive problems, severe emotional and behavioral disorders, a syndrome that mimics autism, sensory integration issues, speech and language delays, and deficiencies in physical growth. P.20. IGNORANCE OF IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

70. Children under the age of four who are in institutions are particularly vulnerable to psychological impairments. The psychological damage caused by institutionalization is likely to last a lifetime. P.20. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES.

71. The harmful emotional effects of growing up in an institution are linked with the child's need for close emotional attachments to a consistent care-giver. Thus placement even in a small institution may cause the same psychological damage as placement in a large facility. P.20. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT ISSUES.

72. Even placement in a small group home can be similarly detrimental if staffing is not consistent and emotional bonds cannot be maintained over time. P.20. IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT ISSUES.

73. Nothing replaces a family in promoting normal development. We need to permanently end all institutional care for infants and young children. P.20. [Romania is not making much progress here.] IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT ISSUES.

74. Dr. Dana Johnson, an expert on institutionalized children and adoption, says, "Putting a child in a long-term institution is an act of abuse." P.20. [Romania consistently violates this well-established principle via the current legislation and practice.] IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT ISSUES.

75. Dr. Dana Johnson, an expert on institutionalized children says, "A few days [i.e., less than a week -- A] in an institution should be as long as children are asked to endure." P.21. LEGAL PROBLEM; IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT ISSUES.

76. Before we were able to obtain any additional information on the ages and deaths of patients, the director of the facility had us involuntarily escorted out of the institution. P.23. DENIAL, LYING, INTEGRITY ISSUES.

77. A state secretary said, "We do not know why or on which bases people are kept in different institutions." p.23. BUREAUCRACY.

78. Promises have been made to make a plan that includes timetables for reform. The promised deadlines have come and gone. P.23. THEORY NOT PRACTICE; LYING, INTEGRITY PROBLEMS.

79. Many times plans include simply re-naming of institutions. p.23. ANTICS WITH SEMANTICS; INTEGRITY PROBLEMS.

80. A State Secretary confirmed that there are no plans and no funding to create any community-based services for people now living in institutions. p. 24. LEGAL PROBLEMS; BUREAUCRACY.

81. Despite the array of activities, Tariceanu's memorandum lacked details and did not consititute even the beginnings of a plan for reforming the service system. P.24. THEORY NOT PRACTICE.

82. There is little action to match the words of the Romanian authorities. Ironically, there are numerous plans for reform created by international experts. The problem is not a lack of plans - but the lack of a political will to implement real change. P.25. THEORY NOT PRACTICE; LAW DEFICIENCIES.

83. While admitting that they do not know about conditions in the system, ministry officials deny the existence of the problems they are facing. P.25. DENYING, LYING, INTEGRITY PROBLEMS.

84. Promises of reform are NOT credible until authorities admit to the reality before them - tremendous human rights abuses are still taking place. P.26. THEORY NOT PRACTICE.

85. The government of Romania has not taken the precautions necessary to prevent abuse in the future. Abuses are foreseeable until truly INDEPENDENT human rights oversight and independent advocacy systems and methods of verification are established. P.26. INTEGRITY PROBLEMS; LAW DEFICIENCIES.

86. There is no independent mechanism to monitor human rights in institutions, and there are no plans to create such a system. P.26. LAW DEFICIENCIES; INTEGRITY PROBLEMS.

87. The Ministry of Health says that new staff is being hired to inform authorities about what is happening in the mental health system. This new personnel will have no obligation to take complaints or represent the views of patients. P.26. LAW DEFICIENCY; INTEGRITY PROBLEM; A CASE OF THE FOX GUARDING THE CHICKEN COOP AND THE THREAT OF LOSING YOUR JOB IF YOU "BLOW THE WHISTLE".

88. These individuals are no trained as human rights investigators and have no ability to act independently of the agency that employs them. P.26. LAW DEFICIENCIES; THREATS OF LOSING JOB;

89. For almost four years, the Ministry of Health did not issue regulations (known in Romania as "norms") that would allow Law 487 to be implemented. P.26. THEORY NOT PRACTICE; LEGAL PROBLEMS.

90. In February 2006, when authorities promised to promulgat regulations to implement Law 487, they said that they would NOT seek any amendments to the law to respond to the limitations identified by the EU expert. P.27. DENIAL; LAW DEFICIENCIES; INTEGRITY PROBLEMS.

91. The law establishes no protection against the misuse of physical restraints or seclusion, as required by the ECHR. P.27. LAW DEFICIENCIES; VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW.

92. Eventually, new norms were issued banning the use of restraints for more than four hours. But there is no independent mechanism to monitor or enforce these protections. P.27. LAW DEFICIENCIES; INTEGRITY PROBLEM.

93. It has not even been resolved whether these provisions of the norms are binding and there is an underlying lack of legal protection. P.27. LAW DEFICIENCIES.

94. The norms do not limit who may request involuntary admission. P.27. LAW DEFICIENCY.

95. While a person has the right to challenge his or her detention under the Law, it does not provide adequate protection against "non-protesting" patients as required by the recent decision of the European Court in H.L. vs. United Kingdom. P.27. LEGAL DEFICIENCY; VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW.

96. When MDRI met with Ministry of Health authorities in February 2006, they said that there were NO plans or resources to review the commitments of thousands of individuals now detained in Romania's institutions. p.27. THEORY NOT PRACTICE; BUREAUCRACY; INTEGRITY PROBLEMS.

97. Promises contained in law are far from the realities of the system. P.27. THEORY NOT PRACTICE.

98. Four years after the adoption of Law 487 regarding disabilities, the government has not taken concrete steps to implement the Law. P.28. THEORY NOT PRACTICE.

99. Institutions are essentially custodial facilities where children and adults are detained in almost total inactivity. P.28. THEORY NOT PRACTICE; IGNORANCE OR IGNORING OF CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT ISSUES.

100. At the present time, institutions are far from having the staff necessary to implement the current law. P.28. THEORY NOT PRACTICE; BUREAUCRACY; LAW DEFICIENCIES.

101. Law 487 [among others - A] does not meet the requirements of the ECHR. P.30. VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW.