De-institutionalization of Care for Children-orphants: Russian Discourse and Practice

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the attitudes of target groups on the deinstitutionalization of child care. The attitudes towards the alternative forms of care services for orphans of young age (from birth to 3) and to the process of creation special services helping crisis families are studied. The investigation was held in St. Petersburg and Luga (Leningrad oblast) in 2003 by using the focus groups with specialists and officials of different levels, who deal with problems of small orphans. The authors argue that these children are stigmatized from their early childhood and discuss the reasons of the lack of de-instinstitutionalized care, as well as inadequacy of family support resources in Russia. The main obstacles in the process of creation of non-governmental services for small orphans are considered.