Russia to Halve Orphanage Numbers by 2018 – Child Rights Official

MOSCOW, December 13 (RIA Novosti) – Russia is aiming to halve the number of orphanages in the country over the next four years, Russia’s child rights commissioner Pavel Astakhov said Friday.

“The task set by the president is to halve the number of such establishments [child institutions] by 2018,” Astakhov told a government meeting in the Irkutsk region.

Russian children in state care have traditionally been housed in hundreds of orphanages across the country, but officials have called for a renewed focus on family-based alternatives in the wake of a controversial ban on Russian adoptions to US parents.

“The reduction should happen not by enlarging remaining orphanages, but by placing children with families,” Astakhov said.

Russia has seen a decrease in adoption and fostering rates in recent years.

About 58,000 children were taken in by Russian families in 2012, down from almost 110,000 in 2009, according to Education Ministry statistics published earlier this year by lawmaker Dmitry Gudkov.

There are about 109,000 Russian children waiting to be adopted, according to an official list on the Education Ministry website.