The ombudsman for children rights is sure that children have to live in families

There are too many children in Russia, kept in specialized boarding schools and asylums – more than 150 thousand for today. And at that we have more than 3,5 thousand children homes in the country – too much. The ombudsman for children rights under the President of Russia Paul Astakhov has cited such deplorable statistics during his Ufa visit.

“I’ve inspected 1021 children homes of the country and I am sure that children grow up dependants even in the best such homes. That’s why the draft federal program “Russia without Orphans” is aimed at provision of the main children right – the right for having family” – the ombudsman stated – “If by any reasons this or that kid is deprived of the opportunity to live in his native family, the state and the society have to find a suitable foster family for him”.

Such programs are already working in some regions and as a result, the number of children homes and the number of children, living in such homes, goes down. This experience should be spread for the whole country through the federal program “Town without Orphans”.

Besides, the ombudsman for children rights is certain that it is necessary to make a database of candidates to foster parents.