Unicef in Belarus launches the program "family for every child" in the Vitebsk region

UNICEF in Belarus, together with partners, is launching the program "Family for Every Child" (project "Prevention of institutionalization and deinstitutionalization of young children and children with disabilities") in the Vitebsk region. The goals of the program are to help children restore contact with their biological parents or find a new family, develop alternative forms of placement for children (adoption, guardianship and guardianship, foster families, family-type orphanages).

The program started in the Gomel region four years ago. Specialists, adoptive parents and adoptive parents were trained and prepared so that the problem would be solved systematically and upon completion of the program, work on returning children to their families would continue. The main result: the children found new homes or returned to their families (the number of children in the Gomel Regional Orphanage decreased by 35%). In 2021 alone, 41 children found a loving family.

Based on the experience of the “Family for every child” program in the Gomel region in 2022, the project will begin to operate in 9 districts of the Vitebsk region and will affect residential institutions: the Vitebsk Regional Specialized Orphanage, the Bogushevsky Orphanage for Disabled Children with Psychophysical Disabilities, the Orphanage of the City Vitebsk and Begoml auxiliary boarding school.

The main concept of work within the framework of the project is the close interaction and coordination of the system of education, healthcare, labor and social protection within the framework of an interdepartmental working group.

As part of the project, it is planned:

• analysis of the reasons why children end up in boarding schools;
• an individual work plan will be drawn up for each child;
• work with families raising children with disabilities. A needs assessment is planned for 700 such families: before working with them, it is necessary to understand what kind of support they need;
• work with foster parents (selection, preparation and support, including psychological support);
• training of specialists in work with families (psychologists, social pedagogues, etc.).

The project is designed for two years. Its result will be the preparation of a roadmap for the de-institutionalization of the mentioned institutions (creation of such conditions for children to live in families, and not in orphanages) and the placement of children in new families or return to their relatives.

The work under the program "Family for every child" is carried out with the financial support of Priorbank, Raiffeisen-Leasing, as well as through donations.

UNICEF in Belarus calls on Belarusians to support the “Family for Every Child” program by making a donation on the website . And also by sending SMS with any text to number 2244 for MTS subscribers and to number 888 for A1 subscribers.