President Vladimir Putin has ordered Prime Minister Mikhail
Kasyanov to address the problem of homeless children in Russia. Gazeta.Ru
has learnt that to begin with, the government officials plan to make
a count of all urchins roaming this vast nation, after which they will
undoubtedly demand extra budget funds for programmes to tackle the problem
and to set up committees to implement those programmes.
On Monday the president of Russia Vladimir Putin instructed Prime Minister
Kasyanov to address the problem of child abuse and destitution.
As Gazeta.Ru has learnt from the presidential press-service, Putin emphasized:
"Child neglect and juvenile crime in this country have reached threatening
proportions, and urgent measures are required".
Commenting on the president's initiative, chairwoman of the State Duma
Committee for Women's, Family and Youth Affaires, Svetlana Goryacheva told
Gazeta.Ru that she hoped that this time the country's leadership would
abandon the hitherto policy of double standards in tackling the problem
of child neglect.
Svetlana Goryacheva told us that her committee has already had a chance
to hear the president's views on the issue when the committee elaborated
a draft bill to regulate the work of commissions for youth affaires.
"The bill was passed by all organs (legislative organs: the State Duma,
the Federation Council), yet it was the president who vetoed it. And ever
since the functioning of the entire structure (of juvenile commissions),
that has been a part of the Interior Ministry since 1967, has been suspended,
and,
therefore, they cannot work normally," the committee's chairwoman complained.
However, Ms.Goryacheva admits that the network of commissions for juvenile
affaires alone is not capable of solving the problem of child neglect.
"We do not even know how many children are roaming around the country
now. But one thing is for sure: this number is far higher than in the
years following the Great Patriotic (War (1941-1945)), though recently
we have not had such large-scale wars on our territory".
Svetlana Goryacheva believes that more provisions should be made to
allow families to foster orphans and homeless children.
The Duma committee headed by Goryacheva is now elaborating a bill that
would facilitate child adoption procedures for Russian citizens and another
bill stipulating for the creation of a database on all orphans and neglected
children.
Russian human rights activists agree that public services like the youth
commissions alone are incapable of handling the grave problem.
Chairman of the Russian Research Centre for Children's Rights Boris
Altshuler told us he presumes that Mikhail Kasyanov will pass the presidential
order on to vice-prime minister in charge of social policies, Valentina
Matvienko.
"As soon as that happens," holds Boris Altshuler, "the entire initiative
will disintegrate since the solution of the problem of child neglect lies
in the coordination of action between local administrations, social security
agencies, education departments and police departments. To consolidate
their work, the premier's direct influence is necessary, even better --
presidential influence".
Altshuler says that all attempts by social workers to revise the principles
of work with children have encountered strong resistance from the Interior
Ministry, the Ministry of Education and local administrations.
"In the social sphere there are opportunities for colossal embezzlement.
Firstly, (funds allocated for) the construction and renovation of children's
homes. Secondly, (funds for) providing children with foodstuffs, clothes,
and everything else.
"Besides, officials will probably attempt to set up new committees,
which means ?€“ premises (to house those committees), office equipment,
benefits, places in health centres?€¦ And, after that, they will try to
get money for the implementation of new programmes. Therefore it will probably
be a disadvantage for officials in charge of the existing system for work
with neglected children.
"In all civilized countries permanent deprivation of parental rights
is an extreme measure. In our country it is a norm. Russia is the only
country where a policeman when seeing a homeless child in the street turns
away and passes by."
"Under existing legislation our policemen only have the right to detain
children who have committed a certain offence. Thus our law deliberately
incites children to commit crime, for only then will the child get food,
be washed and be given a warm bed to sleep in.
"In New-York, for instance," says Altshuler, "a policemen who see a
child begging immediately takes him away and hands him over to social workers.
If that child has parents, they will be temporarily deprived of parental
rights. Social workers will then work with those parents as long as needed
until those parents come to understand their parental duty. And after that
the child will be returned to them."
"And here everything is simple: they grab a child, shut him up in a
children's home, and everything's fine. There are only a few regions where
social workers work closely with families."
"Moreover, in our Family Code (the Russian law on family relations)
there is not a single provision to help preserve a family and prevent child
neglect. The whole article deals only with work with orphans."
"As of today there are 200 thousand children who live in children's
homes, whereas the entity in charge of their maintenance employs 300
thousand people. Instead of searching for new parents for the children
in state care those people do all they can to fence them off from the outside
world and from a family."
"As a result those who eventually leave children's homes (upon reaching
an age of 18), accustomed to the life within the walls of a children's
home, are absolutely unprepared for life in the real world. That's why
they either commit suicide, or join criminal gangs where they at least
get some sort of care."
When on December 11 vice-premier Valentina Matvienko, who is likely
to be ordered by the PM to address the problem of child neglect and homelessness,
held a government session dedicated to the problem, the main thing she
insisted on was to expand the practice of depriving bad parents of parental
rights. She was especially concerned not with the fact that adults leave
their children to the mercy of fate, but that they continue to collect
children's allowances thereafter.
No matter what measures governmental officials invent to clean the streets
of urchins and to give our neglected youth hope for the future, one thing
is clear; there are no funds for the implementation of any such programmes.
The 2002 budget has been passed and especially given slump in oil prices,
no significant extra funds are likely to be provided.
Still, such funds could be raised elsewhere. For instance, during his
first meeting with Russia's major entrepreneurs, Putin coerced them to
donate $50 million for setting up a relief fund for military servicemen
in Chechnya. The same method could be applied for helping neglected youth.
But even if Putin does so, given that there are so many organs and bureaucrats
in charge of childcare, the problem of misspending and embezzlement of
funds will remain.