Social work to reduce number of institutionalised children

As part of its efforts to reduce the number of institutionalised children in Central Asia, the United Nation's Children's Fund (UNICEF) hopes to introduce social work as a profession in the region. "We would like to see fewer children in institutions by developing a network of social workers," Juan Aguilar, UNICEF's area representative for Central Asia and Kazakhstan, told IRIN in the Kazakh commercial capital, Almaty. "Social work is not yet a profession recognised in Central Asia, particularly in Kazakhstan. Our aim is that universities create the career of social workers - professionals who are the gatekeepers in monitoring the welfare of children." An estimated 200,000 children currently live in institutions throughout the region; half of them in Kazakhstan alone, where more than 600 different types of institutions for children - ranging from official and private, to orphanages and rehabilitation centres - can be found. Institutionalisation - no matter how well intentioned - hinders intellectual, physical, emotional and social development, however. The younger the child, and the longer the time spent in institutions, the greater the damage, according to UNICEF. "This is a violation of children's rights. Children have the right to be raised with their parents or family and not in institutions," Aguilar maintained. But many children in Central Asia spend their entire infancy, childhood and adolescence in institutions, losing all contact with their families. Moreover, children who "graduate" from institutions are more likely to be unemployed, more likely to be poor, more likely to be in trouble with the law, and more vulnerable to exploitation - such as trafficking and sexual exploitation - than their peers. "That creates another problem of children who are not prepared to live in communities," Aguilar noted, adding most are left to fend for themselves at the age of 16. Surprisingly, such problems are not unusual. During the Soviet era, large numbers of institutions were established throughout the region to care for orphans and children whose parents were divested of parental rights. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the subsequent economic hardship that came with it, however, the number of children placed in institutions continued to rise, a fact duly noted by Aguilar. "There are fewer facilities and infrastructure to cope," the senior UNICEF said, noting that grinding poverty, combined with a legacy of state care for children from families with difficulties and the sheer lack of any alternatives, meant family separation and children consigned to state care. In Kazakhstan, Central Asia's largest nation, some 100,000 children are currently institutionalised, a disproportionate amount given a population of just 15 million. Of this number, approximately 30,000 are bona fide orphans, with the rest described as "social orphans", meaning children who are in institutions for many different reasons, including difficulty with parents, behavioural problems, or children who are simply abandoned. Kazakhstan aside, there are also more than 2,000 children in institutions in Kyrgyzstan, while in Tajikistan the number of children in residential care increased by a third between 1997 and 2002, with at least 11,000 children under 16 living in institutions. In Turkmenistan, a UNICEF-supported study found that the proportion of children aged 0-18 in residential care (excluding those with disabilities) was low, at around 0.007 percent of the child population, but that their health was poorer than that of children raised in biological or foster families. Meanwhile, in Uzbekistan, Central Asia's most populous nation, almost 20,000 children with disabilities were living in institutional care, in addition to 3,500 children without disabilities, around 800 infants under one year old, and 570 children in detention. "It's a very complex issue, but something that we are addressing very strategically. By creating a network of social workers we can have an impact," Aguilar claimed, explaining that many children languish in institutions for years for the simple reason that no one is following up their case - particularly children in rehabilitation and detention centres. "It's a time consuming procedure, but someone has got to do it and the social workers are the key," the senior UNICEF official remarked. But the process of de-institutionalisation won't be easy. In addition to a lack of social workers or social services that can assist families in difficulties and, therefore, prevent institutionalisation, as well as a lack of proper norms and standards on child protection, there are few community-based alternatives to assess the needs of each individual child, and few regulations on, or mechanisms for, domestic adoption, fostering and guardianship. In an effort to address these issues, the Japanese government and the United Nations in August decided to extend assistance of just over US $2 million through the Trust Fund for Human Security to the UNICEF-supported project: "Every Child has the Right to Grow Up in a Family Environment". The project, targeting around 32,000 children in institutions in Central Asia, plus 30,000 families that are at risk of institutionalising their children, will assess the current situation. It will establish community-based social services and centres for children and families; sensitise professionals and experts; boost the capacity of professionals to respond to children and families at risk; and promote foster care at a community level.