Almost 57,000 children in Romania's special protection system

A number of 56,866 children were registered in Romania’s special protection system at the end of last year. Of the total number, over 19,300 (or 34% of them) were hosted in group homes whereas almost 37,500 (65.9%) were living with foster families, reports local Agerpres. Following a process of deinstitutionalization, most of the kids in Romania’s protection system are no longer living in large orphanages. They either live in small group homes or with families that receive a certain amount of money for taking care of them. Of the total number of kids living in group homes, most of them stay in public units (over 15,400), whereas over 3,900 stay in private units. In some cases, the state contracts services from private operators, such as NGOs. As for the kids that receive family services, some 18,600 live with foster parents, more than 14,000 with relatives from the extended family, and almost 4,800 kids live with other families or people. Starting January 1, 2005, the public welfare services of local councils are responsible with taking care of orphan or abandoned children. editor@romania-insider.com