Volunteers for Orphans Foundation
Children in a Family: Preparation and Support for Foster Families in the Regions of the Russian Federation
Main values
Geography: Whole Russia
CSS contribution, rubles
Total budget, rubles
Implementation period, months
Project idea
The pilot project on training and supporting substitute families is an online educational initiative aimed at individuals who have decided to adopt or care for children from orphanages or are seriously considering this option.
The project consists of several modules:
Foster Parent School Basic Course Module (for potential candidates) – This module covers the specific challenges of placing difficult-to-adopt children, including adolescents, children with serious illnesses, and those previously abandoned by guardians. It also outlines the main considerations for welcoming these children into a family.
Professional Development Training Modules for existing foster families on topics such as:
- “Teens”: preparing parents for building relationships with and raising teenagers;
- “Children with Disabilities”: preparing parents for caring for children with developmental disabilities;
- “Children in Temporary Placement”: training parents to welcome children for temporary care.
- Skills Module: This module offers a training program “Developing Sensitivity to Child Signals and Managing Angry Parental Reactions,” which helps foster parents navigate emotionally challenging situations.
The project also offers legal consultations to both prospective and current foster families, addressing legal issues and challenges that may arise.
The project is supported by an extensive information campaign, with organizers placing articles and posts in national and regional parent groups and forums on orphan-related issues. This effort raises awareness of the need to support foster families.
Relevance
Every year, around 90,000 to 95,000 children are placed in families (based on federal statistics, 103-RIK).
However, several challenges persist in the family placement process:
- Mismatch between children and foster family preferences in terms of age and health: Many prospective foster parents prefer children under age 7 of Health Groups I and II, while over 70% of children available for adoption are adolescents aged 11 and older or children with more severe health issues (Health Groups III-V).
- Returns of children from substitute families to state custody (6,154 returns were recorded in 2019). It is often due to insufficient preparation of the foster parents or support provided to them. Some of the substitute families who returned their children did not receive any child adoption training: for the most part, these are blood relatives of abandoned children, as well as families who adopted children before 2012, when training at the Foster Parents School was not required for adoption;
- Temporary placement of children in substitute families due to a difficult life situation in the child’s biological family. In this case, foster parents require specialized training to navigate the unique challenges of these situations, including communication with biological families and managing separation. The need for thorough and specialized training for foster candidates is especially pronounced in remote regions, where many foster families and professionals are far from key training and support centers. For families in these regions, online training is the only format to access quality preparation and make informed decisions about fostering or receive support for children already placed in their care.
Social effect
Prevention of social orphanhood, Increase in the number of successful foster families throughout Russia.
KPI
KPI
Project Results
As a result of the project implementation, candidates for substitute parents have gained essential knowledge and skills that help them make informed decisions about welcoming children into their homes, especially those from difficult-to-place categories. Existing foster parents increased their knowledge in areas such as raising children with disabilities, working with adolescents, and handling relationships with biological families.
Thanks to the project’s media support, public awareness of foster care and the challenges associated with it has increased significantly.
The attendance numbers of seminars for foster parents from the regions of the Russian Federation fell short of the expectations (the actual attendance during the live broadcasts was 65 out of the expected 112 participants). At the same time, the number of registrations for the seminars, including regional attendees significantly exceeds the planned indicators (410 people in total, including 228 from the regions of the Russian Federation) and highlights the demand and interest in such training programs.
Feedback questionnaires from participants indicated that over 70% were highly likely to consider adopting children from more challenging categories.
In the long term, children who are already placed in families or will be adopted into families of project participants have a better chance of successfully socializing and settling down in life.
Among the families of the trainees, the risk of children returning to institutions again is significantly reduced, as parents know how to deal with emerging crises and how to mitigate them.
Project progress after CSS funding
The high interest and demand for training groups, modules and trainings clearly showed the need to continue the project. Given its value and apparent effectiveness for prospective and actual foster parents, the team intends to continue in this area and seek funding for parent training under existing programs, as well as developing new modules based on participant feedback.
The content of course programs and practical assignments is constantly being refined and updated based on feedback from participants.
Possible sources of future funding for the project: about 50% of the fund’s income, as well as small donations from individuals. This allows for sustainability even after grant support has ceased.
At present, the Volunteers for Orphans foundation is actively disseminating information about the organization’s activities, and the fundraising department is working on “retaining” donors (mailings, reports, etc.). Concurrently, the foundation interacts with legal entities and state grant competitions, which allows diversifying the sources of funds for project implementation.
