The 24th Hostel for Orphan Children was my favorite stop of the day. This was a place that could have been awful, but wasn’t, largely thanks to the progressive attitudes of the staff. The principal, in particular, was strongly child-focused and was able to make his positive attitude pervasive throughout the facility. (As a former school principal, I knew the questions that I wanted answered, and I was very impressed by his answers and those of the teaching staff and the students.)
The Hostel took in children from age six through nineteen. Institutions such as The House of the Child (discussed earlier) would send their six-year-olds on to organizations of this type. The Hostel was also populated by other orphans, children pulled in from off of the streets, and those who had been removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect. Children picked up on the street by police were first sent to an interim agency that screened them and tried to get as much background information as possible. They were then sent to facilities such as the 24th Hostel for Orphan Children for training, education, and possible adoption. Street children entered with issues that the children who came straight from their homes or orphanages usually did not possess. Their problems often included drug and alcohol use, and a higher degree of difficulty in adjusting to the structured environment.
The principal described adoption as being a complicated and slow process. When temporary or permanent homes were being sought for a child, birth families were normally contacted first and evaluated as a resource. Foster and adoptive parents received no special training, but all were investigated and thoroughly vetted. The government paid these families 1,400 rubles per adoptive or foster child. Most of these legal guardians had children of their own, and had experience with children. The principal stated that a young couple without children would not even be considered as legal guardians. Any child placed in foster care retained all of his or her rights as an orphan.
Due to the fact that these children were older, not many wound up being adopted. We were told that it was more common for foreign nationals to adopt from this facility than for Russian families to adopt. In the ten years preceding our visit, eight of their children had been adopted in Spain, four in Belgium, and one in America. The principal told us proudly that the one sent to America had been a great success.
The main goal of the Hostel was to prepare children to live independently. There was an agreement with a textile factory that trained kids to do factory work, and they also learned cooking and home living skills. Children who completed eleven basic classes had a right at the age of fourteen to go into a profession and have an independent life. Even though the young people had a legal right to leave the Hostel at age fourteen, social workers and others at the school encouraged them to stay. The school considered itself a failure if kids left before being prepared to live on their own.
Youth who finished the program at the Hostel were given housing priority when they exited the program. Everyone who finished was guaranteed a home of some sort, an important perk considering the huge homelessness problem in Russia at that time.
Education was an important function of the Hostel. The principal noted that older students who entered from the streets usually had difficulty hitting a high academic performance level. Social workers and counselors were on staff to help children adapt to the environment. Approximately ten to fifteen percent of the students, however, had gone on to advanced education. The principal said that three former students at the Hostel had become instructors there: a physical education teacher, a softball coach, and a dance instructor.
Youth at the Hostel had to leave at age nineteen, but the government continued to monitor them and offer assistance until they reached the age of twenty-three.
Children at this facility appeared to be treated very well. They told our group that the food was good and that they were fed six times a day – including snacks. They talked about their annual talent contest that featured singing, dancing, and poetry reading. They also talked about sports that were available to them including cross country and Alpine skiing. Sponsors would help send them to the Crimea for Alpine skiing. We were told that the school had won the Area Sports Championship eight times. The staff credited the talent and sports activities as helping problematic kids to fit in at the school.
The principal stressed that this was not an elitist school, but he noted with pride that it had been rated number twelve out of over one hundred similar institutions.
The children and youth were very open to our visit. It was obvious that they enjoyed our interest in what they were doing. It was a comfortable setting with very enthusiastic kids. The principal said that he felt the school was successful because the faculty had created a stress free environment and the young people felt that they had found a home. Many of those kids entered from off of the street, often against their will, and they had to be won over by the staff. The main strategy that the staff used to tame these youths was kindness. The 24th Hostel for Orphan Children stood as a testament to the power of kindness and caring.
Showing posts with label Russian adoptions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Russian adoptions. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Russia (3) The House of the Child
The House of the Child was one of the most disturbing places that I experienced while in Russia. It was a large building in Moscow that housed and educated youth who had no parental support. One of workers at the institution said that the parents of many of the children simply refused to take them home. Other parents were in prison or had lost their parental rights. Some children came in from maternity homes.
There were 100 children at The House of the Child. They ranged in age from birth to four or five years of age. If they were not adopted by age five, they were transferred into facilities for older youth. Our guides told us that there were 25 facilities like this one in Moscow.
The entire operation was similar to an American group home. The children lived on the premises, and it was staffed twenty-four hours a day with staff members working twelve-hour shifts. The curriculum was, according to staff, individualized to meet the needs of each child. All teachers were graduates of teacher training colleges. Children were placed in groups of sixteen, and each group had two educators and a nurse.
Before the trip I had done some reading on the importance of bonding and attachment, especially bonding between mother and child. I had also read a story in a popular magazine about a family who had adopted a two-year-old boy from Russia. The child had been fine for a couple of years, but then began acting out toward his adoptive mother. Although there had been several attempts to provide psychological assistance to the family, the mother eventually murdered the child. The prevalent theory on the child’s behavior toward the mother, which was extreme, was that he had been raised in relative isolation in an orphanage for his first two years, with minimal human contact. The article’s author stated that infants in Russian orphanages were often kept in tight swaddling by themselves and only had contact with adults for physical necessities such as feeding, bathing, and diaper changes, and even at those times orphanage staff did not show affection to the infants. The young boy had missed the crucial experience of bonding with an adult, especially a nurturing female, during his infancy, and he consequently could not form an attachment to his adoptive mother. She, in turn, had wanted a child desperately enough to adopt from overseas, and could not cope with the fact that he rejected her.
We went upstairs to see the bays where the children slept. We were also shown a kitchen where some of the kids were learning to help with the cooking. But the image that sticks with me most clearly was the nursery. We were allowed to step into a large bay with fifteen or more bassinettes, each containing a tightly swaddled infant. Most were quiet, but many of those were awake just staring into space. There was no interaction occurring between the staff and the babies. Later, one of the administrators at the orphanage said matter-of-factly, “All of our children are mentally retarded.” Small wonder!
Adoption was a very controversial topic in Russia in the early 1990’s. The Soviet System had fallen, and the Russian government was still struggling to define itself. There was a strong international demand for babies, particularly Caucasians. Having Russian children adopted out of the country was a direct affront to Russian pride, so the government was beginning to create obstacles to the process. The result was that by the time all of the various bureaucracies were satisfied, the infants would be two-years-old or older - and already missed the critical period where they needed to be bonding with adults.
The workers at this facility told us that their children were being adopted by Swedes, Italians, and especially Americans. All potential adoptions had to be cleared through Central Adoptions in Moscow.
The House of the Child was a sad experience. The children were living in a place that looked and felt like an institution. There was little warmth and love in evidence, especially with the infants. Fortunately, our next stop of the day would go a long way toward restoring my waning faith in humanity.
Coming Next: The 24th Hostel for Orphan Children
There were 100 children at The House of the Child. They ranged in age from birth to four or five years of age. If they were not adopted by age five, they were transferred into facilities for older youth. Our guides told us that there were 25 facilities like this one in Moscow.
The entire operation was similar to an American group home. The children lived on the premises, and it was staffed twenty-four hours a day with staff members working twelve-hour shifts. The curriculum was, according to staff, individualized to meet the needs of each child. All teachers were graduates of teacher training colleges. Children were placed in groups of sixteen, and each group had two educators and a nurse.
Before the trip I had done some reading on the importance of bonding and attachment, especially bonding between mother and child. I had also read a story in a popular magazine about a family who had adopted a two-year-old boy from Russia. The child had been fine for a couple of years, but then began acting out toward his adoptive mother. Although there had been several attempts to provide psychological assistance to the family, the mother eventually murdered the child. The prevalent theory on the child’s behavior toward the mother, which was extreme, was that he had been raised in relative isolation in an orphanage for his first two years, with minimal human contact. The article’s author stated that infants in Russian orphanages were often kept in tight swaddling by themselves and only had contact with adults for physical necessities such as feeding, bathing, and diaper changes, and even at those times orphanage staff did not show affection to the infants. The young boy had missed the crucial experience of bonding with an adult, especially a nurturing female, during his infancy, and he consequently could not form an attachment to his adoptive mother. She, in turn, had wanted a child desperately enough to adopt from overseas, and could not cope with the fact that he rejected her.
We went upstairs to see the bays where the children slept. We were also shown a kitchen where some of the kids were learning to help with the cooking. But the image that sticks with me most clearly was the nursery. We were allowed to step into a large bay with fifteen or more bassinettes, each containing a tightly swaddled infant. Most were quiet, but many of those were awake just staring into space. There was no interaction occurring between the staff and the babies. Later, one of the administrators at the orphanage said matter-of-factly, “All of our children are mentally retarded.” Small wonder!
Adoption was a very controversial topic in Russia in the early 1990’s. The Soviet System had fallen, and the Russian government was still struggling to define itself. There was a strong international demand for babies, particularly Caucasians. Having Russian children adopted out of the country was a direct affront to Russian pride, so the government was beginning to create obstacles to the process. The result was that by the time all of the various bureaucracies were satisfied, the infants would be two-years-old or older - and already missed the critical period where they needed to be bonding with adults.
The workers at this facility told us that their children were being adopted by Swedes, Italians, and especially Americans. All potential adoptions had to be cleared through Central Adoptions in Moscow.
The House of the Child was a sad experience. The children were living in a place that looked and felt like an institution. There was little warmth and love in evidence, especially with the infants. Fortunately, our next stop of the day would go a long way toward restoring my waning faith in humanity.
Coming Next: The 24th Hostel for Orphan Children
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)