A major part of Russia's A major part of Russia's, social structure starting in the 1920's, was the ideal that child rearing was the duty of both parents and society as a whole. There for it is not surprising those orphanages originated when children could no longer rely on their parents as a result of war or famine. These institutions were funded both privately and by the New Economic Policy of 1923. These facilities were havens for street kids and rural orphans alike.

Today in Russia there are a wide variety of institutions to care for children, from birth to seventeen years old, who do not have parents that are able to care for them. This includes:

• children of alcoholic

• drug abusing parents

• homeless children

There are separate institutions that care for a specific groups of children; there are institutes for school age children; children with physical difficulties; children that have been victims of domestic violence; and children previously living on the streets. Because these institutions are so specialized the level of diversity within these institutions is kept at a minim. These institutions do an adequate job of care for Russia neglected children.

There are a few problems that exist among these institutions. For example:

• overcrowding

• understaffing

• high rate of runways

The first factor that contributes to these problems is economic fluctuations for the country as a whole. Also, the funds available for child welfare, for institutions as well as for individual families, are constantly decreasing.

There is not much insinuative for the staff to improve the conditions of these institutions. Many of the workers at these institutions are paid less than twenty dollars a month, due to their lack of formal training. An organization hoping to help resolve this issue is the Raoul Wallenburg International University for the Family and the child, which was established in 1993. This organization is helping to education individuals on how to care for children with special needs.

Another special hoping to improve the conditions with in these institute is the Russian Orphan Opportunity Fund (ROOF). This non-profit organization has several different programs all toward helping the many orphans of Russia. In the 1999-2000 school year they provided fifty teachers for nine different orphanages. They also have a post-orphan education for young adults wishing to gain life skills and employment opportunity after being released from a life in these orphanages.

The multiply institutes that care for the neglected children of Russia are by fare less than perfect, but are still the most common care provider for orphans. With the development of many service organizations the quality of care available at these institutes continues to improve.

Russian Orphan Opportunity Fund (ROOF). 2000. Retrieved October 29, 00. (http://www.glasnet.ru/~roof).

This web page was created in the Fall of 2000 by Tulane University students Blake DiMarco, Alex Isaacs, Jodie Lord, and Amanda Seruya, as part of our study on Childhood Around the World in Professor Brayfield's Children and Society course.

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Last updated December 15, 2000