The Orenburg Region recently joined the Commissioner’s special project, Vyzov (Challenge), becoming an active participant of the initiative aimed at shifting the focus from placing a child in foster care to timely intervention with the child’s family, which is also the goal of the Nationwide Inspection.
Maria Lvova-Belova noted that the region has much to offer, some good practices worth replicating. The regional government’s efforts to prevent child abandonment are yielding results: over the past six months, the number of children in institutions in the Orenburg Region has decreased by 22 percent.
The Commissioner had an expanded meeting with heads of regional agencies operating in the child neglect and juvenile delinquency prevention system, as well as with members of the Orenburg Region Government’s Commission on Minors and Their Rights.
Maria Lvova-Belova also visited the Orenburg Regional Children’s Home, the crisis centre at the local Integrated Centre for Social Services, and the Harmony social rehabilitation centre for minors, and personally met with several local families.