Non-childhood problems, or how Decree No. 18 is being implemented in the Vitebsk region

The implementation of the requirements of Decree No. 18 at the local level and the effectiveness of government bodies as coordinators of this work became the main topics of discussion at the meeting of the commission for juvenile affairs of the regional executive committee and the coordination council.

— The 7th year of the decree's operation is ending, and we note that social orphanhood has halved. This year, by decision of the commission, half as many children in need of protection were taken from unscrupulous parents compared to last year: 265 versus 465. Of these, 62% of children were returned to their families, — said Tamara Olekhnovich, Deputy Chairperson of the KDN of the regional executive committee. — We were able to achieve these results thanks to an interdepartmental approach.

The fact that the common cause depends on the quality of interaction and competently organized work at the local level was also emphasized by Vladimir Terentyev, Deputy Chairperson of the regional executive committee. However, according to him, not all district executive committees are coping with this coordinating function.

Not so long ago, a republican interdepartmental commission conducted a monitoring of the implementation of Decree No. 18 norms in the Shumilino and Gorodok districts, which revealed a number of shortcomings. The main reason for these shortcomings in the Shumilino district, according to the meeting participants, is the lack of a well-established interaction mechanism. As Vladimir Pronko, Deputy Head of the Public Order Protection and Prevention Department of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Regional Executive Committee, put it, the situation resembles the fable of the swan, the crayfish, and the pike. As a result, the reimbursement of funds for the maintenance of children by obligated persons is only 46.6%, and the return of children to their families is 21%. However, the Shumilino district is a leader in the number of parents sent to correctional labor facilities for re-education. But where is the work that precedes these extreme measures? Therefore, it was decided to give time to correct the situation, and based on the results of the first quarter of next year, a working group will be sent to the Shumilino region to assess the leadership's actions.

In the Horadok district, as assured by Nadezhda Burunova, Deputy Chairperson of the District Executive Committee, the shortcomings identified by the commission have already been rectified. The involved services are striving to avoid further mistakes: timely transferring information within their competence regarding the prosecution of parents, the number and condition of residential premises assigned to children, and other relevant data.

Using the examples of the Shumilino and Sennno districts, which have the lowest rates of monetary compensation by obligated persons, measures taken by local government bodies to increase parental responsibility were discussed. The Rossono and Beshenkovichi districts reported on the mechanisms employed to eliminate the causes of socially dangerous living conditions for children, and the validity and expediency of re-recognizing them as in need of state protection.

Regional authorities are concerned that the number of reports from state bodies about child neglect in families is not decreasing in these districts. Over the past 9 months of this year, based on the results of verifying such reports, 17 children from the Beshenkovichi district and 15 from the Rossono district were recognized as being in a socially dangerous situation (SDS). One of the reasons for this situation, as seen by the members of the Commission for Juvenile Affairs, is that district education departments delegate social investigations to local educational institutions, interdepartmental commission visits are not practiced, and individual work is planned formally. Therefore, cases of re-recognizing children in SDS or even repeated removal from the family are not uncommon.

There are also examples where children are only under in-school supervision with all the signs of a socially dangerous situation, thus effectively concealing their neglect.

Also, at the meeting, the results of children's summer employment, the health resort campaign, and the protection of the rights and interests of the pupils of the regional specialized Children's Home were reviewed.

During the discussion of current affairs and specific situations, a more general, pressing issue was also raised – the expediency of maintaining shelters (premises, positions) if the staff size exceeds the number of children housed there. Opinions were divided on this matter, but Vladimir Terentyev is confident that the efficiency of these institutions needs to be verified and improved, for example, by assigning additional functions to the shelter staff.

Ekaterina Knyazeva, "Vitebskiye Vesti"