Why is there a need for better care in Ukraine?
Children’s Living Places will ensure better care for the children who need it, and at the same time ensure that far fewer children are separated from their parents and placed outside the home.
Ukraine has tried to reform the childcare system for decades without success, and today there is more than 700 institutions in the country. Several studies show that institutions can be damaging to children both physically and mentally, the longer the children are institutionalized the more damage.
Today, over 90 percent of the children in care in Ukraine have one or both parents who have full custody. Many of the children placed in the institutions do not live in an institution, because they have lost parental care, have a special diagnosis or a serious illness, but because their families are struggling financially or socially. With social preventive efforts for families, many parents would be able to keep their children at home if provided with financial support and social counseling.
The Ukrainian government promised in 2023 to put an end to the many harmful institutions and move to family-like care environments, as part of Ukraine’s process towards joining the EU. It is this effort for a positive change that SOS Children’s Villages in Denmark and in Ukraine wish to support as much as possible.