Four thousand children in Lithuania are still living in large-scale orphanages, and their ranks are swelled by at least a thousand new arrivals each year. Approximately 90% of these children still have at least one surviving parent, but due to the lack of community-based services and a support system for parents, these families are not preserved and the children are "hidden" behind closed doors.
Scientific studies show that once a young child winds up in an orphanage, his or her development is disrupted irrevocably in just three to six months.
Scientific advances helped understand the harm caused to children by such institutions, and because of this many countries in Western Europe have closed down large-scale orphanages decades ago.
Institutionalization in Lithuania: 35 million euros spent on building renovations, 200,000 euros spent on services
However, child care reform in Lithuania - just like in many other post-communist countries - has stalled. Its progress should be marked by a gradual decrease in the number of orphanages- first of all, by ensuring that children do not end up there - and by investments into support for families plagued by problems. A network of guardians must be developed for children deprived of parental care, together with a motivational system that would encourage people to take care of children.
Even though Lithuanian institutions have prepared a multitude of plans for programs and measures to be taken, any true reform lacks political will. At the moment, the maintenance of these orphanages and the protection of the jobs of their employees are of greater concern.
EU Structural Funds, which are meant to promote cohesion and social inclusion, are being heavily invested in the renovation and maintenance of orphanages. For example, plans call for the spending of over 31 million euros from European Union (EU) Structural Funds and over 4 million euros from the state budget in 2014 to modernize care institutions, while investments into alternative care and preventive measures were allocated a measly 200,000 euros.
The "Country Without Orphanages" initiative urges us to change our outlook and take action
The new EU 2014-2020 funding cycle provides an excellent opportunity to finally provide all children with the opportunity to grow in a family environment. The European Commission also no longer allows investing into the development of care institutions. At the end of May 2014, Emily O'Reilly, a European Ombudsman, launched an investigation into the allocation of funds to projects that violate fundamental human rights, like, for example, orphanages.
In 2013, HRMI and ten other Lithuanian non-governmental organizations working for the protection of the rights of the child formed a coalition, determined to finally get the heart of the care system reform beating again. These organizations launched the "Country Without Orphanages" campaign, intended to gather "critical mass" within society so that the state would be forced to take action.
"There are still many things that need to be done before we can put a stop to the systematic institutionalization of children. One of the very first steps requires us to educate society. The people must know of the harm done to children by institutions, and they must be aware that better care alternatives exist," said Mėta Adutavičiūtė, who is responsible for coordinating the campaign.
The campaign's website, www.bevaikunamu.lt, went online in December 2013; by April 2014, it had already received the prestigious national internet award, LOGIN, for being the best non-profit project on the Web. The website is collecting signatures for the petition "On the Use of EU Structural Funds in Child Care Reform and Investing into Families and Children."
