More than 100 children left without parental protection are waiting to be placed in families in Chisinau, including refugee children and teenagers from Ukraine.
The General Directorate for the Protection of Children’s Rights (DGPDC) aims, this year, to recruit professional parental assistants to provide these children with support, care and a friendly family environment. The campaign is called “Change a child’s life. Become a professional parental assistant”. It was launched by the General Directorate for the Protection of Children’s Rights in Chisinau and UNICEF Moldova.
“One of UNICEF’s priorities is to strengthen the response to protect children in risk situations and to prevent these situations at the local and national level. We are here today to launch the campaign – Change a child’s life. Become a professional parental assistant – and I want to encourage families to get involved in this mission to become professional parental assistants, to provide essential support to children in need of care, but also to refugee minors from Ukraine,” said Ilija Talev, the representative country deputy of UNICEF Moldova.
Professional parenting assistants can be married or single people who have experience in raising children. They could be caring for one or more minors, and the Professional Parental Assistance service team will provide them with free support, training and advice.
“Any person who is ready to help a child out of risky situations can become a professional parental assistant. Beneficiaries of the Service can be children who are deprived of parental protection, minors with special needs or refugee children”, explained Sergiu Oceretnîi, head of the general directorate for the protection of children’s rights in Chisinau.
Currently, within the Professional Parental Assistance Service in Chisinau municipality, 29 professional parental assistants are employed to educate 27 children. Annually, hundreds of children need to benefit from this Service.
“In 2023, we aim to increase the number to 50 professional parental assistants. With the support of UNICEF, we will equip every child with everything they need”, said Angela Cutasevici, vice mayor of Chisinau.
For the implementation of the project, UNICEF will cover the costs of approximately 3 million lei for the first eight months of 2023.
From September 2023, the project will be financed from the municipal budget.
“Our goal is to reach zero children abandoned and left without parental care. Risky situations must be minimized and children can enjoy attention and involvement. A separate objective relates to the inclusion and provision of services to refugee children from Ukraine”, stated Ion Ceban, the general mayor of Chisinau.
Professional parental assistants will benefit from a 50% salary supplement, and children will benefit from a one-time allowance, a monthly allowance and a monthly financial supplement. At the placement, the child will be provided with strictly necessary goods.
Professional parental assistance is a specialized service that provides care for children in the family of a professional parental assistant and involves placing them, for a specified period of time, in an alternative family, while the biological parents face certain problems.
About the Memorandum:
The Memorandum of Understanding between the Municipality of Chisinau and UNICEF Moldova aims to provide technical assistance for the realization of the rights of children and adolescents in the municipality of Chisinau.
UNICEF Moldova and the Municipality of Chisinau signed a Memorandum of Understanding regarding the protection and realization of the rights of children and adolescents in Chisinau.
According to the signed act, UNICEF and the Municipality of Chisinau will cooperate in order to implement social services aimed at strengthening the child protection system (including refugee children).
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At the same time, within the Memorandum, several child protection services will be developed or strengthened, such as the development of the professional parental assistance service, the development of the Family-type Children’s Home Service, the development of assisted social housing, the development of the Kindergarten – nursery social service for children from 4 months to 3 years, development of the Maternal Center service, the development of the community social assistance service, the development of the Day Center social service for children and families at risk, the development of the complex of social services for children in street situations.
The memorandum of understanding between the Municipality of Chisinau and UNICEF Moldova was signed in June 2022. The total value of the project is approximately 50 million lei, of which UNICEF support is approximately 22 million lei, and the contribution of Chisinau City Hall reaches approximately 28 million lei.
About DGPDC:
The General Directorate for the Protection of Children’s Rights is subordinate to the Chisinau City Hall and its mission is to monitor the observance of children’s rights in Chisinau and to protect children at risk, child victims and potential victims of violence, neglect, abuse, exploitation in all environments, such as and assistance to families with children to prevent them from getting into trouble, but also to overcome the risk situations they face.