Ten children were adopted in Montenegro last year, and 368 children were placed in foster families, which is 47 more than in 2013, the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare announced.
As stated, currently 255 children are placed in 368 foster families, of which 329 are in 224 kinship families. Last year, six children were placed in foster families from the Mladost Children's Home in Bijela.
"The fact that in 2014 all children who were adopted or went to foster families were not placed in the Children's Home in Bijela should be especially emphasized. Thus, we had cases where children from the maternity hospital were directly placed in foster families, which is one of the goals reforms of the social and child protection system," the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare told the Mina agency.
As they explained, ten children were adopted in Montenegro last year, as well as in 2013. Seven children were adopted in 2012, six each in 2011 and 2010, and five in 2009.
The Ministry assessed that the campaign "Every Child Needs a Family" produced results, which, they stated, is confirmed by the number of children and foster families.
"Thus, in September 2013, before the campaign, 321 children were placed in 230 families, of which 14 were in ten unrelated families. At this moment, 255 children are placed in 368 foster families," said the department.
They stated that the campaign had an impact on the formation of the knowledge and attitude of the citizens of Montenegro about children without parental care.
"In the research conducted after the campaign, four out of five respondents believed that it is better for a child without parental care to be placed in a foster family instead of in an institution. Before the campaign, 58 percent of respondents thought that it is better for children without parental care to stay in an institution rather than in a warm family environment," added the Ministry.
They indicated that seven married couples from Montenegro and about 40 married couples from abroad are currently waiting for adoption and that the procedure for adoption has not changed.
"Given that in adoption, a kinship relationship is established between the adopter and the adoptee, employees of social work centers carry out an assessment of general suitability for adoption and an assessment of complementary suitability, more precisely, whether the family is suitable for the specific child", said the Ministry.
As they reminded, the child's interest comes first and special care must be taken of it. The adoption procedure is not time-limited, nor is the assessment procedure itself, because it depends on a large number of factors, including whether there is a child who meets the requirements for adoption.
"Most likely, people who are not familiar with what adoption means and who often do not distinguish between adoption and foster care may find this procedure complicated and time-consuming. However, this is a complex process in which the child and his interests come first" , according to the Ministry.
According to their data, there are currently 96 children in the "Mladost" Children's Home in Bijela, of which 41 are girls and 55 are boys, and this year 12 children have been placed in the Home.
"The contents and capacities of the Mladost Home meet all the needs of the children who stay there, and the fact is that their number has been decreasing in recent years. The Home has professional staff who provide adequate care and protection to the children and participate in their curricular and extracurricular activities," they said. from the Ministry.
As they stated, also in Podgorica and Bijelo Polje, the service "Supported housing" is provided to the residents of the Home, who left the Home due to reaching adulthood, and who did not have the opportunity to return to their family. For this purpose, two apartments in Podgorica and one in Bijelo Polje were provided.
"In the implementation of this social service, local self-government institutions are also involved, and in Podgorica, the NGO Center for Children's Rights is also involved. Currently, the services of this service are used by two people, who have found employment through CSR. Since 2012, five former residents of Dom Mladost have used the services of the service in Bijela," said the Ministry.
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