Two children who were in a foster family, after reporting physical violence in that environment, were moved to the Center for Children and Youth "Ljubović" in Podgorica. The police did not respond to "Vijesta" regarding the report filed in that case, and the Basic State Prosecutor's Office (ODT) said that they had not opened a case regarding that event.
As they answered, the case was not formed in another case of reported violence in a foster family, which, according to "Vijesti" information, happened at the beginning of the year.
"Regarding your question, I would like to inform you that no cases have been opened in the ODT in Podgorica regarding the above-mentioned events", says the manager in the answer. Dusko Milanović.
The person against whom the report was filed at the beginning of the year still has a foster parent's license and, according to the newsroom's data, at least one other child was in foster care with her in the meantime.
The license review procedure is the responsibility of the Centers for Social Work (CSR), said the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare. The Center from Podgorica also clarified in which cases this happens.
"In the event of learning that any form of violence, abuse or neglect is being committed against a child, we are obliged to report any suspicion to the competent institutions, which will determine whether the suspicions are founded, while the Center for Social Work will take all actions to protect rights and interests faces. In the event that suspicions are founded and proceedings are initiated against the foster parent, the license review procedure is also initiated," she told "Vijesta" Marija Nikolic, director of Podgorica CSR.
From the department of the minister in the technical mandate Admir Adrović they said that "there were no recorded situations in which several children were moved from one foster family". They also said that in several cases they conducted procedures for revoking the license, but they did not speak about the outcome of those procedures.
Foster care is a temporary form of child protection. The strategy for the development of foster care was adopted in 2012.
Last year, 323 people had a foster parent license. Of these, 62 for non-relative foster care, and 319 for relative foster care.
The service of family accommodation-fostering and family accommodation is provided by a natural person in accordance with the Law on Social and Child Protection, the Family Law and the Rulebook on closer conditions for the provision and use of family accommodation-fostering and family accommodation services. The role of a foster carer can be performed by any natural person who is assessed as suitable for performing the aforementioned role, has successfully completed training and received a license to provide this service", CSR Podgorica told "Vijesta", adding that the suitability assessment of the future foster carer, professional support and training are carried out by centers for social work.
Because of the violence, they were sent to "Ljubović" and Bijela
In the brochure that accompanied the promotion of foster care in Montenegro, it is written, among other things, that "there are children whose childhood... was cruelly interrupted by the absence of parental care for them".
"The loss of their parents' home is the biggest source of their suffering, which penetrates deeply and leaves scars on the soul. It is not enough for these children to provide a house, a roof over their heads, they need a family to love them, to belong to them, to help them heal their wounds and turn to the future", the brochure states.
When asked by the editors about the cases of violence in foster families that were reported to the police this year, as well as the number of children who are moved out of foster families because of this, the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare said that this is not enough.
"A small number of children are sent from foster families to child and social welfare institutions. Such situations have not been recorded in most centers for social work. We can say that in the centers where there are recorded cases, they represent individual cases that happen once every few years", said the department.
In the children's home "Mladost" in Bijela, according to the director Marela Savić, in eight years, 13 children were returned from foster families to the institution.
"This number refers only to children who stayed in the institution, then were moved to a foster family, and then returned to the institution again. The mentioned data are not completely reliable, because no precise records were kept in the previous period", said Savić to "Vijesta".
Since the beginning of this year, according to her, two children from a foster family have been placed in the Home in Bijela.
"In both cases, according to the guardianship authorities, the reason for the placement was violence in the foster family," Savić told "Vijesta".
She also said that, during the examination, there were no traces of physical violence. According to unofficial information from "Vijesti", one complaint by a foster parent refers to sexual harassment.
Bijela clarified that they do not have contact with foster parents, because it is not their responsibility, so they do not know about the further actions of the guardianship body - the competent center for social work, in the specific case of Podgorica.
In another child and social protection institution, Center "Ljubović", they do not have data from 2012, but they said that in the last two years, the Podgorica CSR has referred five beneficiaries from foster families to that institution.
"The reasons for being placed in the Center 'Ljubović' in two cases were vagrancy, in one case running away from home, while in the remaining two cases the users suffered physical violence from foster parents and the placement was short-term," the director told "Vijesta" Nina Delevic.
When asked to describe the specific situation and the actions of the authorities in the case of the reported violence, she said that, among other things, the children were also found to be injured.
"On April 9, accompanied by a social worker and an inspector from the Security Center in the early hours of the morning, minor children were placed in the JU Center 'Ljubović', as they reported the violence they suffered in the foster family, which is why they were moved from the foster home families. The children were given psychological and medical help, injuries were also noted. "The next morning, the experts of the Center 'Ljubović' took the children for medical examinations again, so that they could be provided with adequate therapy, because they complained of pain," she said.
Those children, as she said, were placed in another foster family by the decision of the competent CSW.
Delević also said that since 2020, the Podgorica CSR has sent six children from foster care to day care.
How to lose a license
The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare told "Vijesta" that even during the assessment for foster care, potential foster parents are not assessed as suitable and claim that "a good assessment and selection of potential foster parents is the reason that during the provision of this service, a small number of foster parents lose your license”.
And when they get a license, the department of Adrovic explains further, foster parents are obliged to attend training. For the entire time of placement, as they said, the guardianship authority (CSR) monitors the development of the children and determines whether their care, care, education and schooling are carried out in accordance with the law and the placement contract.
"The foster parents' license can be suspended or revoked by the Commission formed by the competent CSR, if it is determined that the conditions for suspension or revocation of the license have been met before the deadline for which it was issued. On the territory of Montenegro, the centers for social work in a couple of cases conducted procedures for the revocation of the license", said the department of Adrović. They did not clarify the outcome of those procedures, i.e. whether and how many licenses were revoked and why.
When asked what are the reasons for children who have been placed in foster families to be referred to an institution, i.e. a child and social welfare institution, they said that if there is any deviation from the planned service plan:
"In case of assessment of any deviations from the planned plan, the foster parent himself is informed about everything, and the guardianship authority makes a decision on changing the form of protection for the child, if it is in his interest".
In the case of learning that any form of violence, abuse, or neglect is perpetrated on a child, as they added, centers for social work are obliged to report any suspicion to the competent institutions.
"Which determine whether suspicions are well-founded, while centers for social work take all actions to protect children." In the event that a procedure is initiated against the foster parent due to violence, the procedure for review/revocation of the license is also initiated," they told "Vijesti".
The basic fee for providers of family accommodation-fostering services is 350 euros.
Foster parents are obliged to, among other things, provide children with suitable living space, neat clothes and shoes, items for personal use and hygiene, appropriate nutrition and health care, support in meeting social, religious and cultural needs, as well as protection from neglect and abuse and exploits...
The protector pointed out omissions and weaknesses
The Ombudsman for Human Rights and Freedoms (Ombudsman) pointed out certain problems and challenges accompanying foster care in the work reports for 2021 and 2022.
"The paper included items related to family placement and problems faced by children placed in foster families, as well as challenges in monitoring this service. A number of diverse problems were observed, from insufficient monitoring of foster care, failure to implement adequate support for foster parents, to problems with the license and the like," it says, among other things, in the report for 2021.
In the report, the protector stated the observation "that the centers do not carry out all the necessary activities of control of foster parents, so they do not register the changes that occur in the foster family, which should lose its license to perform this service due to the changed circumstances".
In addition to the allegations of the specific case, it was also noted that the competent ministry, in such "and similar situations, had a very passive attitude despite the legal possibility, that is, the obligation to carry out professional supervision over the work of the service provider". They praised the actions of the Social and Child Welfare Inspection.
A year later, the Protector states in his work report that foster care has not yet been developed, "not even close to the extent that the regulations foresee and enable".
In the recommendations, among other things, it states that "regulations and practice related to the procedure, assessment and licensing of foster carers should be analyzed, in order to move these responsibilities from the centers for social work".
Unicef: Children under the age of three should not be placed in institutions
UNICEF announced yesterday that children under the age of three should not be placed in institutions and that Montenegro should encourage the further development of foster care and adoption of children.
"The placement in a family of every child who does not have adequate parental care and is younger than three years old should be an urgent national priority," she said. Oana Cristina Popa, ambassador of the European Union in Montenegro.
It was also announced that the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare is working on the development of the first Deinstitutionalization Strategy, the goal of which is to replace the placement of children in institutions with family care.
Bonus video:
