Prevention of child abandonment at birth in Ungheni rayon
7/1/2006
—
3/31/2009
All objectives were achieved
The project purpose
The ultimate aim of this project was the prevention of early child abandonment and the preservation of the family. EveryChild Moldova strengthened the capacity of Ungheni local authorities to support children at risk to be abandoned at birth and their families by establishing a Prevention of Child Abandonment at Birth Service. The programme was carried out in three stages:
- Preventing the abandonment of new-born babies and their placement in baby homes within the Ungheni Maternity and Children’s Hospital;
- Developing foster care service for placing young parents and babies together, enabling them to build attachment;
- Establishing supported accommodation in order to provide short-term social support for mothers, enabling them to improve life skills and parenting skills.
Result
All these objectives were achieved through investing in capacity building of medical staff and specialists from the Social assistance Department to work with new-born babies and their parents built; setting up clear rayon – referral mechanism for abandonment cases and developing a sustainable community-based residential service, to support mothers with babies during the after-birth. The staff of the Parent and Baby Unit and the services they provided has been incorporated methodologically and financially in a Centre for Social Assistance to Children and Families, subordinated to the Unit for Social Assistance and Family Protection. It is worth mentioning that a qualitative study was performed within the project, in order to identify the causes of child abandonment at birth and what interventions the community and the local and central public authorities should make. The services were developed and advocacy work was done according to the findings of the research.