According to the Government of the Russian Federation, in 2019 about 51% of large families are below the poverty line.

“The main problem of large families, however, and small ones, too, is the lack of time and money. The most optimistic scenario: parents have time to work with their children, but do not have enough money to support them, or vice versa, the family has money, but there is no time, because parents work all the time. Not all parents have enough resources to provide high-quality education and nutrition for their children by modern standards. The modern world is not designed for large families. I would like our state to pay attention to large families. After all, the growth of well-off and educated youth in Russia is necessary for the state itself.”

Sergey Mashaev, chairman of the public organization for the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of large families “Large Family” (Mari El Republic)

As of May 2020, more than 44,000 children are waiting for their family, according to the Federal data bank..

“Only 5% of orphaned children actually lost their blood parents, all the rest were sent to state institutions after suffering violence, abuse, and neglect of their needs in the family. Taking a child to the orphanage is an extreme measure of his/her life. Substitute parents should understand that their adopted child has suffered a serious injury at some stage in their life. Children in this category often lag behind their peers in psychophysical development, as well as adhere to negative behaviors. When we work with foster parents, we explain to them that they must understand the problems that their child has had to face, give them time and surround them with care and attention so that they can trust their new parents and adapt to life.”

Takhir Mirdzhaparov, chairman of the Association of substitute families of Chuvashia, director of the Charity fund for support of orphaned children “Hope”. (Republic of Chuvashia)

According to the Federal register of people with disabilities, in the fall of 2019, there were almost 700 thousand children with disabilities in Russia.

“Our organization is approached by parents who raise children with disabilities. It is very difficult to help children with mental disabilities (autism, intellectual disability). Such children are diagnosed only a few years after their parents first contact them. This means that the most important years of rehabilitation and treatment are being missed. Then it is almost impossible for such children to get into educational institutions, because there is no accessible environment where specially trained teachers work on special educational programs.

After adulthood, the most difficult part of life begins for children with mental disabilities: diagnoses are removed from them without explanation; there are no labor workshops, training apartments, or available assistance from social protection institutions. There are only psychoneurological boarding schools, but there are no proper conditions in which people with autism and other mental disorders can live comfortably. In Russia, there are specific examples of systematic assistance to people with mental disorders, but even there they were created due to the superhuman efforts of parents.”

Aleхandra Alekseeva, head of the public organization “Child with future” (Republic of Mari El)

In 2019, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia identified about 38,000 juvenile offenders.

“Children who are usually called “difficult” come to our center. We call them “misunderstood”. These are guys who were not heard, who were not paid attention to, whose words and needs were not given any importance. They do not manage to establish relationships with their peers, parents, and teachers. This is the beginning of all childhood and adolescent problems, which then lead to aggression, communication difficulties, conflicts and deviant behavior. Adults are also not always ready for dialogue. They often perceive teenagers as confrontational and aggressive, although in reality they are trying to defend their personal boundaries and talk to adults on an equal footing. At the center, we teach children dialogue skills, give them tools to deal with negative emotions, and explain how to conduct non-violent communication with peers, parents, and teachers.”

Svetlana Kozlova, head of the Charity fund of the target economic system of social protection “Protection” (Perm region)

According to a study by the NAFI Analytical center, about 50% of mothers who raise children alone are forced to take out loans regularly. In 2020, the unemployment rate in Russia increased due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to the Ministry of labor of Russia , the number of people left without work reached 1.6 million people.

“Unfortunately, we do not have a single standard of living in our country, and comprehensive measures to prevent poverty in the Russian Federation have not yet been developed. But now both society and the state are trying to rebuild algorithms for helping and supporting families. We need to work directly with the family, and not with the consequences - with social orphanhood. We need an intermediary - a social worker who will work directly with the crisis family and help them reach the appropriate level. Now the work of the guardianship authorities is reduced to the fact that parents who have faced financial, psychological, domestic and other difficulties are offered to give the child to an orphanage for a while. It is easy to take children from the family, but it is very difficult to return them. Placement of children in boarding schools should become unacceptable for society. We need to improve the skills of the majority of NGOs and foundations in Russia, because public officials do not have the skills and resources to solve strategic problems. We should work not only with legislation, but also with citizens. If we activate a civil resource, no child will be abandoned and forgotten.”

Alexander Gezalov, head of the mentoring center, member of the Council of the Ministry of education of the Russian Federation on orphans and children left without care.

According to data of the Russian consumer protection agency Rospotrebnadzor for 2019, in 13 regions of Russia, more than 1% of residents are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus. In 2018, the center for fighting AIDS at Rospotrebnadzor estimatedthat there are more than 1 million people diagnosed with HIV in Russia.

“Women often come to our organization with questions about accepting a diagnosis and preventing HIV transmission during pregnancy. Sometimes women with HIV refuse therapy and do not give preventative drugs to children. There are many factors that influence this decision: social unadjustment of women; lack of knowledge and misconceptions that HIV infection does not exist; fear of facing discrimination at the doctor's office.

Information about state and public assistance is especially relevant for mothers with many children and single mothers. Consultants tell them about the working offices in the city with assistance and free services.

We strive to help women at the time of adoption of the diagnosis, so that in the event that the care of the baby will block all the entrances and exits, she could dial our phone number and say, "I feel bad, I'm tired, I don't want to take pills any more, I don't have anyone to leave a child." We help them find a way out of the emotional and social dead end.”

Natalia Sukhova, project coordinator of the Association “E.V.A.”(Saint Petersburg)