The level of children neglect and homelessness in Transcarpathia is decreasing

On Thursday, January 29, with the participation of the head of the Transcarpathian Regional Administration Vasyl Hubal, there was a meeting with the heads of services for children of DSAs and city executive committees, and heads of subordinate agencies. During the event, they summed up the work of the services over the last year and outlined future plans and objectives for 2015.

According to the head of the service for children of the Regional State Administration Svitlana Yakimelina, each year the level of children neglect and homelessness in the region significantly decreases.

  "Thus, while at the beginning of 2007, 214 children, who regularly run away from place of residence, were registered with services for children, at the beginning of 2010 this figure was 122 children, in 2015 – 22. The highest number of such children is registered in Svalyava (7), Vynogradiv (5) and Uzhgorod (4) districts. Those are mainly persons of Roma nationality" – Svitlana Yakimelina singled out.

          She also noted that the number of children living in families, where parents or persons in loco parentis neglect their responsibilities as parents, is decreasing. According to the Head of the Service for Children, at the beginning of this year, 783 children living in 319 such families were registered in the region, while two years ago – 1097 children were living in 468 such families.

            However, the number of parents deprived of parental rights does not decrease. Thus, during 2012, 107 persons were deprived of their parental rights in relation to 170 children, during 2013 – 118 parents in relation to 190 children, in 2014 – 89 parents in relation to 170 children. The highest number of such children is in Mukachevo district (40) and the city of Mukachevo (22).  

In this regard, Svitlana Yakimelina stressed that the situation in the country can contribute to the deterioration of the above statistics. She said that the worsening socio-economic situation could lead to an increase in the number of families who find themselves in difficult circumstances. Accordingly, the inadequate provision of social services for such families may cause termination of parental rights.

In order to be prepared for the challenges of today, after the meeting, the present experts held a seminar on changes in the current legislation concerning social and legal protection of children.