Only 3 percent of kids at children’s homes are orphans. 17 percent of children have a single parent and 80 percent have both of them. At the same time the percentage of kids returning to their biological families falls (currently it is between 25 and 30 percent). The efforts of social care institutions, children’s homes or District Centres for Family Support do not give expected effects. Employees of those institutions explain that they cannot get in touch with a half of the families at all (parents are avoiding contact or staying abroad). Other families show little inclination to cooperate. As a result, work with them is mainly on paper.
In these circumstances, the basic form of the state care of the children should be foster families which are a better pedagogical alternative than children’s homes. It is confirmed by the studies related to further life of kids staying there. However, despite the logic, the state gives more donations to traditional children’s homes. More natural family units receive PLN 1200 monthly per one child - children’s homes PLN 3200. Social workers alarm that there are fewer and fewer candidates for foster and adoption parents every year (e.g. in 2010 in Sosnowiec there was only one foster family and not a single new one was established). The state support is minimal and information campaigns encouraging people to take the efforts of foster parenthood are ineffective.
The main adoption problem in Poland is lengthiness of proceedings caused e.g. by: unregulated legal status of the kids. An absolute majority of the kids at children’s homes have both parents, whom the court did not take back the right to care. The average duration of the adoption proceedings is two and a half years but if it is essential to deprive the biological parents of parental power the proceedings take even up to eight years. As a consequence, there may be a pupil instead of an infant waiting for the adoption family. Some children’s homes, not to allow this, break the law and register children at the adoption centres even before their legal status is regulated.
Care and education centres (children’s homes) as well as rehabilitation centres (education centres) are overcrowded. Apart from the space-related problems there are some irregularities in referring children to those institutions. The audit showed that there is an informal agreement between some Courts of Protection and District Centres for Family Support. Some courts, passing judgements, intentionally do not decide what type of institution the child should go to. As a consequence, the final decision is taken independently by child care centres’ employees who first of all consider the capacity of districts. It happens that children’s homes admit underage criminals who should be transferred to a typical rehabilitation centre. It negatively affects other children. Only 3 out of 28 audited institutions did not report any acts of vandalism, aggression or violence requiring the police intervention. At the same time sluggishness of the courts in moving perpetrators of such incidents to relevant institutions makes the kids think they can go unpunished.
A great majority of audited institutions responsible for child care did not have full knowledge of the children staying there. In all child care centres huge gaps in the files were identified. The institutions whose mission is to solve social problems do not cooperate with one another. The lack of information flow or willingness to cooperate make the complicated position of the kids even more difficult. On the other hand, the auditees reported enormous difficulties in cooperation with the courts. According to them, the courts conduct the children’s legal proceedings lazily, provide the files unwillingly, often do not communicate the dates of trials, and even fail to send the files related to adoption. This is e.g. what happens in case of adoption centres, which the courts do not recognise as a party to the proceedings.
On 1 January (already after the audit finished) a new Foster Care Act came into force. It is to enhance the state care of the children and families in need.
