Me and My Family Together

Bistrita, Romania (Romanian NGO Inocenti, parent NGO Romanian Children’s Relief, Southboro, MA)

Beneficiaries:
Abandoned children, many with special needs, who have transitioned from orphanages and hospitals into foster and adoptive families.

Working in close collaboration with the Bistrita-Nasaud Department for Child Protection (DPC), the Me and My Family Together program provided support services to assist in the transition of institutionalized children from orphanages and hospitals into local foster or adoptive homes. Today, with the closure of many orphanages, Me and My Family Together continues to work closely with the County Social Services Department, focusing on children with special needs. With an early literacy program, play therapy, plus foster parent support and training, the program 1) reduces developmental delays caused by institutionalization and/or special needs, and 2) prevents disruptions in both natural families and foster families.

The local orphanage has been converted into a "family complex" that serves single mothers and infants, in addition to infants and toddlers with special needs---those who are difficult to place in foster families. 38 children with severe special needs have been transitioned from a hospital for children with disabilities into group and foster homes. These children - now in loving foster homes and group homes with attentive caregivers - receive physical and occupational therapy that has resulted in remarkable developmental gains. More natural families now receive the support they need from trained outreach workers to keep their children with disabilities at home, in school, and out of institutions.

The County Department for Child Protection received a Best Practice award in the category Short Term Foster Care in a national competition sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development and ProChild. The Me & My Family Together program was acknowledged for its crucial role in fostering the successful integration of foster children into families and communities. Now, the Me & My Family Together program is acknowledged as a leader in improving conditions and promoting acceptance and support for children with special needs. The program sponsored Romania’s first Special Olympics and continues to bring desperately needed support and therapy to both foster and natural families of children with special needs.