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

Beneficiaries:
300 abandoned children 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 provides support services to assist in the transition of institutionalized children from orphanages and hospitals into local foster or adoptive homes. With an early literacy program, play therapy, plus foster parent support and training, the program 1) reduces developmental delays caused by institutionalization, and 2) prevents family placement disruptions.

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. Over 35 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 homes with attentive caregivers---receive physical and occupational therapy that has resulted in remarkable developmental gains.

The County Department for Child Protection received a Best Practice award in the category Short Term Foster Care in a 2003 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 in families and communities.