Romani children over-represented in institutional care
A report released by ERRC showed that Romani children are overrepresented in state institutional care. Despite the lack of state mechanisms of data collection, all statistics show a large representation of Romani children.
According to the report findings:
”There are a number of gaps in Romanian law and policy: there is no legal definition of child endangerment, although situations that may lead to the removal of parental rights are described. Clear methodological guidelines for assessing child endangerment are lacking, which may negatively impact Romani children and families.
Various factors contribute to the overrepresentation of Romani children in State care, including complex social and economic factors aggravated by ethnic discrimination and social exclusion of Roma. The most common factors are poverty-related, such as a lack of employment, inadequate housing and health care, household size, child abandonment in maternity wards and migration. There is also a dearth of preventative services at the community level and a lack of uniform implementation of such services across the regions. Standards applied in assessing the situation of parents are often unattainable for Romani parents; current preventative measures are not sufficient to help Romani families overcome entrenched poverty related factors. Research also revealed problems related to the realisation of procedural rights of Romani parents, such as the right to information prior to and during child protection proceedings, bias and a lack of legal representation.
In State care, some Romani children are subjected to physical abuse, ill-treatment and various forms of discrimination. They also experience discrimination in access to public services outside the institutions, such as education and health care. Discrimination may be experienced on multiple grounds, including their ethnicity and their status as an institutionalised child. There is a lack of programmes to develop and promote a positive ethnic identity among Romani children in State care, which may manifest in the denial of ethnic identity by many Romani children in State care, rejection of their families and negative feelings towards Roma in general.
There is also a lack of Romani professionals working in regional and local child protection services. Many prospective adoptive parents refuse to adopt Romani children. A significant number of Romani children in State care have been categorised as having a mental disability. Parents’ decisions to place such children in institutions are influenced by the diagnosis and by a lack of available services in rural areas.”
Source:
European Roma Rights Centre, Life sentence. Romani children in state care in Romania, 2011, p. 9, available at: http://www.errc.org/cms/upload/file/life-sentence-romani-children-in-state-care-in-romani-20-june-2011.pdf
