By Liz Lightfoot, PhD

The following blog is part five of a five-part series providing an overview of the history of institutionalization of children in Romania and its effects on children both in Romania and on those adopted in the United States. We’re pleased to have guest blogger and School of Social Work faculty member Elizabeth Lightfoot who is currently participating in a Fulbright scholarship in Romania. She was joined by Young Ji Yoon, MSW, who conducted simultaneous research about adoption from Romania in the United States.

Want to learn more? Join us for a free webinar on June 25th, 2019. Dr. Lightfoot will host “History and current trends in institutionalization and inter-country adoption of Romanian children: Implications for child welfare practice in the USA” from Romania. Find out more details and / or register today.

Romanians and the rest of the world learned of the mass institutionalization of children thirty years ago, accompanied with no functioning child protection system and no oversight of international or domestic This blog will highlight some adoptions. The situation has improved considerably since then, however, there is still a long way to go. of the improvements, discuss the current situation, and introduce current reform efforts.

Improvements

Romania has made considerable improvements since the 1990s, when over 100,000 children were living in institutions. A child protection system was established in 2004, and there have been various improvements made to it since this time.  Of note, Romania banned institutionalization of children under age two in 2004, and recently extended this ban to include children under age seven.  The National Authority for the Protection of Children’s Rights and Adoption (ANPDCA) put forth the National Strategy for the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of the Child, 2014-2020, which included closing down all ‘old style’ residential institutions for children by 2020. It also included a variety of proposals to improve the child welfare system, such as an increased emphasis on prevention and establishment of transition services for teenagers living in out of home placement.

Likewise, the profession of social work, a key ingredient to child protection, has been re-established in Romania with the first “modern” social workers graduating from re-opened social work departments in 1994. There are now more than 5,000 social workers in Romania, and child welfare is by far the most common field of practice.

While Romania once had a problem with corrupt adoptions, this virtually ceased upon closing of international adoption in 2004.

Romania has also adopted some adoption laws than are more child-centered than are typical in the United States. For example, since 2012 Romania has a regulation that requires adoptive parents to disclose the adoption to their children. In other words, adoptive parents are legally required to tell their children that they are adopted.

Current Situation

Despite the improvements, there are still far too many children living in out of home placement and in institutions. As of 2018, there were about 55,000 children in out of home placement – about 1.3% of the population of children under the age of 18.  Of these, nearly 18,000 were living in institutions. On average, children remain in the child protection system for 7.5 years in Romania, with many remaining in the system until age 18.  A recent study by the World Bank, ANPDCA and UNICEF (2016), found that 20% of older teens who were in out of home placement had spent their entire lives in the system, and 33% had spent 90% of their lives in the system.

Domestic adoptions have increased considerably since 2004. However, the adoption system is complicated. As appropriate, the first priority is to re-integrate children with their extended family. If this is not possible, the state must declare a child “adoptable”. This entire process currently lasts a minimum of two years and nine months but can last considerably longer.  In 2017, there were 3,257 children declared adoptable, but only 1,251 who were adopted.

Children in Romania involved with the child protection system can also be declared “hard to adopt”, which means either they are older, have a disability, are part of a sibling group, are a member of a certain ethnic group, or have been on the adoption list for more than 9 months. In 2017, only 257 of the 1,251 children adopted were designated as “hard to adopt”. As in the United States, in Romania, most adoptive parents adopt children under age 7 (85.5%), while over 90% of children living in institutions are over age 7.

International adoption is currently limited to families in which at least one of the parents has Romanian citizenship or is a relative of the child up to the fourth degree of consanguinity (e.g. first cousin once removed or great-grandparent). There are a limited number of agencies authorized to handle international adoption in the United States.  Since 2005, less than 20 Romanian children have been adopted by residents of the United States.

Opening Inter-country Adoption for “Hard to Adopt” Children?

There is a current proposal to open inter-country adoption back up in Romania, but to limit it to “hard to adopt” children.  This is part of a larger proposal to update the child welfare system, which also involves prevention and transition services. The adoption part of the proposal would still give priority to Romanian citizens and would provide additional financial incentives for Romanian families to adopt children with a “hard to adopt” designation. However, potential international adopters would also be able to adopt “hard to adopt” children with some safeguards put into place. One safeguard is the requirement of regular home visits three times a year for two years after the adoption is finalized, including reports transmitted back to the child protection system in Romania.  If this law is passed, it is conceivable that there will be a new wave of Romanian children adopted by families in the United States, though most of these children would be older children and/or children with disabilities.

This proposal is currently under consideration at the Romanian Parliament, and a debate was recently held on this proposal on June 10, 2019, which received considerable media attention. If this law is passed, inter-country adoptions of Romanian children by adoptive parents in the United States could begin as soon as 2020.

Suggested Citation: Lightfoot, E. (2019, June 18). Improvements in the Romanian child protection system and current proposals for re-opening inter-country adoption [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://cascwoldsite.com/featured/improvements-in-the-romanian-child-protection-system-and-current-proposals-for-re-opening-inter-country-adoption-5-of-5/

Relevant Resources for Further Research:

Chircui, S. (2019, June 11). Adopţiile internaţionale ar putea fi redeschise. Ce preved amendamentele aduse proiectului Guvernului. Adevărul. https://adevarul.ro/news/societate/adoptiile-internationale-putea-redeschise-prevede-proiectul-modificare-legii-1_5cffbf27892c0bb0c6406ce5/index.html

DIGI24. (2019, June 11). Adopţiile internaţionale blocate în timpul guvernării Năstase ar putea fi redeschise. https://www.digi24.ro/stiri/actualitate/adoptiile-internationale-blocate-in-timpul-guvernarii-nastase-ar-putea-fi-redeschise-1145550

Postelnicu, V. (2019, June 14). Citeşte întreaga ştire: Proiect de lege privind redeschiderea adopţiilor internaţionale, depus în Parlament. Oana Bîzgan: În fiecare an, peste 10.000 de copii intră în sistemul de protecțieertatea. https://www.libertatea.ro/stiri/proiect-de-lege-privind-redeschiderea-adoptiilor-internationale-depus-in-parlament-oana-bizgan-in-fiecare-an-peste-10-000-de-copii-intra-in-sistemul-de-protectie-2666758

Romanian Ministry of Labor, Family, Social Protection and Elderly Persons. (2014). National Strategy for the Protection and Promotion of Children’s Rights 2014- 2020.  https://ec.europa.eu/migrant-integration/librarydoc/national-strategy-for-the-protection-and-promotion-of-childrens-rights-2014–2020

Stănculescu, M., Grigoraș, V., Marin, M., Iamandi-Cioinaru, C., Teșliuc, E., Blaj, G., Corad, B., Pop, V. & Trocea, A. (2016). România: Copiii din sistemul de protectie a copilului.  World Bank, Romanian National Authority for the Protection of Child’s Rights and Adoption & UNICEF. http://www.unicef.ro/wp-content/uploads/Copiii_din_sistemul_de_protectie_a_copilului.pdf