Georgia’s blitz of reuniting abandoned children with their families comes at a cost

Ioana Calinescu, Petrut Calinescu - The Black Sea

This article from The Black Sea covers the deinstitutionalization process of Georgia which began in 2009. At the time, institutions were shut-down and the government attempted to reunite children with their families.  Some families did not remember they had children.

The impetus of deinstitutionalization in Georgia began which its Rose Revolution in 2004, which led to the leadership of Saakashvilli. Tamta Golubiani was appointed head of the Child Protection Department.  Under her supervision, an action plan was developed.

Their efforts at deinstitutionalization were hampered by a Russian war with Georgia, and the plans were abandoned until 2009.  It was at that time USAID offered to send eight million dollars to renovate orphanages.  Health Minister Urushadze proposed the U.S. use those funds to instead build family-type housing.

Under the new program, families were offered support to take their children back. Children who were not returned home or placed in foster care would be placed in family style housing. Twenty-three orphanages were closed in fewer than four years.

This article discusses a shadow child-care system wherein on paper Georgia has almost eradicated institutional care, but in reality, it has 1,200 children in religious institutions.  Foster care accounts for 64% of children in the system. Street children are also invisible to the system.