12 October, Vitebsk /Olga Bogacheva - BELTA/. 215 children have been adopted in the Vitebsk region over three years. This was announced today at a celebratory reception dedicated to Mother's Day by Vladimir Terentyev, Deputy Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, as reported by a BELTA correspondent. According to Vladimir Terentyev, active work is being carried out in the Vitebsk region to implement the right of children to live in a family. This year, 70.1% of newly identified children left without parental care have been placed in families. 64.6% of children in this category are being raised in family-based care. Positive changes have been achieved in the development of family-based care for children left without parental care. Currently, 1,231 children are being raised in 829 foster families in the region (in 2011, there were 801 families and 1,163 children). 124 children live in 17 family-type children's homes. Construction of family-type children's homes is underway in Braslav and Ushachi districts, with completion planned for December. The construction of such facilities in the region will continue in the future. The increase in the number of substitute families has led to a reduction in the number of children sent to children's homes and boarding schools: 215 children have been adopted in the Vitebsk region over the last three years. Thanks to the measures implemented in the country within the framework of Presidential Decree No. 18 of November 24, 2006, "On Additional Measures for State Protection of Children in Dysfunctional Families," a downward trend has emerged in the number of parents whose parental rights local authorities are forced to revoke. Alongside this, the problem of social orphanhood continues to be acute. "Our goal is to help every orphaned child find parents, obtain guardianship or a foster family," emphasized the Deputy Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee. Vladimir Terentyev also highlighted the enormous role of parents in shaping a child's personality. "The primary focus in the fight for upbringing and the preservation of morality and the purity of family relations should be the well-functioning family, the parental hearth, the example of a father and mother. After all, it is parents, primarily mothers, who are at the origins of the moral principles of a future citizen. The authorities, in turn, will continue to do everything possible to ensure favorable conditions for the life, work, and rest of a worthy mother, and to strengthen her status in society in every possible way," said the Deputy Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee.-0-

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