Abstract
Problem statement and purpose. Modern domestic society is characterized by a number of negative phenomena –impoverishment, unemployment, rising crime, mass labor migration both abroad and internally, related to the occupation of Crimea and hostilities in eastern Ukraine. All of them, directly or indirectly, cause disruption of the structure and functioning of the family, which, in turn, leads to an increase in the number of people such as orphans and children deprived of parental care.The system of social assistance and protection of this category of children combines both traditional and alternative forms of state care. Unfortunately, the reform of this system is too slow due to various reasons of social and economic, social and political and psychological and pedagogical nature. It is also worth noting that nowadays only the scientific basis for its functioning is being formed.Thus, Bader S., Bevz H., Vodyana O., Borysova V., Volynets L., Kobzar B., Komarova N., Ivanova I., Petrochko J., Kalibaba O., Makiychuk T., Orzhekhovska V., Pesh I., Piren M., Polyanychko A., Trubavina I. Turchyn O., Fedorova N., Kharkhan G., Chervonyy Yu. and others,studied the technologies of creation and organization of life of adoption and foster families, as well as children's homes (as alternative forms of state care), various aspects of stay and upbringing of children in such families.The content of social and pedagogical work in protection institutions and families where children are under protection is reflected in the works of domestic scientists: Bezpalko O., Hykava G., Zavgorodna T., Evdakh K., Ivanova A., Kapska A., Kurlyak I., Maksymova N., Naumenko T., Oleksyuk N., Pesh I., Sydorenko O., Chenbay I., Yurchenko T., Yaskal L., Yashchenko N. and others.Despite the wide and multifaceted scientific interest in this problem, the peculiarities of the formation and operation of alternative forms of care still remain unresolved.That is why the purpose of our study is to characterize the features of the functioning of alternative forms of care for orphans and children deprived of parental care and to determine the possibilities of their development.Research methods: to achieve this goal we used a set of methods: theoretical (conceptual and comparative analysis of philosophical, sociological, psychological and pedagogical, scientific and methodological and reference encyclopedic literature, regulatory and program documentation on research topics to clarify the content of basic concepts and study of the state of development of the researched problem in theory and practice); empirical (content analysis, questionnaires, pedagogical observation, study and generalization of independent characteristics and pedagogical experience, survey).Results. Based on the analysis of the scientific literature, the essence of the concepts "adoption", "custodianship/ care", "foster family", "family-type orphanage", "family patronage", "small group home", "deinstitutionalization" and "alternative care"is specified. Alternative forms of state protection of children as a social phenomenon are characterized, the relevance of deinstitutionalization and transformation of services for children is substantiated.
Highlights
Modern state social policy prioritizes the transition from a system of child care based on mass institutionalization to ensuring that children left without parental care have the right to be brought up in a family environment
Foster care–is the voluntary paid adoption by a family or an unmarried person of one to four children from establishments for orphans and children deprived of parental care for foster care and cohabitation[4].The purpose of foster care is to provide appropriate conditions for the growth of orphans and children deprived of parental care in the family environment by placing them in the family for upbringing and cohabitation
After establishing the status of an orphan or a child deprived of parental care, one of the family forms of upbringing is applied (adoption, establishment of custodianship, transfer to a foster family, FTO, small group home), and in case of impossibility or need in special services – temporary placement in a boarding school [4]. It is important for a social worker to understand the priority of choosing family forms of placement for orphans and children deprived of parental care in their best interests: adoption, custodianship, foster family, family-type orphanage, small group home or patronage [2]
Summary
Modern state social policy prioritizes the transition from a system of child care based on mass institutionalization to ensuring that children left without parental care have the right to be brought up in a family environment. As of the beginning of 2020, there were more than 700 orphanages in Ukraine for orphans and children deprived of parental care These institutions are under the jurisdiction of three ministries: the Ministry of Health (38 institutions where the youngest children live and are brought up), the Ministry of Social Policy (117 institutions for children with disabilities) and the largest number of boarding schools (563 institutions) and children within them - in the system of the Ministry of Education and Science [2]. According to the basic world standards qualitative educational influence on the child in the conditions of boarding school can be carried out when no more than 20-30 children are kept in it. Provision of boarding school students with clothes and shoes is only 60-70%.The administration of children's institutions is forced to solve the material needs of orphans and children deprived of parental care at the expense of sponsorship funds, which are not easy to obtain [6]
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