Couples who want to adopt Russian children should undergo special training in the basics of teaching, psychology and first aid, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said.
'High-quality training must be compulsory for the adoptive parents,' Putin said.
The classes should be required for both Russian and foreign couples, he said, adding that regional authorities should cover the costs incurred by Russian couples.
Russia and the US have signed an adoption deal that stipulates psychological testing of adoptive parents and requires them to use only accredited adoption agencies.
Adoption Initiative Conference 2022
2 years ago
3 comments:
This sounds very interesting and I am glad to know that there are guidelines in place now that will order psych testing. However, my question is why only in Russia? Or is this done in other countries? I know I have heard in the past and recently about the complications and neglect toward adoptees coming to the US from Russia.
Many countries in Europe require psych testing for parents as part of the home study process. This requirement comes from the "receiving" countries' end, regardless of child's country of origin.
Many agencies as part of the homestudy process already stipulate First Aid training for PAP's.
Sadly to me this seems more of a PR stunt than an actual step towards eliminating the statistically tiny, but nevertheless, unnnacceptable abuse of adoptive children at the hands of their parents.
We recently returned from Russia and underwent the scrutiny of such an exam by a psychologist as determined by the orphanage staff; the questions were leading, seemingly meaningless ( such as what did we have for breakfast 2 weeks ago?) and the conclusions drawn seemed vague and largely false. How could they assess us in just over an hour to determine if we are fit to be parents of a potentially high risk child?
Additionally it saddens me that the staff members working at these orphanages are not being mandated to have the same "extensive training"; the abuses we witnessed on these vulnerable children at their hands was more than disturbing. When we tried to report it and discuss it with our appointed "psychologist" we were threatened with having our adoption denied. We nevertheless have continued to advocate for those left behind.
Finally, in the end it would be a far better allocation of funds to add more staff, therapies, educational resources, etc. to these orphanages with the monies earmarked. The need in Russia is critical and I suspect few if any PAP's will be turned away since their funds are keeping these institutions literally afloat in many cases.
I applaud meaningful change; this just doesn't seem to meet that definition IMOP.
R.R.
Post a Comment