UCRN Position on the Discussion of the State of the Child Protection System and the Deinstitutionalization Reform

Today, a meeting of the Temporary Investigative Commission of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on the investigation of possible violations of children’s rights in the development and implementation of state policy in the field of child protection, social support for families with children, the development of family-based care and adoption will take place. The Commission will also review the results of the activities of the Coordination Centre for the Development of Family-Based Care and Child Care and analyze the current situation in the child protection sector.

The Ukrainian Child Rights Network (UCRN) recognizes the existence of systemic challenges within the child protection system. The issues raised by the Temporary Investigative Commission regarding the quality of services, support for family-based care, workforce capacity, interagency cooperation, and the effectiveness of certain management decisions are real and require an appropriate response from the state.

At the same time, we emphasize that the responsibility of the state extends beyond responding to crisis situations. It includes building a system capable of ensuring that every child can exercise their rights in practice — the right to a family environment, safety, education, development, and full participation in community life. This is why reforming the child care and support system requires consistent, high-quality, and professional implementation, adequate resources, and effective coordination among all authorities responsible for child protection. It is essential that the system be focused not only on responding to existing crises but also on identifying risks early, providing timely intervention, and supporting families before difficult life circumstances escalate and place children at risk of losing family care.

We believe that the safety, well-being, and best interests of every child must remain an unconditional priority of state policy. The transformation of the system should be accompanied by additional efforts to ensure the quality of decisions, support for families, and the prevention of harm to children.

The child protection sector in Ukraine is highly complex in terms of governance and accountability. Several central government authorities influence the development and implementation of state policy in this area. Under such circumstances, effective coordination among all levels and institutions of government is critical to ensuring children’s safety and the quality of decisions made concerning them.

For this reason, challenges within the child protection system cannot be viewed solely through the activities of a single institution or individual officials. They demonstrate the need for substantial investment in the system, strengthening the capacity of the entire child protection governance framework, ensuring a clear distribution of powers and responsibilities, providing professional staffing, and maintaining coherence and consistency in state policy at all levels.

The deinstitutionalization reform is a complex and long-term transformation of this system. Even under stable conditions, such changes take decades. The reform is not only about transforming institutions but about building a comprehensive support system for children and families. This includes developing community-based social services, supporting families in crisis, ensuring access to education and healthcare, expanding family-based care, training professionals, and establishing and maintaining effective interagency coordination.

In this context, the Coordination Centre for the Development of Family-Based Care and Child Care plays an important role in facilitating cross-sectoral cooperation and supporting the implementation of the reform. Its activities, like those of any public institution, can and should be subject to analysis, evaluation, and improvement. At the same time, it is critically important that such analysis be constructive, professional, and aimed at strengthening the child protection system rather than creating political confrontation or dismantling reforms that have already begun.

It is dangerous to assess the reform solely through isolated crises or short-term results. If the reform is implemented without sufficient planning, resources, and support, it creates risks for children. However, the response to these risks should not be a return to institutional care but rather strengthening the quality of reform implementation and the state’s capacity to deliver it.

The institutional care system cannot be viewed as an alternative or a “safe way back.” Many years of experience in Ukraine and other countries demonstrate that institutional care does not provide children with the conditions necessary for healthy development or individualized support. Instead, it creates conditions for serious violations of children’s rights. This is why international standards and Ukrainian state policy prioritize a child’s right to grow up in a family or family-like environment.

Particular concern arises from the insufficient development of family-based care. The number of family-based care arrangements that cease operating exceeds the number of newly established ones, while the number of children in foster families, family-type children’s homes, and guardianship care is declining. This trend is largely driven by a combination of objective factors and requires in-depth analysis.

The active development of foster families and family-type children’s homes in Ukraine began in 2006–2010, and many of these families have already fulfilled their mission by raising children and preparing them for independent adulthood. At the same time, recruiting a new generation of foster parents and family-type children’s home caregivers has become significantly more difficult due to general social and economic instability, loss of housing and employment, forced displacement of many families, and a high level of emotional exhaustion within society.

This situation does not indicate that family-based care itself is ineffective. On the contrary, it demonstrates the need for stronger support for families who take on the responsibility of raising children, as well as the need for the state to create conditions that provide such families with the stability, resources, and confidence necessary to fulfill this role. Family-based care cannot be sustainable without adequate financial support, professional social support services, access to quality services, crisis intervention mechanisms, trained professionals, and well-developed social infrastructure within communities.

The statistics showing an increase in criminal offences committed against children also require careful and balanced analysis. A significant proportion of violence against children remains undetected or never reaches the stage of criminal proceedings. Therefore, an increase in the number of recorded cases may indicate not only the existence of a problem but also improvements in detection, reporting, and response mechanisms, as well as growing trust in public institutions, including the police.

UCRN member organizations consistently advocate for ensuring that cases of violence against children are neither concealed nor ignored. Representatives of the network participate in interagency and prosecutorial coordination mechanisms at both national and regional levels and are also represented on the Expert Council under the Children’s Rights Commissioner within the Ombudsman’s Office, contributing to the strengthening of the system for responding to violations of children’s rights.

Today, Ukraine needs not a rollback of the deinstitutionalization reform but its strengthening through investment in families and communities, the development of social services, support for professionals, reinforcement of family-based care, improvement of decision-making quality, and stronger state accountability for implementation.

We believe that the child protection system today requires not a search for those to blame, but shared responsibility and the ability of state institutions to act in a coordinated manner. Parliament, the Government, central executive authorities, local self-government bodies, and specialized services must jointly take responsibility for shaping and implementing child protection policy — from legislative changes and financing to the practical implementation of decisions at the community level.

We call on state authorities, Members of Parliament, local self-government bodies, and all stakeholders involved in the process to refrain from decisions that could lead to the restoration or expansion of the institutional care system for children. Instead, collective efforts should focus on improving the implementation of the reform, ensuring its quality, and building a unified and coherent system in which the rights, safety, and best interests of every child remain at the centre.

The Temporary Investigative Commission has the opportunity to play an important role in improving state policy in the field of child protection, particularly by developing practical recommendations for addressing systemic challenges, strengthening interagency coordination, and enhancing the state’s capacity to ensure children’s rights in practice. Only through professional dialogue, a willingness to acknowledge challenges, respect for efforts already undertaken, and joint work on solutions can we build a system that truly places the child at its centre.