This year, Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Petr Sumin has so far allotted 120 million RUR to buy homes for the region’s orphans. The spokesperson for the Governor reports there are currently over 16,000 orphans and children without any parental custody in the region. The existing law states that municipalities must make sure such a child gets to keep his or her home upon being sent to an orphanage; if a child does not have a home, he or she must be put on the special waiting list that has names of more than 5,600 children on it at the moment. Most of these children live in orphanages, with their guardians, or with adoptive parents. The greatest problem at the moment is finding homes for 1,500 children who have already left orphanages and are now living in dormitories. The region’s authorities have already allocated 316 million RUR (coming from the regional budget) for this over the course of three years; this has resulted in 754 young people getting a room, an apartment, or a house, with another 500 teenagers getting a place to live before the end of the year.

‘We always leave aside some money for homes for orphans when working on Chelyabinsk Region’s draft budget, and we intend to keep investing in this. It’s simply crucial for a child to have a place to live in after he or she leaves an orphanage. This means, among other things, that all the municipalities must take care of these children’s homes until they have come of age,’ Mr. Sumin said.