How to contact the guardianship and trusteeship authorities and is it possible to complain anonymously? Sample application

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Published: 08/17/2018

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According to the Family Code of the Russian Federation, parents and official guardians are obliged to provide the child with favorable conditions for his life and development. Monitoring compliance with these standards is carried out by the guardianship and trusteeship authority.

When guardianship comes to check the family
Grounds for appeal
Who has the right to apply
Responsibility for handling
Do guardianship authorities check anonymous requests?
The procedure for contacting the guardianship authorities
Terms of consideration
Procedure after receiving a complaint
Do guardianship authorities have the right to take children away because of calls from neighbors?
Parental Responsibility

If there are suspicions that a family is improperly fulfilling its responsibilities for caring for a child, civil and legal entities can contact the guardianship and trusteeship authorities (hereinafter referred to as the DCA) with a request to conduct an inspection of this family.

When guardianship comes to check the family

Guardianship authorities have the right to inspect the family in the following cases:

upon receipt of a complaint from a legal entity or individual regarding non-compliance with the interests of the child;
if the court opens a lawsuit against parents or guardians regarding the issue of raising children , representatives of the public educational institution are obliged to inspect the family to draw up a report on the living conditions of the child.

Employees must notify about their visit and coordinate it with the residents of the apartment, unless there is a court order to inspect the apartment.

Inadequate upbringing and child care

Inadequate upbringing can be parents’ misuse of their rights, untimely fulfillment of duties, formal exercise of rights and responsibilities, or their complete failure to fulfill them.

From the point of view of the law, improper upbringing and care of a child will be:

Finding the baby in conditions that do not completely meet sanitary standards;
The little person is not given proper supervision;
Lack of attention and care towards the child, as well as lack of proper care;
Preventing parents from allowing their child to attend educational institutions;
Presence of neglectful attitude towards children on the part of parents.

Grounds for appeal

To write an application to the guardianship authorities, the following grounds must exist:

unsatisfactory child care . External signs may include unkempt appearance, poor hygiene of children, the premises where they live, non-attendance or truancy from school, fasting, as well as alcohol abuse or drug addiction on the part of adults;
negligent attitude towards the safety of the child . The reason for the petition will be cases where a child is endangered in the absence of attention from adults;
violation of the child's rights to development . The behavior of parents who do not allow their children to enter educational institutions, do not allow them to communicate with peers and relatives, should also come to the attention of the authorized bodies;
lack of supervision from parents or guardians . Article 121 of the RF IC requires reporting cases of leaving a child without guardianship to the guardianship authorities. The reason may be the death of parents or guardians, their long-term absence, as well as refusal to pick up their ward from educational, medical and other organizations;
threat to life and health . Article 56 of the RF IC provides the child with the right to protect his life and interests. It is necessary to submit a request to inspect the housing premises if factors are identified that threaten the life and health of a minor, which come from the family or with the connivance of the family. External signs of physical or mental violence may include injuries received for no clear reason, nervous and aggressive behavior, and negative deviations in the psychological state.

How to write a statement or complaint correctly?

Rules for submitting a written appeal to the PLO:

indicate the child’s details (full name, age) and exact address;
describe in detail the circumstances that caused the appeal (the child is subjected to violence, abandoned or left without parental care, the mother or father is irresponsible in the responsibilities of raising or maintaining the child);
indicate how long the described circumstances occur (one-time, constantly, occasionally).

Expert opinion

Semyon Frolov

Lawyer. 7 years of experience. Specialization: family, inheritance, housing law.

The document may contain a request to conduct an inspection and protect the child (up to removal from the family), which is within the powers of the Guardianship Authority (Article 8 of the Federal Law of the Russian Federation “On Guardianship...”, Article 77 of the RF IC). Requests to bring to justice parents or other adults guilty of violating children's rights are useless, since initiating criminal or administrative proceedings, making a decision, holding them accountable are the powers of the internal affairs bodies, the prosecutor's office, the court, and not the guardianship.

If the father believes that the mother of joint children is spending child support incorrectly, or believes that the children should live with him, if the mother wants to limit visits to the father, since meetings with him are harmful to the children, such issues must be resolved independently (by concluding written agreements) or through the court .

The guardianship authority is not authorized to resolve intra-family issues. He can only check whether the child is in danger, whether he is not being abused, and whether the child's basic needs are met.

Also, the Guardianship Authority does not search for children. If the whereabouts of the child are unknown, contact the police.

How to correctly draw up an application or complaint to the PLO?

Please provide the following information in the document:

name of the OOP;
applicant details: full name, place of residence;
document title:
description of the circumstances that caused the appeal: information about the child (full name, age), place of residence, description of ongoing events, violations, attacks, abuses;
a request to conduct a check at the place of residence and protect children's rights;
date of;
signature.

What documents are needed?

The law does not require supporting documents to be attached to an application or complaint sent to the PLO. It is not even necessary to attach an identification document .

The guardianship authority is obliged to conduct an inspection regardless of the degree of reliability of the notification and the availability of evidence.

But if one of the parents sends a statement or complaint about failure to fulfill parental responsibilities or gross violations of the second parent, you must attach...

passport;
child's birth certificate;
certificate of marriage or divorce;
court decision or parental agreement (on the place of residence of the child after divorce, on meetings with the child).

The procedure for contacting the guardianship authorities

There are three ways to file a complaint with the guardianship authorities: submit the application in person at your place of residence, send a registered letter by Russian post, or make an anonymous phone call. In accordance with Art. 33 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, both an individual and a group of persons can submit a petition.

When drawing up an application, you must adhere to the basic requirements for paperwork:

the “header” indicates the address of the department, the applicant’s details;
the main part describes the situation and sets out the grounds for checking the premises . It is important to indicate the relationship between the applicant and the minor;
at the end of the application there is a request to take measures in the form of a family inspection;
The application may contain materials confirming the need to check the family . These can be documents (for example, a reference for a child from school), video and audio materials.

A sample application to the guardianship and trusteeship authorities about improper upbringing of a child can be downloaded from the link.

Writing a complaint

You can submit a complaint either in writing or electronically, using the official website of the guardianship and guardianship authorities. In this case, it will take up to 30 days to review the written/electronic appeal, and employees will have to respond to it in some way and conduct a check based on the appeal.

True, due to the length of the review, writing a complaint in writing or on the website is best used in cases where the situation is not critical, but, nevertheless, it requires appropriate intervention.

You can also contact the guardianship and guardianship authorities in person, but this scenario completely excludes anonymity as such. True, in critical situations this can be neglected.

Procedure after receiving a complaint

Within three days after submitting the application, authorized persons must verify all information provided in the document about inappropriate child care.

To identify violations, the following measures are taken: studying the attached materials, visiting the family, talking with people who may have information about this family.

Next, the PLO makes a decision on measures to be taken against parents or guardians. If necessary, parents are brought to criminal, administrative or civil liability: the PLO notifies the prosecutor's office about this, after which the case can be brought to court.

What happens after submitting an application?

Upon receiving a statement of cruelty or other unlawful treatment of a child, POiP employees are required to respond within 3 days. The head of the government agency appoints an unscheduled on-site inspection, during which living conditions, family relationships are studied, and all family members and the child himself are interviewed.

Based on the results of the visit, a certificate of inspection of living conditions is drawn up. If there is a violation, the case materials are sent to the prosecutor's office to bring the person to justice, then the issue is resolved in court.

A child can be registered with the IPD if he exhibits antisocial behavior. Parents will be required to report in accordance with the established procedure. If necessary, the school's social educator will be required to visit the family to complete reports.

As for the applicant, he receives a written response based on the results of the inspection within 30 days from the date of application.

Do guardianship authorities have the right to take children away because of calls from neighbors?

The procedure for depriving parental rights is described in Art. 70 of the “Family Code of the Russian Federation” dated December 29, 1995 No. 223-FZ. According to this regulatory act, this preventive measure is considered with the participation of the prosecutor and the PLO, and the court can make a decision.

Article 77 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation provides for one option for removing a child from a family without a court decision. The basis is “an immediate threat to life or health.” This wording does not have specific explanations, therefore, in practice, deprivation of parental rights is possible at the discretion of authorized persons.

But even in this case, the PLO must comply with three conditions: the act of removal must be signed by the head of the municipality, the prosecutor's office is notified within three days, and an application to the court for deprivation or restriction of parental rights is submitted within a week.

Results

The law not only allows, but obliges all citizens to notify the Guardianship Authorities of every case of violation of children's rights that has become known to them.

Important! Representatives of the Guardianship Authority, having received notification from citizens or officials about a violation of children's rights, and having carried out an inspection, are not required to subsequently report on the measures taken. The report drawn up based on the results of the family visit is sent to the child’s legal representatives (parents, guardians or trustees), and not to the “informant”.

Regardless of the form of appeal (oral or written, by telephone or Internet), representatives of the Guardianship Authority are obliged to conduct an inspection at the child’s place of residence within 3 days (Article 122 of the RF IC), and if the appeal contains information about a danger that threatens life and health child, a check must be carried out immediately.

During the inspection, measures must be taken to protect children's rights, up to the removal of the child from the family (Article 77 of the RF IC).

Expert opinion

Dmitry Nosikov

Lawyer. Specialization: family and housing law.

Unfortunately, there are often cases when false data and slander are sent for personal purposes. And subsequently, true and urgent reports of violence or abuse of a child are lost or go unnoticed.

If you doubt whether your notice or complaint against parents has been received, or whether measures have been taken to protect the child, seek legal support!
Our lawyers are ready to advise you free of charge on issues of protection from domestic violence or violation of children's rights. Attention!

Due to frequent changes in legislation, information sometimes becomes outdated faster than we can update it on the website.
All cases are very individual and depend on many factors. Basic information does not guarantee a solution to your specific problems.

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