Removing a child from the family as a measure to protect the child from abuse

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There are unimaginable legends about the activities of specialists from guardianship departments in the Russian Federation. Rumor has it that a specialist can come to any home and pick up a child at his discretion. They do not require a reason for withdrawal. After which, the children are sold to families who want to adopt the child. However, the law strictly regulates the activities of guardianship departments. In 2021, Russian legislation does not contain signs of juvenile justice adopted in European countries. Let's look at the reasons why a child may be removed from the family by guardianship authorities and how parents should react.

Grounds for removing a child from the family

In 2021, the Family Code provides for the following reasons for removing a child from the family:

1. The mother and father are deprived of parental rights (Article 69 of the RF IC). The seizure procedure can be carried out only after the court decision has entered into legal force. The decision is executed by bailiffs. Often, together with bailiffs, specialists from the district guardianship department at the place of residence of the minor are present. Additionally, employees of the district police department may be involved. If a court decision is being executed in relation to a child under 3 years of age, medical workers may be present.
2. Mother and father have limited parental rights (Article 73 of the RF IC). The withdrawal procedure is identical to the situation with deprivation of rights.
3. The mother or father poses a direct threat to the life or health of a minor (Article 77 of the RF IC). The seizure is carried out on the basis of an order from the district administration. The procedure can be carried out exclusively in relation to the blood mother and father. Confiscation cannot be carried out from grandparents, guardians or other legal representatives.

Example . In late autumn, the child welfare department received a signal that children were crying for a long time in the house of single mother Elena. Specialists left for an examination. When visiting the family, it was discovered that the woman was intoxicated. Her 2-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son are closed on the loggia. Since the weather was cold outside, there was a clear threat to the life and health of the children. The minors were sent to the hospital for examination. After which, they were redirected to a shelter.

As can be seen from the example, Art. 77 of the RF IC is used as a last resort. If specialists had not intervened, the children could have died.

Example .
After purchasing an apartment in a new building, the Perov family began making renovations. Due to the noisy work, a conflict arose with neighbors. A neighbor reported to the child welfare department that the Perovs were cruelly treating their 4-year-old daughter. The specialists left at the signal. During the visit, it turned out that the family had just moved, they had food for the child, a place for their daughter to sleep, and seasonal clothing. The child did not appear malnourished or beaten. The girl attended kindergarten. The teachers had no complaints against the parents. The neighbor repeatedly sent complaints to the guardianship department, but there were no grounds for removing the child.

Why will children be selected?

The concept proposed by Mizulina involves excluding living conditions from the list of possible reasons for taking away a child - empty refrigerators and lack of toys.

“Police officers are obliged, if there are people in the home, to first inform them about why they came,” Mizulina explained. “And now they will not have the right to carry out any inspection of living conditions or collection of evidence of the parents’ guilt.

She emphasizes the right of parents to “the presumption of good faith in the exercise of parental rights.”

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Photo: TASS/Evgeny Epanchintsev

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However, as Elena Alshanskaya, president of the Volunteers to Help Orphans Foundation, emphasized in a conversation with Izvestia, with the approach proposed by Mizulina, it will be necessary to clearly state in the legislation all the grounds on which a child can be selected. And here difficulties may arise, since it is impossible to register all the reasons. All experts agree on this.

“It turns out that the proposed amendments, as far as one can judge, are aimed at narrowing the limits of discretion of the guardianship authorities, at protecting families from interference until the parents are brought to criminal responsibility,” a lawyer from the legal group of a regional charitable public organization explained to Izvestia. Center for Curative Pedagogy" Pavel Kantor. — Similar proposals were previously made and received negative opinions from relevant departments and the expert community. The reason is quite clear - unfortunately, the interests of children often require intervention when criminal acts have not been committed or have not yet been committed. Otherwise it may be too late.

He emphasizes that it is impossible to formally describe all possible reasons and reasons for intervention in families; accordingly, guardianship authorities or other government bodies must have wide margins of discretion, which at the same time inevitably entails risks of abuse.

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However, some things can be prescribed in regulations, experts say.

“It’s impossible to write down all the reasons,” agrees Alexandra Marova. “But there must be a tool that allows you to assess the risks and safety of the child. We have implemented such a tool in a number of regions, and it is being used well. There are a number of criteria and a description of how to evaluate them. For example, in the case when a child is very small, there is one level of risk, when a teenager there is another, and so on.

Elvira Garifulina believes that methodological recommendations enshrined in legislation would help in this situation. However, what needs to be taken into account is not the level of pollution in the apartment, but the attachment between the child and the parents, how comfortable the child is, and whether they pay attention to him.

“In this way, we will move away from external attributes into a meaningful plane, which we can rely on in order to strengthen the strengths of the family, and not look only at the weak ones,” she says. — This is something that has not yet been sufficiently worked out in the legislation. Including in the legislation proposed by Mizulina.

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Photo: TASS/Vladimir Smirnov

According to Garifulina, without clear guidelines to work with, it is difficult for specialists to navigate - in this sense, legislation should help make competent decisions.

“We have become afraid to make decisions regarding the situation with the child, because “it’s going to happen anyway - it’s better not to do anything,” she says.

The selection process itself is a very cruel procedure for a child, and it is important that the right tools are used, Garifulina believes.

“With us this procedure becomes very formal,” she says. “And even in the police there must be people who must professionally improve their skills on these subtle points: how to behave correctly with a child, what to say to him in such moments. They go to extremes - they lisp, make up fairy tales, but do not explain where the child is being taken.

Where do child guardianship authorities take children?

The place where the child is placed directly depends on the grounds for removal:

1. When parents are deprived or restricted of parental rights . The child is placed in a specialized organization. Depending on age or health status, this may be a family center (orphanage), boarding school, orphanage, or boarding home. The minor is placed under supervision as one without parental care.
2. In case of selection . If a parent has managed to harm the child’s health (injury, frostbite, hypothermia), then the child is placed in the children’s ward of the nearest hospital. If there are no injuries, the minor is sent to a rehabilitation center (shelter).

A child cannot be handed over to relatives just like that. In case of deprivation/restriction of rights, it is possible to obtain permanent (if a full package of documents is available) or preliminary (if there is a passport and a positive examination report) guardianship.

If a minor is seized under Art. 77 of the RF IC, then it cannot be transferred to relatives immediately. First, specialists must visit their housing and check the conditions.

Important! Relatives who live together with the mother and father cannot be guardians.

Family council: how the courts return and do not return children

Case one: last resort

Circumstances of the case. In a family from Omsk, the stepfather cruelly punished his stepson: for four years, the boy was forced to kneel on buckwheat for the slightest offense.
This happened so often and lasted so long that the cereal grew into the skin and could only be removed with the help of surgeons. The boy's mother knew about what was happening all the time, but did not stand up for her son. The torture only stopped in December 2021, when an eight-year-old child managed to escape to a neighbor and ask for protection. Criminal cases were opened against the boy’s stepfather and mother under Article 117 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Torture”, Article 112 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Intentional infliction of moderate harm to health” and under Article 156 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Failure to fulfill obligations to raise a minor.” During the investigation, the stepfather was under arrest, and the child was temporarily taken to a boarding school, where he lived with his mother for two months before the sentencing. As a result, the court deprived the woman of her freedom for a year and a half, while her partner was sentenced to 4.5 years in a general regime colony.

What do the experts say? According to Andrey Novikov, associate professor of the department of civil law at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg State University, the fact that the boy lived with his mother during the investigation and before the sentencing confirms that in Russia, deprivation of parental rights is an extreme measure, and the courts adhere to the policy of preserving the family.

“In this case, the boy was given to his mother, most likely for the reason that she, unlike her partner, does not pose a threat to the child’s life. This was apparently confirmed by the guardianship authorities, the school and the doctor. Even if there are some contraindications, we adhere to the principle of preserving the opportunity to raise a child in a family. But we must not forget that our courts have a female face. Judges in most cases are married women with children, and they tend to deal with these issues very carefully,” explains the specialist.

In some cases, the desire to preserve the family also means a reluctance to create alternative educational conditions for the child in which he would not be subjected to violence. This state of affairs is often explained by the fact that in Russia there are already enough children left without parental care.

“We have almost 50 thousand children who are officially in the bank for adoption. For them, orphanages are only a temporary measure according to the law, but in practice it becomes permanent. Many children are forced to live there until adulthood, especially given the many restrictions placed on adoption. Of course, in order not to multiply such children in orphanages, the courts try to do this: if there is at least one family member who does not pose a threat to the minor, the child is usually left with him,” says Pen & Paper partner, practice manager special assignments Ekaterina Tyagay.

However, the policy of preserving the family is contradicted by another decision of the state authorities - after the verdict, the guardianship authorities filed a lawsuit to deprive the mother of the injured boy of parental rights. This action, according to the head of the Minchenkov and Partners legal bureau Vasily Minchenkov, refutes the current trend.

“I think that the guardianship here had no desire to reunite the son and mother; the guardianship authorities were simply looking at what would happen in the criminal case. When the verdict was announced, a lawsuit was filed for deprivation of rights, because in our country the commission of a crime, cruel treatment of a child, is a basis expressly specified in the law for deprivation of parental rights. So I wouldn’t say that there is a trend towards preserving families. The courts each time proceed from specific circumstances. And if the child is in danger to one degree or another, then the interests of the minor are a priority here, and not the desire to leave relatives to live together in the same living space,” explains the lawyer.

Vasily Minchenkov emphasizes that each case is individual, and the law does not have a clear line - in which cases parental rights are deprived and in which they are not. According to Article 69 of the Family Code, the court may act at its discretion, taking into account all the circumstances of the case.

Case two: daughter versus mother

Circumstances of the case. An unusual case is being considered in the Moscow region, where a 15-year-old girl is trying to deprive her own mother of parental rights. According to the teenager, her parent constantly beats her. In 2021, after a school medical examination, the Investigative Committee even opened a criminal case under the article “Beatings”, but as a result it was closed. According to the girl, her mother forced her to change her testimony. Since then, according to the girl, she tried to persuade herself to endure until adulthood, but in the fall of 2019 she could not stand it and, after another beating, she turned to the guardianship and trusteeship authorities. Now the minor lives in a social rehabilitation center and is waiting for the court to decide whether or not to deprive her mother of parental rights.

What do the experts say? In such situations, according to Andrei Novikov, the main problem is to prove the need for such a measure. By law, any child can contact the guardianship authorities, law enforcement or supervisory authorities, or ask for help at school. However, here the question of faith in the child’s words arises: is he not embellishing the situation, is he trying to “teach a lesson” to the parents after an ordinary quarrel. The guardianship authorities must establish all the details - they are the ones who make conclusions that can then be appealed in court

“If a child shows bruises and is afraid to go to his parents, he should definitely be provided with protection and a temporary place of stay. If the minor is concerned about something else, he needs to be provided with medical assistance and be sure to indicate how and by whom the beatings were caused. This will be evidence in court when deciding to deprive parental rights. This is not a situation where a student had a fight with his parents and wanted to go live with his friend’s parents, for example. If the court does not confirm this girl's version, then she will have to return back to her mother. In this situation, she needs to involve a psychologist,” says Andrei Novikov.

He notes that if the court does not find reasons for depriving parental rights, then it will have no grounds to decide that the child should live separately from his parents. In this sense, according to the expert, there is a gap in Russian legislation.

“The child may not be beaten or even insulted, people simply have serious psychological incompatibility, and it is very difficult to live together. This often manifests itself especially in teenagers. Unfortunately, in our country there is no such thing that in such situations a teenager can live somewhere temporarily separately, like in a camp. Ours is different: we want him to live in a family,” says Andrei Novikov.

Ekaterina Tyagai emphasizes that the schoolgirl’s story is very revealing and draws a parallel with the sensational case of the Khachaturian sisters, who were systematically subjected to violence within the family, which was not known before the murder of their father.

“[Guardianship authorities] could have actually prevented the murder, stopped this monstrous violence, but they did nothing in relation to this family and girls. This is very similar to this example with a teenager from the Moscow region, when the child has been subjected to constant violence all his life, for 15 years. This cannot but be noticed first by a pediatrician, then by a kindergarten teacher, then by teachers in elementary school and high school, by social security and guardianship authorities. This means that they all showed a certain degree of detachment and indifference to the situation, which brought the child to the extreme of having to try to protect his rights in this way. The good thing is that the girl is already at the age when the courts are obliged to listen to the child’s opinion regarding who she should live with,” the specialist sums up.

Vasily Minchenkov also believes that this case is an example of improper performance of their duties by the guardianship and trusteeship authorities. The girl managed to draw attention to her problem only after contacting the regional children's ombudsman.

“The girl’s actions were correct: she contacted the guardianship authorities and sought support on social networks. As I understand, the guardianship did not react immediately, but only after the Commissioner for Children’s Rights and law enforcement agencies took up the matter. Only after this was legal action initiated. That is, here the child was the initiator of this procedure,” says the lawyer.

Vasily Minchenkov notes that any child can appeal to the guardianship authorities with a complaint about abuse in the family. In this case there are no age restrictions. After such a complaint, an investigation must be carried out, and if the minor’s story is confirmed, the case may go to court. Only in court proceedings, according to Article 57 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, the need to take into account the child’s opinion depends on his age. Thus, the judge can take into account the child’s opinion about his desire or unwillingness to live with his parents only after he turns 10 years old. Therefore, if we talk about a 15-year-old girl who does not want to live with her natural mother, then her opinion on this matter will be key.

Case three: life in the hospital

Circumstances of the case . Most often, when it comes to deprivation of parental rights, we mean dysfunctional families. An exception to the rule was the situation in Moscow, where a five-year-old girl has been living in a private clinic since birth. She does not see her family and only occasionally speak to her on the phone. The result is an ambiguous situation: on the one hand, the child lives in an expensive medical institution, where she is provided with all the necessary conditions. On the other hand, she does not know family life, because she is deprived of it.

The clinic's management declares that the child no longer needs medical support and can live with his relatives, but they refuse this. The girl's mother claimed that the girl was sick from birth, for this reason she should live under the supervision of doctors. However, the clinic doctors believe that the child is generally healthy and can live at home. During the trial, the court took the side of the medical institution and limited the girl’s parents’ parental rights.

What do the experts say? “It is obvious here that the harm to the child was not physical, but primarily psychological. The girl was cut off from the environment in which children of a similar age develop naturally. For 5 years she saw nothing around her except hospital walls. The child was constantly under psychological pressure, which he himself might not understand, but doctors, including child psychologists, parents and guardianship authorities, who, alas, very rarely show interest in financially prosperous families, should have been aware of this,” says Ekaterina Tyagai.

According to Andrei Novikov, paying for an expensive medical facility does not justify the fact that the girl was imprisoned within the walls of the clinic all her life. In fact, this is regulated by Article 69 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, which states that parents can be deprived of parental rights if they “refuse, without good reason, to take their child from a maternity hospital (department) or from another medical organization, educational organization, social service organization or from similar organizations."

“In this situation, I think the parents have no desire to raise their daughter in the family, to fulfill their parental responsibilities. We're talking about very rich people who think they can buy anyone and anything. But even if you have a lot of money and have placed your child in a different family, this is a reason to think about it. The girl's mother says she is in very poor health. The court must take this circumstance into account. On the other hand, a child has two parents, there is a father, he can take care of the child. In addition, we have diseases when people really cannot be under one roof, for example, an open form of tuberculosis, manic-depressive psychosis. That’s not what we’re talking about here, so I think that the child should live in a family,” says Andrei Novikov.

The specific behavior of parents who did not come to court and previously avoided the guardianship authorities deserves special attention. According to Vasily Minchenkov, this plays a big role during the trial. The degree of their involvement indicates their desire or unwillingness to raise a child.

“Based on information in open sources, the court made the right decision. Moreover, here we are not talking about deprivation, but about restriction of parental rights. Although everything could be more serious. In such a situation, the restriction is a temporary measure; it can be canceled if the parents change their behavior, take their daughter and begin to properly care for her. So this can be fixed,” explains the lawyer.

Despite the fact that deprivation or restriction of parental rights is considered a last resort, it has the opposite effect. True, only in cases where we are not talking about cruel treatment. In other situations, if adults prove to the court their readiness to take responsibility for a minor and the ability to provide him with everything he needs - from accommodation to education - the child can be returned to them.

“It all depends on the severity of the situation. In my practice, there are dysfunctional families where there is alcoholism, drug addiction, beatings, and homelessness. If the parents did not commit a serious act towards the child, and they show in court that they have changed their attitude towards the minor, for example, signed up for rehabilitation courses if they had bad habits, or improved their living conditions, this demonstrates their desire to improve. This behavior has a very good effect on the court. For example, if the issue of termination of parental rights in such circumstances is being decided, the judge may first issue a warning. That is, here it is important to show yourself correctly and not act as in the case of a child left in the hospital, when the parents did not even come to the meeting,” explains Vasily Minchenkov.

He notes that in such trials there is a place for emotions, and judges closely monitor the behavior of parents during hearings. If they have a chance to improve, then the decision will be lenient.

Is a new approach needed?

Experts have different views on the idea of ​​modernizing legislation in the field of protecting children's rights. Some believe that some standards really need to be improved, while others believe that changes should be approached very carefully.

“I am skeptical about tightening laws. Let's take the prosecution of parents - this leads to the fact that many doors in a child's life are closed. In the future he will not be hired to work either in the prosecutor's office or in the police. Even to government agencies, although there is no direct ban on the employment of such people. Therefore, criminal law measures against parents are an extreme case,” Andrei Novikov is sure.

On the other hand, he believes that in family and everyday life, it is worth more often involving non-profit organizations to provide psychological assistance, so that specialists can work targeted with problem families, giving them a chance to improve.

“Among the ways of development, I see legislative consolidation in court of the status of the children's ombudsman, strengthening of the institution of the Commissioner for Human Rights and profiling of mediation. It is necessary to solve these issues to a lesser extent by force, and to a greater extent to use informal methods, for example, involving psychologists. However, I don’t see the need to tighten the standards; we already have everything we need,” says the associate professor.

Vasily Minchenkov also opposes additional measures of legislative regulation of child-parent relations. He is confident that the laws are written correctly, but how the executive bodies adhere to them is another matter.

“Our Chapters 11 and 12 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, which regulate the rights of minor children and the rights and responsibilities of parents, are quite stable; they have been working effectively for many years in conjunction with other legal relations - administrative, criminal. By and large, I don’t see any additions that are urgently needed. The main thing here is not the norms of the law, but its implementers, who often play a decisive role. For example, as in the case of a girl from the Moscow region, when the guardianship authorities initially waved her off and did not take active steps to protect the rights of the child. That is, the legislative regulation is sufficient, the question is how it is applied,” the expert sums up.

According to Ekaterina Tyagay, a law against domestic violence could change judicial practice in such cases. According to the authors of the initiative, it will be preventive in nature and will help prevent cruelty within the family, including towards children.

“Opponents of this bill say that our legislation already has everything. However, the norms of criminal and administrative law, which everyone refers to, do not act preventively, but allow one to respond to an already accomplished fact of violence. As a lawyer who is daily faced with the need to protect the rights of victims of domestic violence - women, the elderly, and of course children - I consider it necessary to introduce a wide range of measures that allow for prevention, that is, to prevent such cases, and most importantly, to change society's attitude towards this problem, which should begin with its recognition. Of course, the bill will affect judicial practice regarding the restriction of parental rights, the reasons for which are most often domestic violence,” the specialist is sure.

Ekaterina Tyagay also notes that the most important thing in family and household issues is to focus on the implementation of laws that are designed to protect both children and adults. Indeed, often the problem lies in the fact that the relevant authorities do not respond in time to a cry for help.

How can I return it?

The return procedure depends on the reasons for withdrawal:

1. Upon deprivation of parental rights . The mother and father will need to go to court to restore parental rights (Article 72 of the RF IC). The law gives them the opportunity to initiate the process within 6 months. Otherwise, the child may be put up for adoption. The minor returns to the family after the court decision enters into legal force.
2. When parental rights are limited . The parent needs to initiate the process to cancel the restriction (Article 76 of the RF IC). If he does not submit an application to the court within 6 months, then the guardianship department is obliged to initiate a process to deprive him of his rights. If the parent proves correction in court, then after the court decision enters into force, the minor will be returned to the family.
3. When a child is removed under Art. 77 IC RF . Within 7 days, the guardianship department is obliged to initiate the process of depriving parental rights. The child can be taken away only after the claim has been considered. The court may consider the evidence insufficient and the child will be returned to the parents. And the mother or father will be given a warning.

Expert opinion

Stanislav Evseev

Lawyer. Experience 12 years. Specialization: civil, family, inheritance law.

Often, removal by the guardianship department is confused with placement in an organization under a police act. For example, a small child was walking alone on the street. He cannot explain who his parents are or where he lives. The baby will go to a rehabilitation center (shelter).

But the mother or father will be able to pick him up only after receiving the conclusion of the guardianship department. Parents must prove that they do not have psychological disorders, do not abuse alcohol or use drugs. When providing this information, the specialist issues an official document.

Example . Mary and Peter had a daughter, Camilla, 3 years old. Maria went to work. Peter stayed with his daughter. At noon he put the girl to bed and fell asleep with her. The girl woke up, opened the locks and went out into the yard. People passing through the courtyard of a high-rise building noticed a naked little girl playing in the sandbox without adult supervision. Citizens called the police. The child was taken to the shelter. Parents had to collect documents to prove the situation was accidental.

In most cases, citizens side with their parents. Few people think that the father’s careless behavior could lead to tragedy. The child could go out onto the roadway or repeat leaving the house in winter. One mistake could lead to tragedy. Therefore, experts determine whether the situation was accidental or whether parents constantly expose their children to danger.

Reasons why a child may be taken away

Article 77 of the RF IC states that guardianship authorities have the right to select children from disadvantaged families if there is a threat to their life. The following cases meet this criterion:

• no food;
• the child is not provided with the necessary medical care;
• parents suffer from alcoholism and drug addiction;
• living conditions do not meet generally accepted standards;
• the child is in constant danger.

Guardianship officials cannot monitor all families at once, so an important role is assigned to eyewitnesses of child abuse. After their application, an authorized person will visit the family to check living conditions and interview the baby.

Guardianship authorities can remove a child only on the basis of a certified document stating the reasons for this decision. In the future, he will be transferred to a special institution. If there are close relatives or people who want to take on parenting responsibilities, the guardianship authorities will approve guardianship or trusteeship.

Denial of the right to education

All children have the legal right to receive an education. It is enshrined in the constitution (Article 43):

• Children can and should receive a complete secondary education.
• The state guarantees free and accessible education (pre-school, secondary).
• On a competitive basis, any citizen of the Russian Federation has the opportunity to receive higher education completely free of charge.
• All children should receive secondary education. Parents, guardians or guardianship authorities are responsible for fulfilling this condition.
• The authorities of the Russian Federation support the accepted forms of education (full-time, part-time, part-time) and establish basic standards that determine the level of education.

The state does everything possible to ensure that the child receives the necessary knowledge, allocating funds from the budget and creating special programs for low-income families. The mother or father can only take the baby to school. If parents are unable or do not want to fulfill the responsibilities assigned to them, then a fine and even criminal liability may follow. The guardianship authorities have the right to take away the child for this offense, but initially there is usually a warning.

Violence

Recorded incidents of violence may become grounds for guardianship authorities to immediately remove the child. It is customary to divide this criterion into several forms:

Abuse causes a child to become withdrawn or overly aggressive. In the absence of action on the part of the guardianship authorities, there is a high probability of causing mental and physical injuries that have a negative impact on the child’s worldview.

Neglect of vital needs

It’s not news to anyone that parents must clothe, feed and monitor the hygiene and living conditions of their children. It is equally important to thoroughly examine your child every year, get vaccinated, and contact a pediatrician or therapist if signs of illness are detected.

Urgent intervention by the guardianship authorities is necessary if the child does not go to school, lags behind his peers in development and does not have the opportunity to dress warmly. In some dysfunctional families, children even die from hunger and cold because their parents stop looking after them. Such situations lead to dire consequences and therefore require urgent measures.

Non-participation in raising children

The main responsibility of parents is to educate their children. They must guide the child and provide him with shelter, food, medicine and the opportunity to develop physically and intellectually. Full provision occurs until adulthood. Guardianship authorities can take away a child for non-participation of parents in his upbringing or resort to certain sanctions:

• registration;
• regular visits by representatives of guardianship authorities;
• restriction or cancellation of paternal and maternal rights;
• condemnation in the media.

Why does the guardianship authority visit the family?

In accordance with Art. 122 of the RF IC, specialists from the guardianship department can visit any family actually living in the territory of their jurisdiction.

Reasons for checking

Important! If a child is admitted to a medical organization with an injury of any kind, the medical worker is obliged to notify the guardianship department. And specialists must check the housing and make a conversation with the parents within 3 days.

It is possible to remove a minor from the family in the event of an injury only if it was caused by the parents. The basis for seizure is the initiation of a criminal case.

What evidence should be collected for trial?

In all the described cases, in order to return the children, parents will need to prove that their behavior, lifestyle, attitude towards raising children or financial situation have changed significantly. To confirm these circumstances, you can use: - documents on the parents’ employment, the average amount of their earnings; — documents on registration at a medical institution, undergoing treatment for certain diseases (alcoholism, drug addiction); - characteristics from the place of residence, place of work or place of study, confirming the change in parental behavior. After presenting this evidence in court, the chances of satisfying the parents’ demands and returning the children are significantly increased.

Procedure for removing a child

It is believed that a specialist from the guardianship department can take a minor from his mother without any special reason.

In practice, the procedure should proceed as follows:

1. A report of abuse of a minor is received.
2. Specialists visit housing.
3. If there is evidence of ill-treatment, a removal order is issued.
4. The child is placed in a specialized organization.
5. 1 copy of the order is given to the parent, the second remains in the department.

3 factors for removing a child:

1. Personal presence of parents.
2. A real threat to the child.
3. Availability of an order.

The parents have no strength, the child has a guilt complex

“I don’t know of a single case where weak, infantile adults, some time after the removal of children, suddenly grew up, became strong, brave and resourceful, and took the children home. In my practice, none of the children removed from the orphanage returned to their families,” says Irina Garbuzenko. “Their relatives are alive, sometimes they call the children, often say nasty things to them, but in order to take them away, they don’t... For five or six years, a mother can call her child once every six months and tell her about the ups and downs in her life. And the child believes that she is calling for a reason, and that one day she will take him home. And when the mother says that she got married, the child will also be happy: he will think that now he will definitely take it. And when mom says that she has another child, our orphanage resident will be happy. Only she won't take him.

It happens that a mother reproaches her child for the years he lived in an orphanage, “warm and full with everything ready,” while it was hard for her. Standard reproach: “If you had not been born, dad would not have left us.” Such constructions cripple the child’s psyche and deprive him of the feeling that he has the right to exist in this world.

A mother who showed no intention of taking the child away from the orphanage may begin to blame him for betrayal if he agrees to go to a foster family.

It’s easier for a weak mother when the child is in an orphanage: she doesn’t have to earn money for him, he is fed and clothed. She may sincerely believe that “he is better off there.” After all, if she takes the child, they will not pay her any benefits for him, they will leave her to “flounder” as best she can, but she does not know how to do this, so she will not even be provided with food similar to that of the orphanage.

Often, parents in crisis not only do not have the strength to take care of the child - children find themselves in the role of “elders”, from the age of five they wash their mother’s clothes, then they themselves try to organize food, and then they begin to manage their parents - in communicating, for example, with government agencies.

“If the parents are weak, especially if they themselves are graduates of an orphanage, for them every woman in the housing department is a monster that they are afraid of. “They called me from the guardianship - it’s terrible!” Why the horror - they themselves do not know. We need a certificate from the housing department, my mother went for a certificate, they told her: you won’t make it before July 1st - she turned around and left. Why until July 1, and not until August 16? — Irina Garbuzenko describes unsocialized parents.

Teaching social skills to an adult is not an easy task, even for an expert, and it should not fall on the shoulders of a child. It is the mastery of these skills that parents must prove to the guardianship authorities and the court before restoring parental rights if they have been deprived of them. In practice, such families will need support even after a positive court decision.

Can a child be taken away from a normal family?

It is believed that a child can be taken away from normal parents. This information is partially true. However, the basis of the actions of the guardianship department is a signal. And it doesn’t matter who it came from.

Example . Katya's parents divorced. The girl remained to live with her father. The man entered into a second marriage. The relationship between Katya and her stepmother did not work out. The girl asked her father for new expensive boots. The family budget could not afford such a purchase. Having received a refusal, Katya called the helpline and reported that her father and stepmother were beating her. The message was transferred to the guardianship department. Specialists visited the family. The girl confirmed that she was being beaten. The minor was placed in a shelter until the circumstances were clarified.

The situation in the example is quite common. Children often use the opportunity to send a signal to the guardianship department as blackmail. Due to their age, they cannot always assess the consequences for themselves.

Important! Specialists cannot visit a family without reason. But if there is a signal, they must react. Moreover, seizure is a last resort.

Methods for identifying dysfunctional families

Absolutely anyone can report violations of children’s rights and dishonest performance of parental duties to the authorities. Typically, information comes from employees of educational and medical institutions, neighbors, other relatives and random eyewitnesses.

Having received reliable information, representatives of the guardianship authorities immediately go to the child’s place of residence. The purpose of the visit is to conduct an examination of living conditions and study the extent to which necessary needs are met. Upon completion of the investigation, a report is drawn up. If they disagree with him, parents have the right to restore justice in court.

As a supplement to the report on the survey of living conditions, testimony from eyewitnesses (other relatives, passers-by, neighbors, teachers, doctors) is provided. Written explanations are usually sufficient. If during the trial questions arise regarding the evidence received, the witness will be called for personal questioning.

How to behave when checking from guardianship

Let's consider why a child may be removed from a normal family. When specialists visit, citizens are often lost. Therefore, misunderstandings may arise.

When conducting an inspection, the parent must show:

• documents (passport, child’s birth certificate);
• availability of food for children;
• a place for minors to sleep and rest;
• children's personal items and seasonal clothing;
• a place to do homework.

If possible, it is necessary to provide an explanation of the reasons for the signal. For example, conflict with neighbors, ex-spouse, causes of injury.

Collect all the healthy forces of the family

Psychologist Irina Garbuzenko believes that in a case where a mother, for example, failed to provide for and raise a child, it is not enough for specialists to work only with this “weak” mother. All healthy forces of the family must be gathered, all relatives, as well as close people who are not relatives: neighbors, family friends, parents of the child’s classmates.

— For example, the mother died, the question arose of who would raise the remaining child. They will tell us: she and her grandmother lived together, she will take care of custody. Abroad, the whole family will gather and discuss how the grandmother should be a grandmother, bake pancakes and feel sorry, and not bear full responsibility for the teenager. Moreover, now my grandmother is experiencing grief: her daughter has just died. If a daughter is deprived of parental rights, the grandmother is also in grief: she raised a weak, failed daughter. It is necessary for all the uncles and aunts, second cousins, and so on - the generation capable of coping with difficulties - to come and take up the task of education, and leave the grandmother to be the grandmother.

How can you live in peace if your nephew is in an orphanage?

In Russia, a person can calmly say that his nephew or other younger relative lives in an orphanage.

— If you have a nephew in an orphanage, this means that not only did your sister or brother fail to cope, but you also did not come to the rescue and did not get involved in the situation. Yes, his mother couldn’t cope - and it’s already pointless to drag her through the authorities alone, you need to involve everyone, including you, says psychologist Irina Garbuzenko. “After all, our orphanage is like a prison, and the child has not committed any crime.”

In order to create conditions for the restoration of blood families, in order to motivate parents to restore parental rights, it is necessary to make boarding schools open to the children’s relatives and other significant adults.

“Are our orphanage residents so contagious that they can’t meet people without a medical book?” We let our own children on the subway and bus without asking passengers for medical records,” Irina Garbuzenko is outraged. “If a girl runs away from an orphanage for three days, they take her to gynecologists and take a bunch of tests. Your body does not belong to you, anyone can examine you. The aunt cannot take the child on a visit - they need to collect certificates, and the child must be “taken off the diet”, then “put back on the diet”...

In practice, a mother deprived of parental rights is most often not allowed into the orphanage. According to the law, she should not be allowed in only if communication with her threatens the health of the child.

“If she was allowed in every day, she would be attached to him and motivated to restore her rights. In the meantime, she reasons like this: “They still won’t let me see him - I’ll go and drink out of grief.”

The staff of the orphanage has its own logic: after a visit from relatives, the child “goes wild”: they came from the street, this is a breath of freedom, and it doesn’t matter that their home is poor and dirty, but there you can go to the refrigerator, even if it’s almost empty, not schedule, go out to breathe on the balcony whenever you want. The children just say: “They came to me from the outside,” and after meetings they themselves become uncontrollable.

It is easier for educators for the child to sit quietly and not make a fuss. He doesn’t study - and okay, he doesn’t clean up after himself - the cleaning lady cleans, but quietly. With us, if you end up in an orphanage, you are like a convict in prison. This is fatal, you can’t just go out for a walk, you can’t communicate with your family, you can’t call anyone you want. I saw how the seized girl was taken to the hospital, and she was banging her head against the wall: “call my aunt, she will pick me up,” but it wasn’t even a psychologist who accompanied her to the hospital, but just a driver.