Article 152 of the RF IC. Adoptive family (current version)

Concept of foster family

Citizens who wish to take into family custody a minor or several left without parents have the right to do so, and after formulating and signing an agreement with the PLO, they become adoptive parents. They can become not only legally married people, but also single citizens who do not have financial problems. Children placed into foster care with the help of special education programs become adopted children. From this moment on, the family itself is called adopted and enjoys the corresponding social rights and benefits of this institution.

The legislation of the Russian Federation also provides for other forms of organizing the education of children deprived of parental education (orphans). A foster family differs from them in that:

• Unlike adoption, the relationship between adoptive parents and children is limited in time and confirmed through an agreement with the OPP;
• Unlike guardianship, the law limits the age of adopted children (orphans) and obliges them to enter into an agreement to formalize the relationship.

From the moment a foster family agreement is concluded, a foster family is created, the adoptive parents acquire the rights and responsibilities of guardians, social benefits, benefits, but not the same as those that arise during adoption. Several minors can be transferred to a family for guardianship until their total number (together with their relatives) reaches 8.

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Experience of adoptive parents

One of the most important aspects of successfully overcoming the difficulties of raising adopted children is communication with other parents who are in a similar life situation. Sharing experiences and feeling “I’m not alone with my problems” always gives strength and helps to look at things realistically. Ideally, you need to find an organization that helps place children and at the same time provides subsequent support for the family. We are talking about all kinds of non-profit foundations, structures and communities of adoptive parents. Communication with like-minded people is very important - both at the stage of making a decision, searching for a child, and at the very beginning of life together. However, you shouldn’t break off the relationship in the future. For adopted children, this is also a unique opportunity to feel at ease and understand that the most beloved and closest ones are not necessarily those who gave birth to you. But definitely those who love, who are nearby every day, from morning to night.

Agreement on foster family

An agreement can be concluded between the adoptive family with the help of the PLO after citizens submit an application and study the living conditions. The application contains a request to transfer a specific child to foster care. An application is submitted at the child’s place of residence. In order for the agreement to be signed without problems with the support of the PLO, the application must be accompanied by a conclusion drawn up based on the results of a professional study, guaranteeing the family’s opportunity to become adoptive parents. The conclusion contains characteristics of the adoptive family. It has a limited validity period - up to 1 year.

An important condition of the foster family agreement is its validity period. With the help of the document, other important aspects of the institution of guardianship are approved, and support for adoptive families is provided:

• The conditions in which the taken minor must live;
• Payments;
• How is the upbringing and development of an adopted child carried out?
• In what form does the adopted child’s education take place with the support of the educational program;
• What rights are transferred through a guardianship agreement to the adoptive parents who took the child, their responsibility for his life and health;
• What are the responsibilities of the OPP in relation to the adoptive family;
• As well as the conditions for terminating the contract.

The reasons and problems by which the “foster family” agreement can be terminated before the end of its validity period are listed in it. In particular, the lack of mutual understanding with adopted children, as well as illness (disability) or lack of financial opportunities for decent maintenance and upbringing of adopted children, a court order - all these are valid reasons for decreeing the termination of the contract and taking the necessary measures. In addition, the appearance of a family wishing to formalize adoption with the support of the PLO entails termination of the contract.

Any financial issues arising due to early termination of the contract are resolved as described in its terms by agreement of the parties, and in controversial situations, disagreements between the parties can be investigated and resolved by court order with the support of the PLO.

To place a minor (orphan) in a foster family, the consent of the educational institution where he was in care must be obtained. If at the time of concluding an agreement with the adoptive family he is already 10 years old, then his consent to the transfer must be asked. If a minor has a brother or sister, and their relationship is important, placement of children in a foster family is possible only together; it is possible to separate them for medical reasons (disabled people).

A minor does not lose all social benefits, allowances, pensions, and payments when transferred to a foster family. If the right to residence, use, and ownership of housing is assigned to him during his life, then it is retained by him, and in the absence of such, the child has the right to receive housing with the support of the public educational institution, as specified in the law.

Adopted children can maintain relationships with relatives at their own discretion, if this does not create problems for the adoptive family, and there is no prohibiting court order.

Establishing contacts with parents (biological), their organization can only be carried out with the consent of the adoptive family, with its help. Disputes arising about this are investigated and resolved in the PLO and the necessary measures are taken.

Advice for future adoptive parents:

1. Try not to be guided by the opinions of people who are not adoptive parents themselves: they have no real idea about orphans.
2. Do not hesitate to conduct the necessary medical and psychological examination of the child before making a decision. In any case, it is necessary: ​​you need to clearly understand what is to be treated and how.
3. It doesn’t hurt to remember all the time that genes shape temperament, character, and are responsible for health, but not for a person’s destiny. Criminals and drug addicts are the result of upbringing and the surrounding society.
4. Seek help from psychologists and lawyers. Specialists provide free consultations at the Centers for Social Assistance to Family and Children.
5. Do not hurry. In case of doubt, uncertainty or family problems, wait. Resolve your issues and continue to communicate with other adoptive parents.
6. If you cannot “recognize” your child, use your sense of smell. Smells clearly work on an unconscious level, suggesting “my person” or not.
7. Don't try to imagine the image of a child in advance: everything will be completely different from what you expected. And not even as other adoptive parents told you - each case is individual.
8. A child left without parents has a lot of difficult and bad things in his past. He will get rid of this burden gradually, with the help of a new family. Don't rush things - it takes time.
9. Don't expect instant love from your adopted child. The important thing is that you have already changed the life of a little person for the better.
10. Let your child be himself. Observe his interests, talents and help consolidate them. Allow your baby to grow up happy.

Diana Mashkova

Foster family payments

Every month, with the help of the local budget, foster families are allocated funds, benefits, payments for the maintenance and development of children. Foster family payments allocated for the maintenance of adopted minors and for remuneration of foster parents, as well as social benefits, are established by the law of the subject of the Russian Federation.

All expenses are accounted for in writing, using payment documents. Every year, the foster family reports to the PLO on the expenditure of allocated funds, social benefits, payments, and allowances. These documents are examined, but if the family managed to save money, the money cannot be returned. These are the foster family payments.

What is the difference between guardianship and foster care?

Many people think that the definition of guardianship and foster family are the same thing.

But there are significant differences between them, as shown in the table below:

The civil legal nature of relations in a foster family

Relations at the institute of a foster family are characterized as businesslike, in contrast to adoption, although in addition to caring for a decent standard of living, education, food, etc. adopted children, adoptive parents are also involved in raising them. But unlike a real (biological) family, the peculiarities of such a concept as a “foster family” lie in the fact that hereditary, alimony and other family relations defined in the RF IC do not arise between parents and minors.

The formation of such an agreement as a foster family, and the signing of agreements with the PLO and the following persons are excluded:

• incapacitated and partially capable by court order;
• deprived or limited in parental rights by court order;
• previously removed from the duties of a guardian due to problems with violation of the contract;
• deprived of the rights of an adoptive parent by court order;
• those who are unable to become guardians due to health problems (disabled people with developmental disabilities).

Formation of a foster family

Establishing the institution of a foster family is possible, but it requires not only the desire of citizens, their warm attitude towards a particular child, but also an application to the PLO. It is necessary to obtain the consent of the educational or medical institution for the transfer of the following categories of minors to a foster family (Clause 1 of Article 121 of the RF IC):

• Orphans;
• Those whose parents are not identified;
• Those whose parents have been deprived of parental rights, are in prison by court order, are incompetent, or are missing;
• Those whose parents are unable to fulfill their responsibilities due to health problems (disabled people with developmental disabilities).

Not only healthy minors can be placed in foster care with the support of a public educational institution, but also disabled, sick, and developmentally disabled people. In this case, the adoptive family must prove that it is able to provide adequate care for such a child and takes appropriate measures.

Which families do not meet the status?

There is a list of people who do not have the right to become adoptive parents to a child. This is associated with acute mental illness in people living with a given family in the same living space who want to adopt a child, or citizens who have limited ability to live (disabled people).

This status will also not be assigned to families who carried out the adoption process, but based on a court decision for the specified reasons (inadequate care, injury to a child), it was established that the agreement on the relocation of the child (children) to be raised in a family was annulled.

The procedure for transferring a child to a foster family

In order to legally organize the transfer of a minor to a foster family, the following conditions and measures must be complied with:

• The minor is under 18 years of age.
• Within 20 days from the acceptance of the application, the PLO is required by law to give an answer about the possibility of transferring the minor (children) to a foster family.
• An examination of the living conditions in a large family showed a satisfactory condition of the living quarters, no problems were identified, and the presence of everything necessary for living and maintaining one more family member.
• The agreement was formulated with the support of the PLO and studied by both parties; an agreement was reached on all points (and on payments), including on the issue of remuneration for adoptive parents.
• The minor is informed about placement in a foster family and does not protest against it.
• Members of the foster family are informed of their responsibility for the life, health, mental state and decent maintenance of the minor.

Design features

To arrange guardianship of a child, you need to contact the local Guardianship and Trusteeship Authorities (TCA).

Next, the adoptive family needs to follow the appropriate registration algorithm:

1. It is necessary to collect the required list of documents and submit it to the PLO;
2. Within 3 working days, the OPP studies the submitted documents and checks their compliance: an on-site inspection is carried out at the future place of residence of the adopted child, and an act is drawn up - checking the condition of the housing;
3. After drawing up a report on the conditions of the place of residence, within 10 working days, PLO employees make a decision;
4. Adoptive families receive a written refusal or confirmation of the transfer of the child to the family;
5. If the decision is positive, the future parents are sent to their future adopted child for a closer acquaintance. During this period of time, the child will be scheduled for medical examinations;
6. If the child and the new parents have found a common language and no longer meetings are required, then the adoptive parents can draw up an application for the adoption of this particular child. This statement is drawn up in the presence of representatives of the PLO in order to avoid errors in writing;
7. Employees of the public educational institution, referring to this application, draw up an act of the appropriate form of transfer of the child to a foster family;
8. An agreement is signed between the foster family and the OP Authorities, which contains the following information:
   The responsibility of parents for raising a child, participating in the educational process, ensuring a decent level of development and living outside the walls of the orphanage;
9. Responsibilities of the Guardianship and Trusteeship Authorities: control the process of raising and providing the adopted child with everything necessary;
10. All information about the future adopted child and his biological parents, if any;
11. Date of conclusion and expiration date of the contract;
12. A list of reasons for premature suspension of the contract is indicated;
13. Regional social payments are processed and calculated.

When a child reaches 10 years of age, the signing of an agreement by the Guardianship Authorities and Adoptive Parents occurs on the basis of the consent of the future adopted child.

Documents for registration of guardianship

List of required documentation provided to the OP Bodies:

1. Certificate of salary for the last 6 months from the official place of work;
2. A certificate from law enforcement agencies confirming that all parents have no criminal record;
3. Certificate of family composition;
4. Documents confirming ownership of the housing where future adoptive parents live;
5. Marriage certificate;
6. Certificate issued by the HR department confirming official employment;
7. Autobiographies of each family member;
8. Medical certificate about the health status of both parents;
9. A photocopy of each parent's passport;
10. Consent of both parents to formalize this status, drawn up in writing.

The length of service is accrued to one of the adoptive parents in relation to the signed agreement.

Forms and types of foster families

The RF IC defines all 4 forms of the institution of foster families:

• Adoption. A minor is accepted into a large family on equal terms with his own children. Adoption in the eyes of the law is identical to consanguinity. The adoptive parents can change the child’s name, give their last name, or change the date of birth. To adapt a child to a new family, parents are given leave when adopting one child - 70 days, two - 100 days. To maintain the secrecy of the mother's adoption, maternity leave may be granted as a necessary measure. Only one of the spouses or both can act as an adoptive parent. If the minor is already 10 years old, his personal consent to adoption will be required to avoid problems.
• Guardianship. Minors under 14 years of age are placed under guardianship with the support of the PLO, and those over 14 years of age are placed under guardianship. Before the law, the guardian does not have primacy over the adoptive parents, therefore a minor, including a disabled person, can be transferred from guardianship to a family that has agreed to become adoptive parents. The form of organization can be paid (for a fee) or gratuitous. The law establishes preliminary guardianship for a period of 1-2 months for adoptive parents, but in this case the secrecy of adoption is not respected. Biological parents do not lose the opportunity to restore their rights in court if they wish to restore their relationship with the child and continue to support him.
• Adoptive family. The second name of the organization is foster care. The number of adopted children (including disabled people) can be more than 1 - up to 8. Minors live in such a family until they are admitted, and if there are no problems, until they graduate from a vocational educational institution. Children remain orphans in the eyes of the law, who are looked after for a fee by foster parents with the support of the PLO. Those wishing to apply for paid (for a fee) guardianship are subject to strict requirements, including training in specialized courses, as well as an interview at the PLO.
• Family-type orphanage. It can accommodate from 5 to 10 minors. The organizers receive remuneration, government assistance in the form of salaries and funding for the establishment of an orphanage. Work in an orphanage is counted by the organizers as labor and professional experience. Out of turn, residential premises or houses are allocated for the orphanage. Despite the strict requirements for the organizers and the control of the public organization for the residence of children (especially disabled people) in such a house, the law looks at this form of organization as a family, but not as an institution.

Feel free to get into action

There is no shortage of children's smiles in the family of Svetlana Zachesova and Konstantin Leochko.
Eleven children, ten of whom are adopted. The first girl, Alena, was adopted back in 2007. My own son Andrei, who was then barely four years old, helped make the decision. “My husband and I, of course, were ready for a second child, we went through foster parenting school, and received permission to accept the baby into the family. During the training, I learned that in the shelter in our area there is a five-year-old Alena, very similar to me. Soon Andryusha met her, the children played on the playground and became friends. One day he told me: “Mom, let’s invite Alena to visit.” The girl came to our home and never left, she became part of the family,” recalls Svetlana. She admits that she always dreamed of a big family, and the children’s desire to have a brother and sister only encouraged the couple to seek guardianship again. “I took the documents, and they told me about Vika and Vitalik, who were left without parents. The boy was a year younger than Andrei, and Vika was the same age as Alena and looked like her, like a twin sister. The children met and

We decided that we needed this. So there were four guys. But I also had a dream about a little girl,” admits Svetlana. “When I told social security about this, they showed us six-year-old Dasha. It turned out that she has older brothers and sisters, Kristina and Nikita. And again it turned out that Nikita was the same age as the boys, and Christina was the same age as Alena and Vika. We decided to think about it and get to know the elders. We invited them to visit, then again and again. And then I suggested to them: “Guys, stay.”

A few days later, when the family was filling out documents, the guardianship representative told them about the little girl Ulyana, who had recently ended up in an orphanage. “We went to meet each other and came back together. This happened in 2014 and was perhaps the most difficult moment: there were twice as many children in the family. But we managed. Ten of us lived for five years. They weren't looking for anyone. The older girls celebrated their majority and moved into their apartments received from the state. Last year, on September 1, when we were helping them fill out documents for housing, it turned out that Kirill ended up in a shelter in a neighboring area. The boy lost his mother, and his relatives refused to help him. We decided that we should not abandon the child in a difficult situation. So we had another son,” continues Svetlana.

All this time, family and friends supported the large family. But they began to visit less often - after all, it’s not easy to arrange a reception with such a crowd. Instead, the family now prefers to meet friends in parks, enjoys bike rides, hanging out at a water park or at a roller skating rink. Their great passion is camping, family cinema and board games.

To support the family, parents work a lot. Svetlana is a realtor, Konstantin is a programmer.

- How do you manage to do everything? — I ask a mother with many children.

— We draw up a schedule for the day, clearly distribute responsibilities. And if there is no favorite job, how to explain to children why they need to study and improve? Besides, children are a really expensive pleasure. We spend a lot on clubs, for example, the younger girls study rock and roll and participate in competitions. And sometimes the school curriculum has to be tightened up, especially before preparing for the Unified State Exam or Unified State Exam. This means you need to hire tutors.

Benefits provided to adoptive families

The list of benefits that foster families have the right to use with the support of the PLO includes:

Receiving benefits from the federal budget once a month. The benefit amount is indexed annually and determined individually.

• Benefits for free treatment in sanatorium-resort institutions of municipal ownership.
• Providing free meals for children at school.
• Once a minor reaches 18 years of age, he has the right to get on the waiting list for new housing.
• Benefits for admission to organizations and institutions of vocational education, universities.
• Benefits for disabled people to receive prostheses out of turn.

Author of the article

Payments in 2021

The adoptive family has the right to formalize the receipt of social benefits. Accordingly, their size depends on the number of adopted children.

The amount of benefits paid depends on the region where the Adoptive Families live. Local authorities can legally approve the provision of additional preferential payments and incentives for such families.