The Czech Republic still ranks among the countries with the highest number of institutionalised children in Europe. Currently there are 307 institutions in the Czech Republic alone.
Over the last 20 years, the Czech government has invested in the development and renovation of many institutions, and although positive steps have been made, a negative perception of deinstitutionalisation persists among the general public.
The Czech Republic is one of the few countries in Europe that places young children and babies in institutions.
A common perception of institutionalisation in the Czech Republic is that institutions provide good quality care. There is a lack of community-based outreach and family support services to help vulnerable families and absence of social housing. Children are often placed in care because their families face extreme poverty and are unable to cope.
Positive steps ahead
During the time Lumos worked in the Czech Republic, the number of children in institutions has decreased from 10,388 in 2008 to 7,963 in 2017. This represents a 23% reduction of the number of children in institutions.
The most significant decrease in the number of children in institutions occurred in the residential care homes for people with disabilities.
Initial improvements made in institutions were met with resistance. This was despite evidence that outcomes of institutionalisation for children were poor.
Lumos in the Czech Republic
We began work in the Czech Republic in 2008. Our impact was gradual, but admissions to institutions, and the number of children in them, fell.
We had demonstration programmes in Pardubice and Karlovy Vary to bring children out of institutions. On a national level, we delivered advocacy to strengthen reform and have provided
significant levels of social worker training. We have also provided technical help to reshape laws and decision-making processes.
Training professionals
From 2008 to 2017 we provided training to 7,342 professionals involved in the system of care for children in need. We taught them skills necessary for the development of the system that stresses the individual needs of children during the process of decision-making, the system that minimizes the separation of children from families and their consequent placement to institutions, and the system that supports the development of community-based services. We published several specialised publications and manuals for working with families in need and for evaluation of the situation of a child. Through education and publishing of specialised publications we supported the improvement of services and work with children in need.
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Admissions to children’s homes in Pardubice have reduced by 53%.
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The number of children in institutions has reduced by 23% in nine years.
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The numbers of children in institutions in Pardubice have reduced by 17%.
