Penza, 29 January 2013. PenzaNews. 93,5% of children left without parental care were taken by foster families in 2012, which is slightly more than in 2011. This was announced by the deputy head of administration of Penza Larisa Ryabikhina during a working visit of authority delegation to the orphanage on Tuesday, January 29.

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“In three types of institutions — orphanages, children’s homes, and social institutions — there live 293 children. Most of them belong to the category of so-called social orphans who have parents, but they are either deprived of their parental rights, or are in prison or on treatment,” she specified.

Larisa Ryabikhina noted that in the region, the number of children left without parental care total 4,458.

“Work performed in the Penza region, allowed it taking the fifth place among other regions of Russia, and the first place in the Volga Federal District based on the results of 2011,” she said.

The deputy head of city administration added that all the prevention institutions are focused on trying not to deprive parents of their rights, to work with families, and develop a system of early trouble detection.

“We talk a lot about the fact that children should not be immediately withdrawn from the family. To begin with, parents may be restricted in their rights, social institutions may assist the family, treat, employ the parents, and help with the housing. That is why we observe a certain reduction in parental rights deprivation in Penza. In 2010, the number of such parents amounted to 357 people, and in 2012 — 166 people,” she pointed out.