Penza, 22 November 2013. PenzaNews. Forty residents of the Penza region were deprived of parental rights for six month of 2013. This was reported by Minister of Education of the region Svetlana Kopeshkina during the thirteenth session of the Legislative Assembly of the region on Friday, November 22. “And the lion’s share is cases when a father refuses to pay alimony and a mother goes to law. So it is not initiated by custodianship bodies, which is important, since the biological family is the best institution for bringing children up,” Svetlana Kopeshkina pointed out.

© PenzaNewsBuy the photo

She reminded that 357 people were deprived of parental rights in 2010.

According to the minister, the number of educational institutions, where orphaned children are brought up, is cut to a minimum.

“There is only one orphanage for 60 places left and one special school for orphaned children,” Svetlana Kopeshkina said, drawing the attention of the people’s deputies to the fact that the region remains its leading position in dealing with children and family issues.

Responding to the question addressed by the United Russia party deputy Sergei Egorov about the number of children subsequently taken from adoptive families, the minister said that 11 cases were registered in 2012.

“But it should be said that five people among them wrote applications by their own free will. We looked into each case. It was adolescence, when concerns of the parents seemed rigid requirements and did not suit the children. Generally, in some cases conflicts were settled and children remained in families,” Svetlana Kopeshkina stressed.

She added that children, taken from families, soon had new adoptive families.

“We have a queue of families who want to adopt a child,” Minister of Education of the Penza region concluded.