"There is a need for more active action of the responsible authorities so that the government would meet its obligation to take special care of children left without parental care. Every child should have the opportunity to grow up in a family or in family environment close conditions,” stated Raimonds Vējonis.
During the meeting, the President of Latvia asked the Minister of Welfare about the course and progress made in deinstitutionalization process to build child-appropriate community-based services instead of orphanages and to provide the necessary support to and increase the number of foster families, guardians, and adoptive parents.
“Deinstitutionalization process must be managed and monitored. It is important that the EU Structural funds provided for deinstitutionalisation would strengthen the formats of the extra-familial family like care and would increase the support available for them,” said Raimonds Vējonis.
The officials also discussed the information voiced in the mass media about the events in Jelgava Orphanage. The President of Latvia emphasised that the responsible authorities should do their best so that the violations described in the mass media could not happen in any of the childcare centres in Latvia.
The President and the Minister of Welfare agreed that the orphanages should stay in the past. That required both the targeted public policies and a common understanding among the local governments and the public as a whole. The President of Latvia invited the Minister of Welfare to explain the rights of the child and the issues of the children under extrafamilial care to local authorities and the public more actively.