1St Forum 2011 Brochure
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August 1-6, 2011 THE REPUBLIC OF BURYATIA • ULAN-UDE • Lake BAIKAL August 1-6, 2011 THE REPUBLIC OF BURYATIA • ULAN-UDE • Lake BAIKAL CONTENTS Edited by A. Spivak, S. Burkhanov Word of welcome on behalf of Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn, President of the Republic of Buryatia . 6 Designed by A. Furmenkov Word of welcome on behalf of Ronald Hughes, Director of the Institute for Human Services (IHS) Publication supervisor: L. Sandanova and President of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC) . 7 About the Forum . 8 About the Child Protection Subgroup under the Civil Society Working Group of the Bilateral Presidential Comission (Obama - Medvedev) . 12 The First Russian-American Child Welfare Forum Forum Organizers. 14 Official website: www.rus-us.org Organizing Committee. .20 Partners. .21 Forum venues . .22 Program of Events of the First Russian-American Child Welfare Forum. 24 © National Foundation for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NFPCC), 2011 August 1-6, 2011 • THE REPUBLIC OF BURYATIA • ULAN-UDE – Lake BAIKAL Dear participants of the First Russian-American Child Welfare Forum, As Director of the Institute for Human Services (IHS) and President of the American Professional Society on the It is a special honor for the Republic of Buryatia to host the Forum, in the year of the 350th anniversary since Abuse of Children (APSAC), I would like to welcome you to the first Russian-American Child Welfare Forum, held on it became part of Russia. It is important that participants from different regions of Russia and the United States of beautiful Lake Baikal. America gathered together to discuss child protection-related issues, share their experience and find the most efficient The Child Welfare Forum evolved out of the Child Protection Subgroup of the Bilateral Presidential Commission’s ways to tackle childhood problems. Civil Society Working Group. The goal was to provide child protection professionals from Russia and the United The Government of Buryatia and the National Foundation for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children implement a States with an opportunity to share knowledge and to work jointly to resolve common issues related to the protection joint program aimed to reorganize the obsolete child protection system. In current situation, the main tasks of child of maltreated and vulnerable children. and family welfare institutions are early prevention of family problems and social abandonment prevention. We are APSAC and IHS are grateful for this opportunity to collaborate with our colleagues in Russia to find solutions to establishing a new system of preventive services for families and also developing child adoption and foster care the many pressing problems we experience while trying to protect vulnerable children. We look forward to meeting services for the abandoned and/or neglected children and the children without parental care. all of you during the Forum and creating new strategies for collaboration and mutual exchange. We would like to Thanks to a massive preventive effort, in the past three years 1,370 children were granted the right to live with thank the National Foundation for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NFPCC) for their work to organize this natural relatives. In this period in Buryatia 352 children were adopted; 4,300 children currently remain under Forum, and express our gratitude to the President of Buryatia and his staff for making it possible for us to learn and guardianship. The number of foster families grows annually by 100, and currently amounts to 540. 842 children are collaborate in such a unique and beautiful environment. raised in foster families. Our aim is to provide every child in Buryatia with a loving and caring family. The mission of the Government of Buryatia for 2012-2014 is to provide orphans with decent accommodation using both budget and loan funds. Ronald C. Hughes, PhD., MScSA The Government of the Russian Federation praised our child protection efforts. President, the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children I believe that the professionalism and commitment of the participants of this Forum will help us discuss and develop important solutions for the sake of our children. Let this be a fruitful event! Vyacheslav V. Nagovitsyn President of the Republic of Buryatia 6 7 August 1-6, 2011 • THE REPUBLIC OF BURYATIA • ULAN-UDE – Lake BAIKAL families at risk. The participants will see the examples of effective prevention of social abandonment in medical, ABOUT THE FORUM educational, social welfare institutions, the Agency for Child and Family Issues. We believe that in these two days the participants will get the general idea of innovative efforts aimed at social abandonment and child abuse prevention in the Republic of Buryatia and see the new child protection methods and technologies for further On August 1-6, 2011, the first Russian-American Child Welfare Forum (RAF) will be held on Lake Baikal in discussion during the Forum. the Republic of Buryatia, Russian Federation. The Forum was initiated by Russian specialists working as part of The agenda includes three plenary sessions focused on fundamental issues of child protection effectiveness the Child Protection Subgroup under the Civil Society Working Group of the Bilateral Presidential Commission with the lectures by leading experts from Russia and the United States. 13 discussion platforms will be dedicated (Obama-Medvedev) established in October 2010. to plenary and workshop reports and lectures. The agenda includes over 10 Russian and American workshops and The event is supported by the RF Presidential Executive Office and the Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy in presentations on effective approach to practical child protection-related issues that will show ‘live’ the work of the Siberian Federal District. acclaimed Russian and American experts. The Forum also offers free discussions focused on the issues of special interest for the participants. GOAL AND TASKS OF THE FORUM Thanks to the participation of government officials and experts working in child protection system, it will be possible to discuss the most relevant aspects of Russian and American child protection experience on a The goal professional, interdisciplinary and intersectoral level. The goal is to boost the development of Russian-American dialogue and partnership in resolving pressing In order to facilitate a professional and detailed discussion of the most relevant issues, every day of the Forum national and international child protection-related issues. has its own theme. On August 3, the third day of the Forum, the participants will discuss the issues of child abuse prevention. Tasks of the Forum include: The agenda includes discussions on theoretical and practical issues of child abuse protection. The experts believe that it is crucial to comprehend the nature of this social phenomenon. The plenary session will be focused on • Facilitating large-scale interdisciplinary discussion among American and Russian child protection and child historical, cultural and psychological analysis of violence against children. The professional discussion will not only welfare specialists with the goal of strengthening professional relationships, alliances and contacts between reveal the ways of development of this phenomenon but will also help plan targeted prevention programs, which the groups is especially important now that both in Russia and the USA the civil society’s attention is drawn to child abuse • Presenting best Russian and American practices in the prevention of child abuse and violence against prevention but the resources for such efforts remain limited. children The participants will have an opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues: early child abuse prevention, • Comparative analysis and coordination of values and conceptual approaches to aid future joint action in the children rights protection culture development, the role of the state and the civil society in child protection, field of child protection national and regional peculiarities. The most interesting technologies and experience will be presented by the • Discussion on civil society participation in protecting children’s rights Russian and American experts at the Presentation Fair. The agenda of the Forum was drawn up by the leading Russian and American experts on child protection. The On August 4, the participants will discuss the emergency assistance and the rehabilitation of victims of child issues for discussion are relevant for both countries. The agenda includes theoretical and practical child protection- abuse and their families. The discussion platforms will focus on the efficiency of child assistance as well as on the related issues. issues of foster care and adoption of abandoned children and the children without parental care. The participants The Organizing Committee aimed to make the discussions on the Forum as practical as possible. On August will also discuss training methods for staff working with children. Apart from that, the experts will discuss training 1, prior to the official opening, the participants will have an opportunity to see how the system of early detection and methodological support, these being the two issues especially important for effective child protection. In of child abuse works and get acquainted with how the interdisciplinary teams tackle these cases in the Republic the afternoon the best Russian and American practices in the rehabilitation of children victims of violence will be of Buryatia. The agenda