The meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Reintegration, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Social Policy, the National Social Service, the National Information Bureau, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the National Police, and other central and local authorities.

They discussed the issue of the status of children, especially orphans and children deprived of parental care. In particular, they listened to information about the status of the children in the medical institutions.

Iryna Vereshchuk emphasized that responsible services should not only collect statistical data, but also analyze it thoroughly.  Understand processes, coordinate actions, and respond to issues on time.

The Minister instructed the competent services to exercise special control over all adoptions that took place during the war. Verify compliance with this procedure and accounting.  You should carefully consider the family, living conditions, and other factors before you place a child in foster care.

The issue of the children who are in Poland and Turkey at the moment was also brought up.  The participants emphasized that if they return to Ukraine, they must be taken under the social support of competent services.

“All regions should also prepare comprehensive information on how many children have gone abroad, how many foster families are planned for their return, how many will be placed in institutional care, etc. In general, each region should implement its regional policy on the return of children who are currently abroad,” summarized Iryna Vereshchuk.