The Decentralisation Reform continues to empower municipalities. For instance, the process of transferring powers for adoption, guardianship and foster care, as well as the creation and operation of family-type orphanages and foster families from the Regional State Administration to village and settlement councils should be completed by August. The specifics of the transfer of powers, main considerations and risks were discussed at a partnership event hosted by the Regional Office of U-LEAD and the Main Directorate of the National Social Service in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast. 16 representatives of the Child Welfare Services of rural and settlement municipalities of the Precarpathian region took part in the online infosession.
Transferring these powers from district state administrations to village and settlement councils improves the policy on ensuring the right of every child to grow up in a family environment, deinstitutionalisation and moving away from the orphanage system.
More specifically, the Family Code was updated, and in June this year, the Government amended Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on the Activities of Guardianship and Custodianship Bodies Related to the Protection of Children’s Rights No. 866 and Resolution of the CMU on the Procedure for Adoption and Supervising the Observance of the Rights of Adopted Children No. 905. These innovations are aimed at making the adoption procedure less rigid and cumbersome, focused on the best interests of the child, effective in terms of monitoring the living conditions and upbringing of adopted children and consistent with European approaches.
Further, the powers of the National Social Service have been expanded to ensure the creation of a strong, supervised and modern social protection system. This system, according to Oksana Shvets, an Adviser on Local Finances and Management at the Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, is designed to meet the challenges of wartime, as well as decentralisation and digitalisation.
Updates to the adoption procedure and establishing guardianship over a child
Amendments to Resolution 905 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, including Clause 79.1, now provide that a prospective adoptive parent is entitled to become a guardian to a child they wish to adopt.
When a prospective adoptive parent applies to the court with a package of documents for adoption, subject to a positive opinion on the feasibility of adoption, they are entitled to request the children’s service at the place where the child is institutionalised to place the child under their guardianship or foster care. In this case, the prospective adoptive parent is not registered, and the request does not need to be brought to the Commission on the Protection of Children’s Rights. A decision is, however, required from a designated executive committee.
“I encourage your Child Welfare Services to take advantage of this opportunity. After all, this way the child will be with the family rather than in an institution, and the prospective adoptive parent will be able to receive child support, since the adoption process can take a while,” said Vitaliia Popovych, the Deputy Head of the Main Department of the Main Directorate of the National Social Service in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast.
According to Vitaliia Popovych, the only difficulty here is meeting the 10-day deadline. Once the prospective adoptive parent submits the request to place the child under their guardianship, the executive committee must consider it within 10 days. This is often difficult because the executive committees of village and settlement councils usually have monthly meetings.
Moreover, following the transfer of powers from the Regional State Administration, the Child Welfare Services of village and settlement councils at the place of residence of the child must contact the competent Child Welfare Service at the place of residence of the prospective adoptive parent where the child will live. After all, it is necessary to have information about the living conditions of the child and their education. The Child Welfare Service at the place where the child is institutionalised must notify the competent Service at the place of residence of the adoptive parent about the placement of the child under their guardianship. And if during the adoption process a prospective adoptive parent who assumed guardianship over the child with the purpose of subsequent adoption refuses to adopt, the person must be immediately deregistered as an adoptive parent. Then the Child Welfare Service at the place where the child is institutionalised must decide on the child’s further placement.
More options for family-based care
The transfer of powers from the Regional State Administrations to the Child Welfare Services of village and settlement councils directly affects the functioning of foster families and family-type orphanages. According to the Main Directorate of the National Social Service, rural and settlement municipalities of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast are currently home to three family-type orphanages that care for 23 children and 46 foster families that raise 86 children.
“These family-type orphanages and foster families were established by orders of the Regional State Administration. The biggest difficulty is to ensure the continuous nature of the process. In order to transfer powers from the Regional State Administration to village and settlement councils, foster parents must write two requests. The first one is to the Regional State Administration about the termination of the functioning of a foster family or a family-type orphanage with the Child Welfare Service of the Administration where they were registered, resulting in the termination of the contract. The second request is submitted to the village or settlement council of the municipality where they reside and where their case is transferred, followed by entering into a new contract,” said Vitaliia Popovych.
The Regional State Administration must coordinate its actions with the executive body of the local self-government so that as soon as the foster family ceases to function under the Administration, it can continue to function under the local self-government body the very next day. This is complicated by relatively infrequent meetings of the executive committees of the local government and the fact that the liquidation commission must be involved from the Regional State Administration. Further, the legislator has determined that this must be done by August of this year. This must be taken seriously, as payments for children to foster families depend on compliance.
Another challenge is that since July 1, all types of social benefits have been transferred from the district Social Protection Services to the Pension Fund. And if the Pension Fund does not have a document on the functioning of a foster family, they will contact the local self-government body.
In addition, changes to the legislation empowered the municipal Child Welfare Service to add or place children from other municipalities in foster families or family-type orphanages subject to available openings. These are additional opportunities for intermunicipal cooperation of local self-government bodies to ensure the functioning of foster families or family-type orphanages in accordance with Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 702 dated 18 June 2025.
Another important change in legislation concerns the operation of foster families or family-type children’s homes in rented accommodation. Previously, a lease agreement was required for a minimum term of 5 years. Now, under martial law, the term of the agreement has been reduced to 3 years.
The status of a child affected by hostilities and armed conflicts - determining the needs of the child and family in wartime
Another important issue of the current activities of the Child Welfare Services at the municipal level is granting the status of a child affected by hostilities and armed conflicts. Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 268 dated 5 April 2017, which regulates the activities related to granting the status of a child affected by hostilities and armed conflicts, has been amended many times.
The most common question now is whether this status can be granted to a child whose parents have disappeared from the ranks of military personnel? Neither the Law “On the Protection of Childhood” nor the above Resolution directly foresees this possibility.
In the Ivano-Frankivsk oblast, this status was granted to mostly children who were recognised as victims of psychological violence. To obtain this status, an expert opinion on the assessment of the family’s needs and a corresponding statement prepared by a qualified social service provider are required.
“There are many complications associated with this, as many municipalities lack such service providers. Keep in mind that the municipality can purchase these services. For instance, many municipalities have resilience centres and NGOs that provide social services and are listed in the Register of Providers and Recipients of Social Services. You should inquire whether they are authorised to draw up such documents, and if so, use their services,” advises Vitaliia Popovych.
The basic steps for determining the needs of children and their families under martial law are determined by the Order of the Ministry of Social Policy No. 130-Н “On Approval of the Procedure for Determining the Needs of the Population of an Administrative Territorial Unit/Municipality in Social Services” dated 19 April 2023. It provides for a medium-term and short-term period for determining the needs. However, Section 5 of this Order provides for a simplified procedure for determining needs under martial law. A coordination council must be established.
Ultimately, the expanded scope of powers of rural and settlement municipalities in the field of adoption, guardianship and foster care is a further advancement of decentralisation processes at the state level. On the one hand, this brings an entire segment of social services closer to the population, and on the other hand, it expands the scope of responsibility for local self-government bodies and necessitates a greater number of qualified professionals in Child Welfare Services in rural and settlement municipalities.
