Aug 7, 2018, 1:28 PM ET

Romania's last orphanages

Approximately 10,000 infants are abandoned annually in Romania's hospitals, with roughly 10,000 adoptions occurring in the 18 months following the fall of the Ceaușescu regime.
The institutional crisis stems from Nicolae Ceaușescu's 1966 Decree 770, which mandated motherhood as a state duty to boost the population, resulting in an increase of over 4 million people.
To finance national debt, the regime exported food while rationing supplies domestically, leaving the population in scarcity while Ceaușescu funded massive palace construction.
Following the violent revolution of December 1989, which executed the dictator, the world discovered over 100,000 children abandoned in dilapidated orphanages.

Former residents describe severe physical abuse, including beatings with whips and being undressed and left in isolation during renovations.
The regime allegedly prohibited children with disabilities from using toilets, forcing them to remain bedridden with grills in place of beds, exposed to feces, urine, mud, and cold water.
Current conditions involve 7,000 children residing across 163 institutions, many of which face closure within the next decade.

The Romanian government, aided by the charity "Hope and Homes for Children," is implementing a paradigm shift away from large-scale state institutions toward family-based care.
The charity has successfully assisted in closing 31 orphanages through agreements with successive governments.
The Ion Holban Institution in Iași, the same facility where former resident Claudia spent her youth, is scheduled for closure in 2019.
The government requires 200 new staff members to manage the transition of care for children moving from institutions to other settings.
A global trend aims to close all large institutions, driven by data suggesting they reduce child potential and increase exposure to exploitation.

Claudia, born with one arm and raised in four different orphanages until age 18, now works as a supervisor at the Ion Holban Institution.
The Manole sisters, who lived at the Jan Holbana center for five years after their parents died, are being fostered by their uncle and aunt, Theodore and Marichika, to keep the siblings together.
Foster families cite the trauma of family separation and the need for sibling unity as primary motivations for taking in vulnerable children.

Approximately two million children globally remain in institutional care, facing uncertain futures.
Older children who cannot be reintegrated into biological or foster families will likely be relocated to smaller, state-run group homes.
The transition to community living presents risks for former institutionalized children, who may find the freedom and lack of structure overwhelming.
Success for this demographic depends on ensuring long-term well-being and support during the shift to independent life.
The stated objective is to ensure every child grows in a family unit with parental affection rather than within the state system.