Prague, Nov 25 (CTK) – The Czech Labour and Social Affairs Ministry would like to gain 1500 new foster parents, according to the documents related to the 2016 state budget bill that the Chamber of Deputies discussed yesterday.
Labour Minister Michaela Marksova told CTK that this figure was merely the number of foster parents that the country would need next year. Only quality carers would be accepted, she said.
“If we don´t find 1500 of them, so be it. We certainly will not accept anybody who does not meet all the requirements,” Marksova said.
In June, the ministry registered 11,829 foster parents and there are 100 to 200 new foster parents every month. Up to four billion crowns are to be paid out to the carers in allowances and fees next year. In 2014, 2.38 billion crowns were paid in these allowances. From January to June, it was 1.75 billion crowns.
The Czech Republic has been criticised for the high numbers of children raised in institutions for a long time.
According to the Child and Family association of Czech NGOs focusing on care for children in need, the Czech Republic is the last country in Europe where children aged under three years may be sent to children´s homes.
At the end of 2014, 1213 of children under three were in institutional care. However, their number is gradually decreasing. About 4300 children lived in homes for children aged over three years.
At the end of 2014, the ministry registered 10,244 long-term and 421 short-term foster parents.
In 2013, the financial support for foster carers was raised. A foster parent caring for one child receives 8000 crowns a month and those caring for two children get 12,000 crowns monthly. If a foster parent cares for three or more children or for one seriously disabled child, he receives 20,000 crowns a month from the state.
($1=25.376 crowns)
