In recent years, there have been several paper or legislative initiatives in the field of protecting social orphans, but in practice, no significant changes have occurred, says Aigerim Mussabalinova, Ph.D., a human rights defender of children and socially vulnerable groups in Kazakhstan, professor at the School of Law of KIMEP University (Kazakhstan). In the absence of parental protection and guardianship, the state can provide these children with material protection, but it cannot give them emotional protection and support, which during the period of a child’s development is no less important along with material assistance.
This article is a continuation of the author’s discourse from 2020 on the issue of protecting orphans and children deprived without parental care in Kazakhstan. This topic is relevant in the context of the recent social reforms in the country, including the outcomes of the high-profile criminal case on the murder of Saltanat Nukenova and the subsequent adoption of the “Saltanat law”.[1]
Paper and confusing prevention of social orphanhood
Social orphans are children who were left without parental care while their parents were alive. In Kazakhstan, according to the Bureau of National Statistics, the total number of orphans and children left without parental care (hereinafter referred to as CLPC) in 2023 was 21,387, of which 15,668 children were under guardianship, 1,660 (in foster care, and 3,727 in institutions for orphans and CLPC. [2] In addition, according to data published by the Committee for the Protection of Children’s Rights of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter referred to as the authorized central body), in 2021, 7,731 disadvantaged families were registered with the internal affairs bodies, in which 12,432 children lived, of which 4,730 were on the internal affairs lists.
On average, 2,000 children are admitted to the Juvenile Adaptation Centers per year.[3] Kazakhstan carries out work to prevent diseases, offenses, suicide, bullying among minors, which is often reflected only on paper and in the reports of the responsible agencies. According to the authorized central body, no targeted work is carried out to prevent social orphanhood. A study conducted in January – February 2025 shows that working with dysfunctional families is essentially like “ firefighting”, i.e. the competent authorities are involved only when the situation has already become critical and urgent measures must be taken to resolve it.
Normally, the applicants of such cases are the school, less often neighbors and relatives, and very rarely medical and preschool institutions. The information is sent to the juvenile police, duplicated to the guardianship and trusteeship authorities, then the collected material is transferred to the Commission on Minors and the Protection of Their Rights (hereinafter referred to as the Commission). This Commission makes a decision on the future fate of the child and family within 15-20 minutes. There is no system of support for the child and family by guardianship authorities and/or social services, and monitoring of the situation is mainly carried out by employees of the internal affairs, in particular, inspectors for minors, since these families are registered with the internal affairs agencies.
“I personally monitor these families, since they lived in my administrative area… we can sometimes help them with employment. If a person is on the right path to correction, we try to employ him so that he can provide for his family in the future.” (Matvey, juvenile police)
In the future, work with dysfunctional families should be started by newly created Family Support Centers in Kazakhstan, which are opening everywhere after amendments to the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan are introduced in 2024, based on the law known in society as the “Saltanat Law”.[4] Amendments to the main legislation of the country, including the Family Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, came into force on June 12, 2024, but the work of the centers is still being built, recruitment and training of personnel is underway, understanding of the specifics and algorithms of work of specialists in social work with families in difficult life situations (hereinafter – DLS).
“…The problem is that Kazakhstan created the centers, but started training later. And people worked for six months, but they worked incorrectly. They created mobile groups, but mobile groups are not quite ready” (Elena, children’s ombudsman)
Following amendments to the primary legislation, the responsible ministries developed and approved a number of by-laws, according to which children in the DLS should also be covered by the services of Family Support Centers (hereinafter referred to as FSC or Center). In particular, the Rules for maintaining medical and social records, approved by Order No. 211 of the Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated June 21, 2024, stipulate that local executive bodies, from the date of receipt of notification of registration with the internal affairs bodies, within one working day from the date of registration, transfer this information to the FSC. After that, the Center must work with the person/family registered in accordance with two other newly introduced rules: Rules for the implementation of activities of family support centers, approved by the Order of the Minister of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated June 14, 2024 No. 256-r, and Rules for coordinating work to cover individuals (families) in difficult life situations with comprehensive support, within the competence of state bodies, approved by the Order of the Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated June 14, 2024 No. 192.
Medical and social records are maintained for the purposes of providing medical, psychological, social assistance, adaptation and rehabilitation of persons in relation to whom individual preventive measures are taken, as well as coordination of the provision of psychological, social and other assistance, adaptation and rehabilitation of minors who have been subjected to violence, brutal treatment and bullying, or minors in whose presence offenses against the person have been committed, as well as coordination in the implementation of the program of assistance to minors in relation to whom violence has been committed.
The above reasons do not fully reflect the needs of a dysfunctional family, since a family may be in a difficult life situation, including as a result of divorce or illness of a parent and/or child in the family. And in such cases, there is no direct indication of the involvement of the Centers in working with the family. The Centers are not reflected in the Social Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, although this legislative act provides for work with persons in a difficult life situation. The Social Code defines a difficult life situation as a situation recognized on the grounds provided for by the Social Code, objectively disrupting a person’s life, which he cannot overcome on his own.
At the same time, according to Article 5-1 of the Family Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Centers do not have a direct function of providing services to families and individuals in domestic violence, with the exception of providing support to families and individuals with signs of domestic violence. All other work consists of coordination and assistance in obtaining services by individuals (families) in DLS.
From this we can conclude that prevention will remain at the same level, more on paper, children will continue to be admitted to Juvenile Adaptation Centers, and from there to institutions for orphans and CLPC.
“…The numbers should decrease over time, why do they stand in the risk group for 10 years?” (Sara, NGO)
Pros and Cons of Alternative Care
One of the important advantages of alternative care in Kazakhstan and child protection by the state is the provision of children with housing, food, education and medical care. Such a phenomenon as “street children” is not allowed in the country by default. The police deliver neglected and homeless children to the Juvenile Adaptation Centers and Children’s Homes depending on their age and health, where parents are identified and brought to administrative responsibility for failure to fulfill their parental responsibilities. In the absence or impossibility of identifying parents, most children are placed to the guardianship of relatives, some are placed to institutions for orphans and children with disabilities, and some can be placed in foster families or adoptive families. As stated at the beginning of the article, 73% of children out of 21,387 orphans and CLPS are under guardianship (mainly kinship care), 7.76% are in foster care, and 17.43% are in institutions for orphans and CLPC.
Over the past ten years, alternative care and socialization opportunities for orphans and CLPC have been significantly expanded and improved at the legislative level in Kazakhstan: children attend preschool and school educational institutions, in addition to kinship care, children can be placed in foster families, adoptive families, and from July 1, 2025, in professional foster families. Children can also visit relatives and friends in a guest format, and they can also have mentors from among the citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
All orphans and CLPC have the following social benefits: 1) priority right to receive housing after leaving children’s institutions, foster families upon reaching 18 years of age; 2) receiving benefits for the loss of a breadwinner, which is collected and stored in the children’s personal accounts; 3) children have special quotas for receiving professional education both in higher educational institutions and in colleges of the country for free (grants).
According to the nomenclature of educational organizations of the Republic of Kazakhstan, there are officially no orphanages in Kazakhstan. Institutions for orphans and CLPC were renamed into Centers for the support of children in need of special social services. However, the website of state services of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Bureau of National Statistics still uses the term “orphanages”. Changing the name of the organization and the sign on its building does not entail quick changes in practice.
As the study showed, practical activities at the local level do not keep pace with changes in legislation. This is due to the contextual features of legislative initiatives, as well as the inconsistency of intentions to introduce progressive innovations with the real resources of the system, primarily in terms of qualified personnel and the necessary social infrastructure.
An analysis of interviews conducted during the study, as well as news reports from recent years, allows us to identify two key disadvantages of the current alternative care system in Kazakhstan: ongoing violence and corruption, reflecting the general socio-cultural context of the country.
Here are some extracts from the media in Kazakhstan over the past five years: 1) May 25, 2020 – high mortality rates among children with disabilities were reported at a special boarding school in Ayagoz; 2) August 18, 2021 – in Atyrau, caregivers tied children with disabilities to handrails; 3) February 1, 2023 – the head of an orphanage in Pavlodar was suspected of attempting to steal six million tenge.[5]
Participants in the study also spoke about instances of violence against children, both in the family and in the institution; here is one of the stories:
“Yes, there was a fact, a child in a foster family, maybe you heard about this story, he ends up in a foster family, and the parents did not know that he was subjected to sexual abuse, there was not only sexual abuse, there was also physical abuse of the child (in institution for children). And this continued for two or three years in the orphanage. And no one could do anything. The most interesting thing in all this is that later, when all this came to light, everyone knew about it, and the teachers knew, and the director knew, and they could not do anything about it, because there was a large team. But it all came to light by accident, because the child was very withdrawn, he did not like being hugged, … he did not like basic human relationships, which should be between parents and children … He ended up in a family 2 or 3 years later, it was by accident, they found out about it. And when they decided to contact law enforcement agencies, the child directly asked not to raise this issue, not to touch, not to return to this. It was so traumatic for him. And then he says that they knew, and the teachers knew, and the director knew, and everything was limited to just talk. No work, … this situation, it shows about the boarding school system, that although they are behind closed walls outwardly, as if in a safe environment, but in reality such a system cannot guarantee a safe environment. (Tokhtar, NGO)”
The shortcomings of the alternative care system in the country also include a shortage of qualified personnel and fragmentation of services. International social science and practice have proven that a family or the presence of one permanent significant adult is extremely important for a child’s development, and that social pedagogy in institutions can become a positive alternative, while the absence of the first and second leads to destructive factors in the development of the child and negatively affects both the child’s future and society as a whole.[6]
Lack of supervision, monitoring, control and qualified personnel
In Kazakhstan, guardianship and trusteeship authorities, being authorized structures for the protection of children’s rights, still do not provide full supervision, monitoring and control, which are key components of case management in social work.
In this context, it is especially important to ensure that the child is accompanied by specialists from the guardianship authorities when he or she is removed from the family, including:
- inform him in child-friendly language about the reasons for what is happening,
- explain what will happen next,
- provide emotional support.
International practice provides for mandatory crisis psychological support when moving a child, using specially trained “family escorts” to provide the child with emotional stability. The presence of specially trained psychologists at the time of removal or movement allows for monitoring the child’s condition and timely response to stress reactions, which is critical for their safety and well-being.
…If any movement of a child from home was accompanied by some kind of specialist, then it would be easier for children to endure the trauma of separation. (Nikita, NGO)
Such gaps in supervision are also related to the lack of clear coordination at the level of local executive bodies and the low level of professional training of specialists working with families. The lack of competencies, clear algorithms and protocols for the provision of services, as well as sufficient motivation among social workers completes the picture – they are overloaded, do not have enough time and resources for in-depth work with each family.
The situation is aggravated by the lack of night and emergency shifts in the social protection system – emergency cases of violence most often occur outside working hours, but the relevant services are unavailable during this period. As a result, response functions are often transferred to the police and doctors, who do not always have the appropriate skills and competencies due to the absence of this functionality in their qualification requirements.
One of the reasons for this situation could also be called a shortage of personnel, since until the beginning of 2025, one or “one and a half” employees per 1 district worked in guardianship and trusteeship authorities, and in the country as a whole – 303 employees in 188 districts of Kazakhstan. Awareness of the shortage of personnel in this area took place, however, only at the end of 2024 were measures taken to increase the staff of guardianship authorities.
“For the first time, the standard for the staffing level of guardianship authorities has been established at the legislative level – one specialist per 5 thousand children. Today, the number of employees of district guardianship authorities has been increased from 303 to 692 people. In 2025, this figure is planned to be significantly expanded, which will increase the availability of assistance for children and their families, as well as improve the quality of work of guardianship authorities”. [7]
This initiative, despite its positive goals, has a huge drawback in that Kazakhstan lacks the practice of training and improving the qualifications of social workers to work with children. In this regard, new personnel will be recruited from among current teachers, lawyers and other available personnel without special training. Misunderstanding the specifics of the work, lack of competencies and algorithms for working with children of this category can lead to an increased risk of harm to the child, even greater trauma and even psychological abuse of children. Not to mention the aggravation of the existing staff turnover in the industry due to professional burnout and fatigue. Here is what the study participants say about the current situation with personnel:
“ … We don’t have time physically, and sometimes even mentally“. Alma, representative of the guardianship authority:
A similar situation – the lack of specialized training coupled with great responsibility and emotional stress – is also present among other specialists called upon to work with children, including police officers, investigators and school psychologists, which reduces the effectiveness of their work. Insufficient motivation of specialists due to low wages, stress and lack of career prospects contributes to staff turnover. At the same time, there is often no practice of advanced training and timely implementation of modern innovative methods and technologies of social work. As Madina from the NGO emphasizes:
“…It is important to train these specialists in new technologies that exist in practice in the global community.”
In addition, according to Aigerim from the Center for Psychological Support, insufficient training of employees of guardianship authorities and commissions on minors’ affairs leads to the fact that they focus on punishment and punitive measures, rather than on providing assistance and support:
“…there are people there who don’t know how to provide support or help; they are focused on punishment.”
A major problem remains the family placement of children left without parental care, which, according to the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, should be a priority. The current practice does not allow placing a child directly in a foster family before the child is registered in the database. In order to register the child in database the child must be placed in institution. And only then, potential foster parents may select children online in this database who they would like to take home, as in an online shop. From July 1, 2025, it will be possible to place a child in a professional foster family. However, in Kazakhstan there is still no specially formed social infrastructure for this, as well as specially trained professional personnel to select, prepare and support these families. These services are still provided by specialists from guardianship authorities, Child Support Centers, as well as volunteers and employees of non-governmental organizations. As a result, there is a high risk of secondary orphanhood (the return of children from foster families to institutions), as well as violence from foster parents.
At the same time, as Nikita from the NGO notes, the professional capabilities of teachers and psychologists, especially school psychologists, are limited by legislative frameworks, despite their competencies. Psychologists who may have the necessary skills and knowledge for diagnosis and therapy, in fact, cannot fully perform their work due to restrictions on their rights:
…The rights of teachers and especially psychologists are clearly limited. The right to diagnose is limited for psychologists, the right to therapy is limited for school psychologists, although they have the competence to work with children’s psyche. (Nikita, NGO)
Overall, trust in government services in Kazakhstan is low, especially in matters of child protection. At the same time, non-governmental organizations are perceived as more accessible, humane and reliable, especially in emergency situations. Children and their families often prefer to contact NGOs directly , whose contact information they have. This is due to both the high level of empathy and responsiveness on the part of public organizations, and the distrust of impersonal, formal actions of government agencies. As NGO representative Vladimir put it:
An ordinary person trusts another ordinary person more than a person in uniform or a person who holds some kind of official position.
As many respondents note, children and their families are not sure that turning to government agencies will bring real help, so sometimes they do not even try to involve them in solving problems.
Paper reforms
In 2020, the author published articles analyzing the child protection system in Kazakhstan.[8] Since then, there have been several paper or legislative initiatives in the field of protecting social orphans, but in practice, no significant changes have occurred. In the absence of parental protection and guardianship, the state can provide these children with material protection, but cannot give them emotional protection and support, which is no less important during the child’s development along with material assistance.
The Government of Kazakhstan continues to be active in promoting paper reforms, under which taxpayers do not always have access to reports on the effectiveness of the money spent on the implementation of certain legislative initiatives. These include the Children of Kazakhstan Program for 2007-2011, the Child Well-Being Index, the Bullying and Suicide Prevention Programs, and the Gender and Family Policy Concept Implementation Plans.
From which we can conclude that due to the ineffectiveness of previous initiatives, new reforms and programs are needed. For example, on March 14, 2025, at the IV meeting of the National Kurultai, President Tokayev K.K. gave a new instruction regarding the well-being of children:
“Representatives of local authorities and public figures remain on the sidelines of domestic violence prevention. In addition, work in this area is currently regulated by different documents, it is not sufficiently coordinated. Therefore, I believe it is right to concentrate all measures within the framework of a single program “Children of Kazakhstan“[9]
Recommendations:
According to the author, family planning, reducing divorces, sex education, increasing parental responsibility and reducing alimony debt should be a priority with regular reporting to the population on the results achieved and coverage of civil court cases similar to the criminal case on the murder of Saltanat Nukenova. At the same time, the state and society should outline their position, for example, as zero tolerance for violence and irresponsibility of parents.
The present and future of social orphans in Kazakhstan can be assessed as unsatisfactory, since the system continues to remain more formal than practice-oriented, with no signs of sustainability of personnel and resources at both the central and local levels, which leads to low quality of services and a decrease in the level of public trust, the absence of mechanisms and policies to ensure the interests of the child, including mental health and cognitive development. All initiatives in this area require planned and in-depth revision, including costs for training personnel, social protection of guardianship staff, and friendly infrastructure.
[1] This publication is based on the results of a scientific study, 32 interviews were conducted between December 2024 and January 2025. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of KIMEP University (Kazakhstan). The study was partially funded by KIMEP University. The study was conducted jointly with experts from the Family Academy Public Foundation.
[2] Bureau of National Statistics of the Republic of Kazakhstan. (April 2025). Orphans and children left without parental care. Bureau of National Statistics of the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan. https://bala.stat.gov.kz/deti-siroty-i-deti-ostavshiesya-bez-popecheniya-roditelej/
[3] Appelgants E.P., Kusmanova A.G., Satybaeva A.U., Beimisheva A.S., Shaimova D.E., Mukan S.M., Report on the situation of children in the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2022. (2023) file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/b8ee69921eeadb84f1e65a983f8689a3_original.4360246.pdf
[4] This law was the first in the history of Kazakhstani law to receive a name from society – in memory of Saltanat Nukenova, who was killed by her husband, former Minister of Economy Kuandyk Bishimbayev (https://orda.kz/tokaev-podpisal-zakon-saltanat-385129/).
[5] Aisanov, D. (May 25, 2020). Why disabled children die in a special boarding school in Ayagoz. Informburo.kz. https://informburo.kz/stati/pochemu-v-specinternate-v-ayagoze-umirayut-deti-invalidy.html; Abilov, F. (August 18, 2021). Tied to the toilet: a shocking video from a boarding school for disabled children. Weekly newspaper “Ak Zhaiyk”. https://azh.kz/ru/news/view/78596; BaigeNews.kz. (February 1, 2023). Corruption in an orphanage: they tried to steal six million tenge in Pavlodar region. https://baigenews.kz/corruption-in-a-child-house-six-million-tenge-pytalis-pohitit-v-pavlodarskoy-oblasti_146532/.
[6] Bowlby, J. (1951). Maternal care and mental health (Vol. 2). World Health Organization; Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss: Vol. 2. Separation: anxiety and anger. Hogarth Press; Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Attachment (2nd ed.). Hogarth Press; Petrie, P., Boddy, J., Cameron, C., Wigfall, V., & Simon, A. (2006). Working with children in care: European perspectives. McGraw-Hill Education (UK); Flint, B. M. (1973). New hope for deprived children. University of Toronto Press; Fisher, L., Ames, E. W., Chisholm, K., & Savoie, L. S. (1997). Problems reported by parents of Romanian orphans adopted to British Columbia. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 20(1), 67–82.
[7] Vecher.kz (January 24, 2025). The number of guardianship authorities in Kazakhstan will be increased by 2.5 times. https://vecher.kz/ru/article/v-25-raza-uvelichat-shtat-organov-opeki-v-kazahstane.html
[8] Mussabalinova, A. (2020, June) Kazakhstan: End of the Orphanage Era?. Cabar.asia. https://cabar.asia/en/kazakhstan-end-of-the-orphanage-era; Mussabalinova, A. (2020, November). Formalism, Tribalism, and Nationalism in the Protection of Children’s Rights in Kazakhstan. Cabar.asia. https://cabar.asia/en/formalism-tribalism-and-nationalism-in-the-protection-of-children-s-rights-in-kazakhstan
[9] Official website of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. (March 14, 2025). Speech by the Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at the fourth meeting of the National Kurultai. Akorda.kz. https://www.akorda.kz/ru/vystuplenie-glavy-gosudarstva-kasym-zhomarta-tokaeva-na-chetvertom-zasedanii-nacionalnogo-kurultaya-142359