The foster care system started developing in Kyrgyzstan in 2012, but first foster families appeared only in 2014. In this period, foster parents welcomed over 200 children.
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A foster family is when a person or a couple takes care of a foster child by agreement. As parents take care of the child for a certain period, the territorial subdivision of the authorised child care agency and the foster parents enter into an agreement. It becomes valid upon signing and continues for a given period. This document specifies the rights and obligations of foster parents, as well as the child’s rights.
To become foster parents in Kyrgyzstan, you need to submit the following documents:
- an application form;
- a copy of the applicant(s)’s passport;
- certificate of marriage (if married);
- a notarised consent of a spouse (if married);
- proof of family status;
- certificate of no criminal record or cancellation of a criminal record;
- medical certificate from a state medical prevention and medical and social entity confirming the health status of the applicant and their family members, the absence of diseases listed by the government of the Kyrgyz Republic, which prevent the applicant from being a guardian (custodian), foster parent, adoptive parent;
- reference letter from a place of work or a place of resident;
- full autobiography of the applicants;
- letters of references from at least three referees. A referee can be every citizen of Kyrgyzstan, who is not a relative of the applicant and who has known them for at least one year. The officers of territorial subdivisions receive written references via written interviewing of referees.
According to the chief specialist of the Family and Child Care Office of the Ministry of Labour and Social Development of the Kyrgyz Republic, Ainura Sharshenalieva, the foster care system is well developed in neighbouring republics, which gives the right to a child in difficult situation to be raised in a family and to avoid an orphanage.
Main photo: blog.adoptuskids