Here is the entire article, sorry I did not see it posted below on a different thread.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/art...685562,00.html
Russian orphanages spending less than a penny a day on each child
Tom Parfitt in Moscow
Friday January 13, 2006
The Guardian
An investigation by the Russian general prosecutor's office into violations of the law in state orphanages has found some institutions allocate as little as 30 kopecks (0.6p) a day for each child's care.
The report reveals catastrophic conditions in thousands of children's homes across the country, many of them crumbling buildings where children go barefoot or without adequate clothing. Critics yesterday blamed the scandal on President Vladimir Putin's decision in 2004 to transfer responsibility for funding of most social services to Russia's 87 regions, many of which are cash-starved.
Announcing the report's conclusions, deputy-general prosecutor Sergei Fridinsky said it had "established that in many regions of Russia the guarantee of social support to orphans is being violated; that is, not fulfilled".
Commentators said the report was a stark reminder that although high oil prices are pushing a boom in the economy, the revenues have yet to trickle down to some of the country's most needy.
Boris Altshuler, director of the Right of the Child organisation, said conditions in many institutions were "absolutely terrifying", citing a recent case of a child who was forced to dig a grave for another orphan. Results of the prosecutors' investigation have been sent to health minister Mikhail Zurabov with a demand to rectify the situation.
A separate report on conditions in institutions for mentally disabled children, which is being drafted by the Kremlin's human rights ombudsman, has recorded numerous complaints of maltreatment, the Guardian learned yesterday. "We found cases of beating of patients, children being used as forced labour and cleaners standing in for medical personnel," said Natalia Yakovleva, of the ombudsman's staff.
An adviser to the state duma's committee on women, children and the family said the decision to pass social spending to regional authorities had caused "very serious problems".
Corruption and poor training are thought to be factors in the abuse. Mr Fridinsky identified funding as the key problem, with most institutions short of minimum budgets by 5% to 20%. Last year 68 of Russia's regions had to rely on federal handouts to break even. Orphanages for retarded children in Mordovia had a budget of 2.8 rubles (5p) a child a day, those in Karelia had 1.4 rubles and one centre in Petrozavodsk, western Russia, was allocating 30 kopecks a child.
Experts said the critical funding situation was compounded by poor public oversight of orphanages, and obstacles to adoption. "These are practically closed institutions which are completely unaccountable," Mr Altshuler said. "MPs have repeatedly rejected the idea of independent public inspections of children's homes without prior announcement." Alexander Filimonov, the director of the Kardymov orphanage in Smolensk region, said increased help to parents who could give orphans a home was vital. "A lot of money could be saved if we placed kids with families, where they are much more likely to prosper," he said.