June 16, 1999
Contact: Jeffron Boynes
(312) 413-8702
[email protected]
UIC HELPS ROMANIAN DELEGATION
Officials visit UIC to examine community-based child welfare options
Confronted with a population of more than 92,000 institutionalized children and thousands more roaming the streets, a team of 14 Romanian child welfare officials came to the University of Illinois at Chicago to learn how to improve the quality of child care services in their country.
The delegation visited the Jane Addams College of Social Work at UIC to study America's child welfare system as part of a four-week U.S. tour sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development: World Learning and Parkland College. UIC's primary role during the visit was to address the issue of social work education in building a community-based, family-focused child welfare system.
"The Romanian officials came to UIC to learn of the partnership between university schools of social work and local child welfare agencies," said Donna Petras, visiting assistant professor at the Jane Addams College and program coordinator for the UIC visit. "UIC is a leader in the field of child welfare services. Here at the Jane Addams College, under the leadership of Dean Creasie Finney Hairston, we've developed a very strong child welfare program with strong links to the service delivery of public and voluntary agencies in Chicago."
Researchers say that as Romania continues its transition from a planned to a free-market economy, increased demands are being placed on its social welfare system. With an alarming increase in unemployment, homelessness among youth and adults, domestic abuse, alcoholism and AIDS, the Romanians are trying to figure out their role in the delivery of social services, and how best to address problems in a country faced with the highest rate of institutionalized children in Eastern Europe.
According to Petras, the Romanians have the elements in place for an effective child welfare system, but lack "a collaborative system of care so that the resources they have available can be harnessed and brought to bear on the problems facing them." "The Romanians come from a very 'top-down' government, where nothing is done unless someone tells you what to do," said Petras. "They are trying to get people involved, and to become mobilized at the local level to get something done, which is something we're familiar with here in Chicago."
Under the 25-year Communist regime, Romania's government adopted policies banning all birth control and adoption, and supporting large families via stipends. The goal was to produce workers;
therefore, the health and social development of children was unimportant, says Rebecca T. Davis, Ph.D., CCSW, a leading authority on child welfare in Romania.
"If Romanian families were unable to provide adequate care for their children, institutions funded by the state readily accepted them. As a result, child placements in institutions often occurred because of severe economic hardship, where families literally could not feed or clothe their children," Davis writes in an article titled A Profile of Social Work in Romania Today (submitted for publication in February, 1996).
Davis believes social work in Romania today is at a critical stage of development, and the profession of social work is not yet fully established.
"After the fall of Communism, the position of social worker was more administrative and bureaucratic rather than professional and service-oriented," writes Davis. "In a country in which 'child protection' has been 'institutional care' for 20 years, Romanians are concerned about each other, and very sensitive about the 'world view' of Romania. They are eager to improve their standard of living, yet they often express their frustration at not having a shared understanding of social work concepts."
For that reason, the U.S. has vowed to help Romania by introducing them to social work as a profession, and by teaching them the role of a child welfare system in a democracy.
One main feature of the Romanian's UIC visit was the rigorous instruction they received in action planning, so that when the delegation leaves the U.S., they will have written plans on how to apply what they've learned to their own environment. While in Chicago, the Romanians also visited public and private child welfare agencies and community centers with connections to UIC.
"We've been teaching all of our visitors the importance of building links to the community, and the role of a university in supporting child welfare programs," Petras said. "In that way, UIC and the Jane Addams College of Social Work are having a direct impact not only on child welfare services in Illinois, but internationally as well."
The mission of the Jane Addams College of Social Work is to educate professional social workers, develop knowledge, and provide leadership in the development and implementation of policies and services on behalf of the poor, the oppressed, racial and ethnic minorities, and other at-risk urban populations.
With 25,000 students, the University of Illinois at Chicago is the largest and most diverse university in the Chicago area. UIC is home to the largest medical school in the United States and is one of the 88 leading research universities in the country. Located just west of Chicago's Loop, UIC is a vital part of the educational, technological and cultural fabric of the area.
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