Considerations regarding the evolution of the Romanian System for the protection of the Child Rights following 1989

The Romanian child rights protection system has undergone multiple transformations over the nearly 30 years since the 1989 Romanian revolution. New institutions have been set up to ensure the coordination of this system at national and county level. Quality standards have been developed for social services offered to children and their families. Large non-performing residential institutions have been closed. Family-type houses and a foster care system have been established so that children who could not remain in their natural or enlarged families can benefit from conditions as close as possible to a family environment. But there are still much that can be improved. From the opening to the community of residential child protection services until equal treatment is ensured for all categories of children at risk. Finally, awareness of the importance of initial and continuing training of staff working in the child protection system. All these improvements require human, material and financial resources to be provided continuously and consistently, as children continue to be the most vulnerable category of people under the care of the Romanian state.