“Sustaining Family-Care Models for Children in Ukraine” Conference Held in Kyiv

USAID Deputy Mission Director Diane Tsitsos speaks at the “Sustaining Family-Care Models for Children in Ukraine” Conference Kyiv - June 05, 2008. Minister of Family, Youth and Sports Yuriy Pavlenko and USAID Deputy Mission Director Diane Tsitsos opened the “Sustaining Family-Care Models for Children in Ukraine” Conference on May 26 with introductory presentations on the importance of child welfare and the need to support at-risk and vulnerable families.   “Our support for the Families for Children Project during the past three and a half years has been aimed at assisting the government of Ukraine to strengthen child welfare systems through the establishment of family-based alternatives for children that are institutionalized, and to reduce the risk of child abandonment through the development of support structures for vulnerable families, including families affected by HIV/AIDS,” explained Ms.  Tsitsos.   The conference’s goal was to present best practices and model programs for child welfare services, which USAID’s Families for Children Project has developed and implemented in Ukraine.  Conference participants discussed how these models will be sustained and replicated nationwide in the future.   On the second day of the conference, U.S.  Deputy Chief of Mission James Pettit presented awards of appreciation to representatives of the Families for Children Project pilot sites, including local government officials, for their support in developing the project regionally.  Daniel Lauer, project director for project implementer, Holt International, and Families for Children Chief of Party Alyona Gerasimova presented certificates to individuals for personal contributions to the project’s success.

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