How the US Can Help Reduce the Number of Orphans Worldwide
The Families for Orphans Coalition proposes that an Office for Orphan Policy, Development and Diplomacy (OOPDD) be established within the U.S. Department of State. The office would be headed by a specially appointed Coordinator and be responsible for developing and implementing a comprehensive, evidence-based strategy to support the preservation and reunification of families and the provision of permanent families for orphans worldwide.

Below are a few examples of ways the Office for Orphan Policy, Development and Diplomacy could immediately act to reduce the number of children growing up without parents in various places throughout the world.

Romania: A Case Study
In the mid 1960's, Dictator Nicolae Ceausescu decided that Romania ought to have 25 million people. At the time the population was 19 million. He designated the title “Heroine Mother” for any woman who bore and brought up ten or more children. For seven to nine children, a woman won the order of “Maternal Glory.” For five or six children, she was given the “Maternity Medal.” To help boost the population, Ceausescu banned abortion and birth control. In conditions of national destitution, the result was a staggering epidemic of women abandoning babies at birth. By the time the Ceausescus were executed on Christmas Day 1989, there were approximately 100,000 children living in appalling conditions in the country’s orphanages. To this day, the Romanian government struggles to overcome this legacy.

In 2005, the Romanian government banned international adoption and instead turned its focus to implementing domestic strategies such as “day care” and foster care. UNICEF recently estimated that at least 31,000 children remain institutionalized and 9,000 are abandoned each year. Amidst pressure from the European Union to reduce the number of institutionalized children, Romanian officials claim the abandonment rate is half of what was cited by UNICEF. Whatever the case, all parties agree that children and families are still at risk in Romania. Given all of the above, the Office for Orphan Policy, Development, and Diplomacy could engage directly with the Romanian government to:

• Assess the number and types of at-risk children and families.
• Promote and support the expansion of day care options for at-risk families.
• Promote and support efforts to reduce poverty among families with dependent children.
• Promote and support opportunities for older, institutionalized children to find permanent families.