Post-Orphanage Support Program: "School of Life"

Project description

At age 18, according to Russian law, all orphans are required to leave the protective orphanage environment and cope with the often harsh realities of today's Russian society. It is a critical and threatening time. Most are inexperienced, impressionable and vulnerable to the influences and temptations that await them. Almost all of these young people lack necessary life skills, employment and guidance; some are even left without suitable housing. With all these strikes against them, many orphanage graduates are easily exploited, run afoul of the law, become depressed, addicted to intoxicants and worse. (Click here to read more about the plight of the Russian orphan.)

Using information we gained from our extensive Orphanage Community Assessment Project, we were able to identify areas in which graduates need the most support. In response, Friends of Russian Orphans, in partnership with our YARBOO Advisory Council and dozens of concerned orphanage personnel, has designed the Post-Orphanage Support Program. This important endeavor, known as the "School of Life" program in Yaroslavl, prepares teenagers during their final year of residence for their approaching independence and supports them during their first year out of the orphanage.

Launched in September 2005, "School of Life" presents senior orphanage residents with a practical 36-unit course (one lesson per week) in life skills necessary to cope successfully in the outside world: shopping, cooking, household management, bill paying, job seeking, security, law and so on. This course is reinforced by a newly published pocket-sized guide book, You Can Do It!, that provides each graduate with a wealth of practical information: important telephone numbers, personal hygiene, nutrition, emergency medical and legal help, orphans' rights, housing, sexual relationships, entertainment, and much more.

During their final year, teenagers choose a mentor/counselor from one of the trained staff members at their orphanage. For the next year, mentors and their graduates, according to a contract signed by both, meet a minimum of twice a week to discuss important issues and to solve the many problems that inevitably arise. All mentors meet monthly to their director and meet quarterly as a group to review progress and to problem-solve. The director maintains a "hotline" to deal with urgent issues.

Rationale

The mission of Friends of Russian Orphans is to improve the lives of Yaroslavl's orphans, both those who live in orphanages and those who have graduated from their state-sponsored homes. We hope our support of young adult orphans will help them build the foundation they need for happy and successful lives as adults in normal Russian society.

Project cost

The cost of the first pilot year for "School of Life" was approximately $11,000. Friends of Russian Orphans underwrote this entire program. We expected that if the pilot was successful, costs will increase to support a larger number of participants in the program.

Considering the potential value of the findings from this pilot project, the FRO Board agreed that $11,000 is a small price to pay. These funds will cover payment for the counselors' time with their assigned orphans as well as the director's time, recordkeeping and analysis for the period of one year.

Project status

The Post-Orphanage Support Program has completed its first year with resounding success. Starting in June 2005, 18 trained orphanage counselors worked individually with 27 teenagers during their first year of independent post-orphanage life. In weekly -- sometimes daily -- meetings, the counselors helped the graduates adjust to their new, often threatening world: by learning to organize their lives, fend for themselves, manage their households, establish healthy realtionships, live within the law, work, study... cope. Throughout the pilot year, all 27 counselor-graduate relationships remained intact.

Counselors and vocational-school administrators in particular have noted what a marked difference one mature, caring adult can make in the life of a post-orphanage adolescent. It has also been reported that some kids who will soon graduate are feeling less anxiety about their future because of what they witnessed their friends experiencing in the pilot program.

In the program's second year, new graduates from all Yaroslavl orphanages have been added to the program, while a second year of support is being provided to six orphans from the pilot year who need additional counseling.

The Yaroslavl Oblast (region) has recently passed laws requiring orphanages to arrange for post-orphanage support programs, and will begin to fund these programs in the near future.

In July, 2006, the Post-Orphanage Support Program (and all other FRO programs) received an independent evaluation by the MiraMed Institute in Moscow; click here to view their report (PDF file, 82K).

In September, 2006, V.A. Chernichkina of Demidov University in Yaroslavl reported that the graduates of the Post-Orphanage Support Program showed marked improvement in several areas over graduates who had not received similar support in the year after leaving their orphanage.

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