More than 20 new training cohorts at the School for Foster Parents will start in 2025.

      In 2025, an updated training program has been prepared for new prospective foster parents.

      Twenty-two new training cohorts at the School of Foster Parenting will start in the autumn. In 2025 an updated training program has been prepared for prospective foster parents. The School of Foster Parenting helps candidates prepare to meet a child, assess their resources and capabilities, understand their motivation, and dispel myths and stereotypes. Upon completion of the school, candidates receive a certificate and the right to register in the database of prospective foster parents.

      “In 2024, 1,213 people completed training in foster parent schools, which is 26% more than the year before. One fifth of those trained — 230 people — registered in the candidate database. Each year the number of orphans and children left without parental care in the region decreases. In 2024 their number fell by 5.9%, and in the first half of 2025 by another 3.6%. At the moment there are 8,049 such children. More than 94% of them are being raised in foster families. But we would like more children to find parents,” noted the Minister of Social Policy of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, Igor Sedykh.

      To increase the number of candidates, two new Schools of Foster Parenting were launched in Nizhny Novgorod earlier this year at the Autonomous Nonprofit Organization (ANO) “Resource Center ‘Children in the Family’” and the Charitable Foundation “Alisa.” Currently, candidate training in the region is conducted at 57 social and educational institutions and non-profit organizations.

      As Svetlana Meller, head of the Resource Center “Children in the Family,” explained, the existing school program had not changed since 2013. The new program was developed by specialists with extensive experience working with foster families.

      “Unfortunately, every year some children from foster families return to orphanages or move to other families: 123 children in 2023 and 93 children in 2024. This is partly due to some parents being unprepared for difficulties or having incorrect expectations about foster parenting. The previous preparation program for prospective foster parents was outdated. The new program places great emphasis on helping candidates determine their motivation, assess their resources, and prepare for possible difficulties. Our task is to change the focus: not a child for the family, but a family for the child,” commented Svetlana Meller.

      The 2025 School of Foster Parenting program includes six specialized modules: preparation for parents wishing to take into their family children with disabilities; adolescents; sibling groups; children with HIV infection; as well as modules for relatives of children and for persons wishing to take children into care on a temporary placement basis as a resource family.

      “Many candidates would like to take into their family a single small child under 2–3 years old. But orphanages mainly house children older than 10, children who have two, three or more brothers and sisters, and children with disabilities. They need a family, attention, care, and an adult of their own no less than little children do. We hope that the introduction of additional modules will help more children find a family,” concluded Svetlana Meller.

      Classes at the school are free and take place in small groups of 3 to 15 people. Training is offered in two formats: in-person and online. A preliminary interview is required to enroll in the school. More information can be obtained by phone: +7 (831) 274-66-39 (ext. 2714) or +7 (991) 833-32-52.

      The ANO “Resource Center ‘Children in the Family’” will hold classes this year at its site both in-person and online. For candidates from Nizhny Novgorod the in-person course starts on September 4 at: 11/66 Belinskogo St. Classes will be held in the evenings every Thursday, and the final assessment will take place on December 19. The online course for candidates from remote territories starts on September 15 and runs until November 21. Classes will be held on Mondays and Fridays from 17:30 to 20:30.

      In-person training will also take place at a number of social institutions and NGOs; the list of sites is provided for reference.

      Support for families with children is a separate area of work within the new national project “Family.”

      As a reminder, the national project “Family” began in the country in 2025 by order of the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin. The new national project succeeds the previously implemented national projects “Demography” and “Culture.” It envisages measures to promote the comprehensive development of families: expanding support measures, creating conditions for active longevity of the older generation, and ensuring quality and accessible medical care.

      Reference

      Schools of Foster Parenting in in-person format at social institutions and NGOs in 2025:

      - From August 27 — at the Social Rehabilitation Center for Minors “Solnyshko” of the Leninsky District of Nizhny Novgorod. To register: +7 (953) 558-81-00.

      - From August 28 — at the Social Rehabilitation Center for Minors of the Balakhna Municipal District. Registration phones: 8 (831) 444-61-00, 8 (987) 539-94-40.

      - From August 30 — at the Regional Social Rehabilitation Center for Minors “Brigantina” in Nizhny Novgorod. Details: 8 (831) 242-26-22.

      - From September 4 — at the Social Rehabilitation Center for Minors of the Balakhna Municipal District. To register: 8 (831) 444-61-00.

      - From September 5 — at the “First Sanatorium Children’s Home” site in Nizhny Novgorod. To register: +7 (831) 225-40-49.

      - From September 6 — at the “Center for Assistance, Adaptation and Correction of Minors, including orphans and children left without parental care” in Nizhny Novgorod. To register: +7 (831) 433-44-02.

      - From September 8 — at the Social Rehabilitation Center for Minors “Alyi Parus” of the Kstovo Municipal District. To register: 8 (831) 454-30-32.

      - From September 10 — at the “Family Center ‘Lada’” in Nizhny Novgorod in-person, and from September 13 — in a mixed in-person/remote format. To register: 8 (953) 561-44-13.

      - From September 15 — at the “Krasnobakovsky Children’s Home” site. To register: 8 (831) 562-34-29.

      - In the first half of September — at the “Dzerzhinsky Sanatorium Children’s Home” site. To register: 8 (831) 320-59-48.

      - From September 16 — at the “Center for Social Development of the Nizhny Novgorod Region” site. To register: 234-03-73.

      - From September 17 — at the Social Rehabilitation Center for Minors “Lastochka” in Nizhny Novgorod. Details: +7 (831) 419-94-55 and +7 (831) 419-77-94.

      - Until the end of September — in-person and online at the Charitable Foundation “Alisa” in Nizhny Novgorod. Phone for registration and inquiries: +7 (910) 007-00-55.

      - October 1 — at GBU “TsPSSD ‘Teremok’ of the Voskresensky Municipal District.” Phones: 8 (831) 639-23-82, 8 (904) 793-48-88.

      - October 1 — at GBU “TsPSSD of the urban district of Arzamassk.” Registration phones: +7 (910) 104-02-30, +7 (831) 476-32-86.

      - October 29 — at GBU SRCTN “Ulybka” of the Avtozavodsky District. Phone: 8 (831) 256-26-10, ext. 209.

      - October 29 — at GBU SRCTN “Solnyshko” in the Leninsky District. Details: +7 (831) 244-16-35 and +7 (831) 250-05-41.

      - November 29 — at the Family Center “Lada” in Nizhny Novgorod in-person, and on December 2 — in a mixed in-person/remote format. Registration phone: 8 953 561 44 13.

      - December 6 — at GBU OSRCTS “Brigantina” in the Kanavinsky District. Training will finish in the new year on February 28. Registration: +7 (831) 242-26-22.

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