The "Foster Parenting School" will launch 22 new training sessions for Nizhny Novgorod residents.

      August 28, 2025, 8:00 PM

      [326]

      Society

      This autumn 2025, 22 new training cohorts will start at the School for Foster Parents in the Nizhny Novgorod region. An updated training program has been prepared for potential foster parent candidates. The regional Ministry of Social Policy reported this.

      According to the ministry, the "School for Foster Parents" helps candidates assess their resources and capabilities, understand their motivation, dispel myths and stereotypes, and prepare for meeting a child. Upon completion of the school, residents of Nizhny Novgorod receive the relevant certificate and the right to register in the database of prospective foster parents.

      "In 2024, more than 1,200 people completed training at 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 it fell by 5.9%, and in the first half of 2025 by another 3.6%. We now have about 8,000 such children. More than 94% of them are raised in foster families, but we would like even more children to find parents," said Igor Sedykh, Minister of Social Policy of the Nizhny Novgorod Region.

      To help an even greater number of Nizhny Novgorod residents become foster parents, two new schools were launched in Nizhny Novgorod earlier this year. They operate on the basis of the ANO Resource Center "Children in the Family" and the Alisa Charitable Foundation. In total, candidate training in the region is conducted at 57 social and educational institutions and non-profit organizations.

      According to Svetlana Meller, head of the Resource Center "Children in the Family," the School for Foster Parents program had not changed since 2013. A new program was developed by specialists with extensive experience working with foster families.

      "The previous training program for prospective foster parents had become outdated. The new program places a strong emphasis on helping candidates determine their motivation, assess their own resources, and prepare for possible difficulties. Our task is to change the focus: not the child for the family, but the family for the child!" Svetlana Meller explained.

      For 2025, several specialized modules have been included in the School for Foster Parents’ curriculum. Specialists prepare people who wish to take into their families children with disabilities, teenagers, siblings, and children living with HIV. Special modules have also been developed for relatives of children and for people who want to take children into their care on a temporary placement basis — as a resource family.

      "Many candidates would like to take into the family a single young child aged up to 2–3 years. However, orphanages mainly house children over 10 years old, those who have two, three or more brothers and sisters, and children with disabilities. Like infants, they need a family, attention, care and their own adult. We believe that introducing additional modules into our School’s training program will help more children find a family," Svetlana Meller said.

      Classes at the School for Foster Parents are free and organized for small groups of 3 to 15 people. Training is offered in two formats: in-person and online. To enroll in the School, a preliminary interview is required. For details call: +7 (831) 274-66-39 (ext. 2714) or +7 (991) 833-32-52.

      This year ANO Resource Center "Children in the Family" will hold thematic sessions at its venue both in person and online. For candidates from Nizhny Novgorod the in-person course starts on September 4 at 11/66 Belinsky Street. Classes will be held in the evenings every Thursday, with the final assessment taking place on December 19. The online course for candidates from other localities starts on September 15 and runs until November 21. Classes will be held on Mondays and Fridays from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM.

      In-person training will also be held at a number of social institutions and non-profit organizations. A list of venues can be found on the Ministry of Social Policy’s website.

      Recall that support for families with children is a separate area of work within the national project "Family," which launched in the country in 2025 on the instruction of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The new national project succeeds the previous "Demography" and "Culture" national projects. 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.

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