Nobody knows how many children in villages in FBiH live without parents, new law will regulate this area

The House of Representatives of the Parliament of FBiH recently adopted the draft law on foster care, which experts will further refine in the coming weeks.

After the law is adopted, the area of guardianship over children without parents, as well as elderly and infirm persons who do not have adequate care from their own families, will be regulated according to modern world regulations.

Experts from the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Policy explain to the BiH news agency Patria that there are currently about 420 children and 80 adults placed in another family in the Federation of BiH. Foster children are mostly placed in relative families, although there are several cases where families not related to the foster child have taken over their guardianship.

A far greater number of persons needing care are placed in homes for neglected children or nursing homes.
This ministry explains that there are actually no reliable data in FBiH on how many people in FBiH live in foster families.

- There are cases, especially in villages, where after the parents' demise, the care for the children is taken over by the grandparents, if they are alive, or other close family members... The ministry often has no insight into these cases, although they should have data on such children or the elderly – the ministry notes.

The Law on Foster Care in FBiH, which will soon be before the Parliament of FBiH, and which should regulate the institution of foster families, also provides for two types of financial compensation for families who take a foster child into their home; around 200 KM for the foster parent's effort and the same amount for the foster child's expenses. This amount will be higher if the foster parent takes care of sick children and adults.

- According to the new law, priority in taking over foster care will be given to family members, then potential foster parents from the place where the foster child lives, and only then other families – the ministry explains, adding that every foster child feels best in the place where they were born.

The Law on Foster Care should increase the number of families taking in foster children, which should also contribute to their better quality of life, writes NAP.