The State Duma Chairman proposed giving orphans’ close relatives—grandparents, adult siblings and others—priority to become guardians, without additional housing requirements, mandatory psychological testing or guardianship training. A child should be raised in their birth family if possible. Vyacheslav Volodin said this at the Duma Council while a government bill on additional requirements for prospective guardians of orphans was being discussed.
‘This is about protecting children’s rights. We discussed this issue with Mikhail Vladimirovich Mishustin during the government’s report,’ Vyacheslav Volodin said. ‘The bill submitted by the government puts close relatives—grandmothers and grandfathers—on the same list as other people who must undergo psychological testing and guardianship training and have suitable housing conditions to obtain guardianship. If their housing conditions are cramped, they may be denied guardianship and the child will go to an orphanage. This is unacceptable.’
“When the bill is considered at first reading, the Government should adopt a resolution stating that we will return to this issue at second reading and enshrine these provisions as directly applicable rules in the law,” Vyacheslav Volodin added.
The State Duma chairman instructed the Committee on Family, Women and Children to prepare a draft resolution and work on the relevant second-reading amendments.