Boarding school graduates engage in institutional care reform – Ministry of Social Policy

Ukraine is overhauling its institutional care system for children, with a central focus on involving young people with boarding school backgrounds in shaping national policy.

Mariia Sakuta, Director General of the Directorate for Overcoming Difficult Life Circumstances at the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, shared this update during a briefing at the Media Center Ukraine.

“Last year, we approved a strategy for reforming institutional care facilities through 2028, along with an operational plan extending to 2026. One of the main goals of this strategy is to develop policies aimed at supporting families and children, facilitating the social integration of young people after they leave institutions, and transforming the overall care system,” Sakuta stated.

She recalled that in 2023, Ukraine’s Ministry of Social Policy established the DIiMO Children and Youth Office, an advisory body designed to serve as a bridge between the state and youth with experience in institutional care.

“This office acts as an intermediary between the government and the children and young people living in institutional facilities. It helps them find their voice and reflect on their experiences, especially those issues they may feel unable to raise with adult mentors,” Sakuta emphasized.

She stressed that the participation of children in the reform process is not symbolic but fundamental to achieving meaningful change.

“I want to highlight that involving children and youth with lived experience in institutional care is not merely an ethical consideration embraced by the state, it is one of the essential prerequisites for successfully implementing this deinstitutionalization reform,” she added.

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