Although they are making great strides in supporting families in crisis, the country of Latvia has a number of children residing in out of home care (foster care or orphanage settings). Children are removed from biological families due to parents' lack of parenting skills, limited resources, alcoholism and domestic violence.
In 2013, data showed there were 8,100 orphans in Latvia.
63% of them were living with guardians, 14% in foster families and 23% – in orphanages, according to Welfare Ministry.
Some 82,000 children are said to live in orphanages in Ukraine. However, Ukrainian activists put the number closer to 200,000.
The 2014 U.S. State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP) stated, "Children in orphanages and crisis centers continue to be particularly vulnerable to trafficking within Ukraine."
Condemned to a life of isolation and neglect, children with disabilities are transferred to adult psychiatric facilities or nursing homes when they are about 16 years old, where they will stay until they die. But those with little or no disabilities "graduate" from state-run institutions and find themselves ill-equipped to face life on their own.
• 10% of orphans will commit suicide by their 18th birthday.
• 60% of the girls will end up in prostitution.
• 70% of the boys will enter a life of crime.
• Only 20% of orphans will find work.