# data[].attributes.body
"Studies claim that the neglect and damage caused by deprivation in early childhood are akin to violent abuse"

# data[].attributes.body
"National Plan of Action for Children...[works to] protect... the rights of children deprived of parental care by gradually dismantling the institutional forms of protection currently in place and encouraging family based care."

# data[].attributes.body
" Growth failure and developmental delay is a consequence of over crowded conditions with little social stimulation and no variety of experience."

# data[].attributes.body
In social groups, disabled children are taken care of in a clinic, but little specialization for their disability, which stunts their development.

# data[].attributes.body
"A third of the children [in the Belgrade institutions] are considered to have disabilities." Little to none of these children are handled accordingly

# data[].attributes.body
"... children are placed unnecessarily and for too long in institutions"

# data[].attributes.body
It takes as little as 3 months of living in an institution to resort a child to complete silence and emotional restraint.

# data[].attributes.body
"Sasha’s resilience is rarely seen in institutionalised young children" The reason for Sash's resilience is unknown.

# data[].attributes.body
"Sasha’s behaviour is proof that he has not given up on his social environment while most of the other children in the room just lay motionless and stare into space without showing any emotion or emitting a sound."

# data[].attributes.body
"[W]hen picked up by a visitor [Sasha] becomes calm and cuddly...[w]hen offered a teddy bear,...he cuddles it with a firm grip, afraid it might be taken away from him at any time."

# data[].attributes.body
Other practices that damage the mother-child relationship include separating the mother and child shortly after birth, and reuniting them only to breast feed.

# data[].attributes.body
" The next steps include transfering certain number of children from institutions into a less restrictive environment in the nearest future, developing services contingent upon actual needs in municipalities where residential institutions are located and creating efficient gate-keeping mechanism to prevent future placement of children in institutions"

# data[].attributes.body
By 2006, 19 institutions were being fixed and specialized for this purpose.

# data[].attributes.body
In 2002, the Serbian government started working to individualize the disability of each disabled child in an institution and work to get the child in a specialized care.

# data[].attributes.body
"...[The]  National Plan of Action for Children... will imply a shift away from state residential care and towards a more integrated approach designed to help parents meet the needs of the child and to create support in the communities in which these children and their families live."

# data[].attributes.body
"...little attempt to engage the parents in the physical and emotional care of their child"

# data[].attributes.body
" The missed milestones in development have a knock on effect and the children never reach their optimal potential for physical and psycho-social growth and development.

# data[].attributes.body
Children in institutions who are disabled are not handled properly, sometimes being restrained

# data[].attributes.body
"[The] growth failure, known as psycho-social dwarfism, is the result of social and emotional deprivation and overcrowding commonly seen in institutionalised young children."

# data[].attributes.body
Staff to child ratio is 1:10, showing in numbers the lack of attention the children receive.

# data[].attributes.body
"In “Stacionar za majku i dete”, a Belgrade institution which houses 300 young children under the age of 3 all children up to 18 months of age receive only medical care and nursing with no psychological or educational programs."

# data[].attributes.body
"The high number of institutionalized children seems to be the result of poverty (over 10 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line) and a lack of other support systems for parents dealing with a child with disabilities or facing difficulties at home due to substance abuse, domestic violence and mental health problems."

# data[].attributes.body
"About 1.5 million children in [central+eastern europe] live in public care."

# data[].attributes.body
"Sasha’s resilience is rarely seen in institutionalised young children. For most, inadequate social stimulation and emotional deprivation has a drastic effect on their impressionable and dynamic mind"

# data[].attributes.body
Sasha acts in this way because he has learned that acting up=attention. The other children haven't caught on, and lay motionless in bed.

# data[].attributes.body
"According to child psychologists, Sasha’s aggressive behaviour is nothing but a desperate call for attention"

# data[].attributes.body
Sasha is violent to himself and aggressive towards other children, but when picked up becomes soothed.

# data[].attributes.body
"Two nurses are assigned to each room, which means that the children receive very limited attention. Cuddling, speaking, singing, even diaper changing is in short supply. The children have few toys and rarely go outside."

# data[].attributes.body
179 children aged 0-8 are kept in the Kolevka institution, all living in rooms with 15-16 children each.

# data[].attributes.body
Article is based on Sash, a 14 month old baby living in the Kolevka institution.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.