Media Advocacy

Update:

From family to institution. State abuse under the guise of protection in the case of the children from Mures: separated from their parents due to the “absence of services in the community”. Watch the Digi24 coverage:

Interviews

What will happen to the 63 children with disabilities in centers in Târgu-Mureș? Centre for Legal Resources has drawn public attention to the inhumane conditions in which these children are being kept. The Social Inspectorate says specific solutions must be found for each child. What does that mean? Andreea Orosz spoke to Georgiana Pascu from CLR and Doru Constantin, spokesperson at DGASPC Mureș.

On January 13, Georgiana Pascu, program manager at Advocate for Dignity, spoke with journalist Vitalie Cojocari from Euronews about the situation documented by CLR in the foster care centers for children with disabilities in Mures County during the program Voices that Matter:

Advocate for Dignity program manager Georgiana Pascu’s intervention on the program Prim-plan obiectiv, about the lack of adequate services for children and the CLR’s recommendations.

Georgiana Pascu discusses CLR’s findings at the foster care centers for children in Mureș county for Antena3.

Context

Following an unannounced visit carried out on January 11, 2025, the Centre for Legal Resources and the Disability Convention’s Implementation Monitoring Board found inhuman conditions in four foster care centers for children with disabilities in Târgu Mureș. In these foster care centers, 63 children were subjected to abusive treatment, such as being locked in bolted rooms, being given expired medication and lack of access to adequate medical and rehabilitation services. It also found unsanitary conditions, overcrowding and a lack of educational and recreational activities. The same morning, the CLR published a press release with the main findings, sent to the Mures County Police Inspectorate, Mures County Council, the National Authority for the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Mures County Agency for Payments and Social Inspection, the Public Ministry, the Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism, the National Authority for the Protection of Children’s Rights and Adoptions, the Ministry of Labor, Family, Youth and Social Solidarity, the Ministry of Health.

The cry of children with disabilities – illegally institutionalized by DGASPC Mures

After the publication of the press release, the situation of institutionalized children was widely reported in the media. The most important national publications – Digi24, EuroNews, ProTV, Libertatea, Adevărul, ProTV, Libertatea, Adevărul – echoed the CLR’s press release, asking for answers from the competent authorities on who is responsible and what measures are to be taken.

The conditions in the foster care centers, but also the wave of public pressure, lead to check-ups in children’s facilities, followed by sanctions such as:

• County Authority for Payments and Social Inspection (AJPIS): 320,000 lei fine for lack of licenses.
• Public Health Directorate (DSP) Mures: fines totaling 60,000 lei for poor hygiene and other deficiencies.
• The National Authority for Consumer Protection (ANPC): two fines of 5,000 lei each for irregularities in the food area.

• Following these events, the National Agency for the Protection of Children’s Rights and Adoption (ANPDCA) sent its Control Corps to the centers under investigation. However, the president of the ANPDCA, Rareș Petru Achiriloaie, issued premature statements downplaying the reported situation, saying that the employees of the centres are carrying out their work with professionalism and empathy, before the investigation is completed.

Rareș Petru Achiriloaie: Employees of the foster care centers are doing their duties in an exemplary and empathetic manner

Rareş Petru Achiriloaie: angajații centrelor sociale își fac datoria exemplar și cu empatie

At the same time, the press began to publish the statements of some health professionals on the situation in Mures. The rehabilitation doctor Liliana Pădure, who participated in the assessment of the children, reported on the desolate conditions in which she found them. She noted that they were kept in beds without stimulation or activity, comparing their situation to that of “puppies in a cage”. Dr. Pădure emphasized the importance of movement and stimulation for children’s development and sought to train center staff in proper positioning and posturing methods. Although she issued medical letters for the purchase of equipment paid for through CNSAS – National Insurance House, even 10 months after the center’s management did not promptly address the need to purchase this equipment and seemed visibly bothered by CLR’s repeated questions.

Dr. Iulia Țincu, a primary gastroenterologist, draws attention to the serious nutritional problems of children in foster care, stressing that menus must be diversified and individually tailored to the needs of each child. Deficiencies in micronutrients such as iron, calcium, zinc and vitamins C, D, E affect their health and survival. Malnutrition is not only an effect of their illness, but also of inadequate nutrition, and kinetotherapy increases caloric needs, requiring adequate supplementation. Also, prolonged use of nasogastric tubes (more than 2-3 months) contravenes medical guidelines, and the fitting of a gastrostomy is recommended for long-term feeding.

Following the lack of concrete measures, the CLR sent an open letter to Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, asking the Government to intervene urgently, in the context that there has been no concrete action 9 days after the publication of the CLR’s communication.

At the same time, the president of Mures County Council, Péter Ferenc, refused a meeting with the CLR and claimed that the situation of children is being exaggerated in the press, saying that they are receiving adequate services despite evidence to the contrary. Also, regarding the expired operating licenses, the DGASPC spokesperson admitted that he was aware that these centers were operating without a license, but did not take action because they were under reorganization.

The Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism – DIICOT responded to journalists’ requests with a press release mentioning the opening of a criminal case under investigation for trafficking in minors, abuse of office, ill-treatment of minors and the formation of an organized criminal group:

Comunicat DIICOT, 14.01.2025

Against this backdrop, 250 members of the ACORD Mures Union organized a protest, receiving support in the public space from other DGASPCs or Trade Unions, demanding the protection of employees’ rights. They charge that staff shortages are the problem and confess that there is currently a campaign to denigrate social assistance employees.

On January 29, Peter Ferenc, President of Mures County Council, stated in the public meeting of the County Council:

“Why things got here I cannot say. It will take me 3 hours: abnormal that children were entered at 5.30 in the morning, the centers were visited hundreds of times by institutions with the right to control and everything was fine. At the moment we have some measures from AJPIS, anyway, DGASPC Mures is the biggest in the country for children and for adults we are second. So far all the controls have been fine.”