Experts: Orphanages can lead to kids' problems

Experts: Orphanages can lead to kids' problems

Russian children, whether in foster homes or as American adoptees, should be out of orphanages, experts said.

By TED CZECH

Daily Record/Sunday News

Updated: 04/18/2010 12:14:37 AM EDT

Nathaniel and Elizabeth Craver (Provided by ITAR-TASS News Agency through The (Harrisburg) Patriot-News )

Mental and physical problems in children adopted from Russia are not because of the country itself but because of the damaging environment orphanages present, according to several national experts.

Children adopted from Russia have made headlines recently, from York County parents charged in their son's death to a Tennessee woman who sent her son back to Russia on a plane.

Nanette and Michael Craver of Carroll Township said their son, Nathaniel, would have "outbursts" and would abuse himself and others.

Torry Hansen of Tennessee called her son, Justin, "mentally unstable" and said he had threatened to burn the family home down.

Russian authorities responded by suspending adoptions from the country, according to Foxnews.com.

According to Dr. Dana Johnson, of the International Adoption Medical Program at the University of Minnesota, where he is also a professor of pediatrics, nothing could be better for an orphan than adoption, and nothing could be worse for a child than an orphanage.

"Nothing replaces a family," Johnson said. "The evidence that orphanage care is detrimental to children is overwhelming. . . . Unfortunately, a child's brain is a perishable commodity."

Orphans can develop a range of problems, all of them serious and potentially lifelong, Johnson said. In orphanages, children's growth is stunted. They could be exposed to diseases such as hepatitis B and tuberculosis. And sometimes, frontal lobe damage occurs, which can affect impulsiveness, intelligence and language skills, he said.

"Most of them need speech therapy," said Linda Brownlee, of the Adoption Center of Washington.

Johnson also said that, in an orphanage, a child is not able to form an affectionate bond with a permanent caregiver.

"You need one person to take care of you," Johnson said. "That's why you have Mom."

In Russia, it is not uncommon for orphans to have more than 100 caregivers in their first year of life, he said.

"How do you attach the way we're supposed to attach to a caregiver if you've got 100 of them?" he said.

Reinventing the orphanage

Many factors stand in the way of the evolution of orphanages. One is tradition -- orphanages have been around for a long time, Johnson said.

In terms of economics, "the cheapest option is to keep kids with their families. Next is foster care and third is orphanages," he said.

But there are two dilemmas: Many countries, including Russia, don't have a solid foundation of foster care, and since orphanages employ a great many people, there is a strong lobby in Russia to keep them in operation as they are, Johnson said.

Brownlee said she would like to see the United States engage in a dialogue with Russia "to make the orphanages better."

She said she envisions orphanages "as a base -- foster parents come in and pick them (children) up. The kids are in a family, they're with a family. The orphanage is not a place to sleep overnight, but is more of a training institution for the foster parents," she said.

Help for parents

The Cravers told authorities that they sought help from several medical facilities but that some "would not help," then rejected medication from a doctor who apparently did want to help. In addition, the Cravers said they "received no cooperation from the school."

After a 2007 removal and subsequent return of both Nathaniel and his twin sister, the Cravers pulled the siblings from public school, did not take Nathaniel to doctor's appointments and avoided family outings, according to court documents.

Earlier this month, Hansen placed her son aboard a plane headed for Russia with a note that said in part, "This child is mentally unstable. He is violent and has severe psychopathic issues/behaviors," according to abcnews.com

"There are lots of resources in the community," Brownlee said. "The first place we tell parents to start is their pediatrician for a physical."

From there, the doctor can make referrals to specialists, if necessary, she said. Hearing can be tested, sight examined, and early-intervention teams that provide various types of therapy -- such as speech and occupational -- can be mobilized.

Brownlee said of Hansen, "She could have reached out to the agency that helped her, or the child's pediatrician. She could have cried out for help in any number of directions, but she didn't."

But Brownlee said her agency and others like it could also improve what they do. Presently, Adoption Center of Washington makes post-adoption visits at 6 months, and 1, 2, and 3 years, as outlined in its agreement with Russia.

"Maybe we need to have more things in place when they come back," she said. "Someone in my office said, 'We need to get there after two weeks, or maybe a month,'" she said. "When they first get home, see if there's any intervention that's needed; maybe that would make a difference."

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