Dr. Ronald Federici: Humanitarian Efforts in Romania

2 September 2010

Dr. Ronald Federici: Humanitarian Efforts in Romania

Dr. Ronald Federici has 20 years of experience completing complex neuropsychiatric evaluations with children having significant neurodevelopmental and emotional difficulties. He is a professional consultant to numerous schools, mental health clinics, pediatric and adolescent medicine clinics, court service units and adoption groups, and is frequently called upon to perform “second opinions” for the most difficult to diagnose cases. Dr. Ronald Federici also works extensively in forensic neuropsychology and has served as an expert witness in cases involving the assessment and rehabilitation of traumatic brain injury or other neurological disorders. Dr. Ronald Federici lectures nationally and internationally on matters pertaining to developmental neuropsychology and severe neuropsychiatric disorders of children, particularly children from post-institutionalized settings. He is regarded as the country’s expert in neuropsychiatric evaluations of internationally adopted children, particularly children from Eastern Europe. He has a special interest in Romanian and Russian orphans, and has evaluated well over a thousand Eastern European adoptees and those still residing in their respective countries. Dr. Ronald Federici has appeared on numerous national television and radio shows such as 20/20, Turning Point, Night Line, Good Morning America, British Broadcasting Corporation, as well as publishing in magazines and newspapers around the world regarding the institutional crises in various countries, particularly Eastern Europe. Dr. Ronald Federici has published various articles in addition to his book entitled “Help for the Hopeless Child: A Guide for Families (With Special Discussion for Assessing and Treating the Post-Institutionalized Child)”. He has developed the concepts of “Institutional Autism: An Acquired Syndrome” in addition to researching extensively the “Neuropsychology of Bonding and Attachment Disorders”. His second book entitled “Escape From Despair: Through the Eyes of the Child” is in press. Dr. Ronald Federici serves as President of the Care for Children International, Inc. which is a Humanitarian Aid Organization providing medical care, supplies, training and education to the Romanian Department of Child Protective Services. Dr. Ronald Federici holds an honorary position as Chief Medical Consultant regarding institutionalized children in Romania. He is held in the highest regard with the Romanian government and the Romanian Ambassador to the U.S. Dr. Ronald Federici’s humanitarian organization has worked for many years throughout Romanian institutions and has provided comprehensive medical and neuropsychiatric care in addition to being one of the leading groups in de-institutionalizing children. He is personally responsible for building multiple group homes, independent living situations and leading multiple medical missions and providing millions of dollars of urgently needed medical care, medication, supplies, food and training to address the child welfare/institutional crisis which has plagued Romania for a decade. Currently, Dr. Ronald Federici is working with several international humanitarian groups in providing a proposal for comprehensive-country wide change of the Romanian institutional system. Dr. Ronald Federici and his group of well over 30 committed medical specialists from all disciplines are frequently called upon by numerous institutions and governmental offices throughout Romania to consult and assist counties and governmental departments with the ultimate goal being the development of new programs aimed at de-institutionalization and stabilization of the Romanian social system, family and regional/county economic distribution of funds for institutionalized children. Dr. Ronald Federici has been involved in extensive lobbying efforts on Capital Hill to improve the policies and procedures for international adoptions, and also offered expert professional testimony on October 5, 1999 to Senator Jesse Helms and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee regarding the problems in international adoptions and issues with the Hague Treaty. Additionally, Dr. Ronald Federici has lobbied extensively to preserve the integrity and responsibility of USAID spending in Romania, and has provided multiple reports to USAID, Washington regarding Romanian child welfare reform, programs, funding and opinions regarding distribution of foreign aid. Dr. Ronald Federici continues to work aggressively to secure private funding and USAID funding for Romanian-specific child welfare reform programs and has completed an extensive “proposal” which is aimed at country-wide institutional reform.