Problematization of substitute parenting through the prism of the institution of the children’s rights commissioner

The process of formation and transformation of the institution of the Commissioner for Children’s Rights is investigated and the analysis of written appeals received by the Ombudsman of the Nizhny Novgorod region for the period 2020-2022, which served as the basis for determining the vectors of problematization of substitute parenthood in the region, is carried out. Among the most significant areas of problematization of substitute parenting are the material and financial support of the substitute family; assistance in registration or extension of the substitute family as a form of family life of orphans and children left without parental care; illegal behavior of subjects implementing support for a substitute family; relationships with the biological parents of subjects of a substitute family; socialization and interpersonal interaction of an adopted child with the student and pedagogical community within the educational environment. The need to categorize blood and non-blood substitute parenting is emphasized when receiving appeals to determine the specifics of questions/requests from these categories of families and to develop high-quality preventive measures for the identified problem fields. The emphasis is placed on the substantive features of the applications received during the COVID-19 pandemic related to restrictions on the extension of temporary custody and schooling of host parents, which suspended the possibility of family life for orphans and children left without parental care. The conclusion is made about the complexity of resolving issues that are in the field of interaction of subjects of family support for an adopted child, due to the fact that the mechanism of response of the institution of the Commissioner for Children’s Rights to the appeals of subjects interested in the life of a substitute family is aimed at implementing interdepartmental interaction of subjects included in its life support system.