Implementation of state measures on social awareness of child homelessness in the 1920s. (based on materials from the cities of the Middle Volga region)

This article examines the problem of mass child homelessness, which struck the Soviet state in the 1920s. The implementation of state measures aimed at addressing the phenomenon of child homelessness was directed towards the eradication of this deviant behavior and the provision of financial and legal assistance to orphaned children. Mass child homelessness was a national problem, for this reason, the solution of national tasks was also carried out at the regional level. Local authorities allocated funds for the creation of orphanages, shelters, foster distribution centers and labor exchanges for street children. The measures undertaken yielded positive results; however, the struggle against homelessness was complicated by the challenging socio-economic conditions in the Middle Volga region during the 1920s. Particularly detrimental to the situation was the famine that occurred between 1921 and 1923, which exacerbated the plight of vulnerable children and hindered effective intervention efforts.