Joe Gerada, CEO of the Foundation for Social and Welfare Services has called for a zero tolerance policy to placing newborns and young children in institutional care and said these should be placed in foster care instead.

Mr Gerada was delivering the closing address of a four-day international conference titled ‘Developing foster care for children and families in the EU, CEE, CIS and North Africa – new challenges, quality standards and solutions’.

Over 450 delegates from 40 countries discussed, in 40 workshops, fostering and other issues such as the situation of orphaned children in Africa, fostering opportunities for children with a disability, support needed by carers, the situation of services for children and other families in various countries such as Ukraine, Croatia, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands.

Mr Gerada said that foster care was one of the main solutions to the care of children who cannot live with their natural family.

“New ways of supporting foster carers should always be found,” he said.

However, he pointed out that the high number of children in institutional care still remains a serious concern to social workers in Malta.

“Institutional care has served this country well but this system should become the rare exception to the rule – children should be cared for in a family-like environment,” he said.

Mr Gerada called for a firm commitment by all to reduce the number of children, who are still deprived of their right to live in a family-like environment.