When we think of orphanages the first thought that usually comes to our minds is a place for kids without parents. However that's not what it is in Peru or most other countries that use the "orphanage" system.
The word they use in Peru is 'albergue' which is most closely translated as shelter or refuge. Notice it doesn't have anything to do with orphans. In fact if you go by the definition of a child who has lost both parents due to death there are hardly any orphans in these orphanages. Orphanages are their 'foster care' system. The reason they have group homes set up in many of these developing countries is the lack of willing and able people to care for someone else's children for a period of time. Of all the kids I have come across in various orphanages I have only met five true orphans, and they are all of the same family.
The majority of the kids in these homes are children who have been taken away from their parents because of neglect, abuse, or incarceration. These children can become adoptable after a lengthy process which I will describe in the "Adopt" page. The rest of the children who enter are found on the street. After about a six month investigation period if no relatives or parents are found the child is officially declared in a state of abandonment and can be adopted.
There are three main institutions that are involved with orphanages in Peru. Those are MIMDES, the Fiscalia, and family judges. MIMDES has two main functions; monitor the orphanages and make sure they are in compliance with all their rules and regulations and connecting available children with adoptive parents. The Fiscalia is like our Division of Family Services. They decide if children meet the requirements to enter an orphanage and they also decide if parents can regain custody of their child. They do this by investigation of the child, parents and living situation. Once the Fiscalia has all the information packaged and ready to go they hand it off to the family judge who has the final say. They take into heavy consideration the investigation from the Fiscalia but are free to make an entirely different decision if they so please. From my experience this is the most frustrating step because the judges a lot of times can not empathize with the kids so a lot of harsh and heartbreaking decisions are made.
Orphanages can be either state run or privately run. The privately run orphanages are the ones that are started by individuals or organizations that are most often backed by churches. No matter if the orphanage is run by the state or privately they are held to equal standards by MIMDES. This is very frustrating for a lot of privately ran orphanages because they are forced to abide by all these rules (which are usually very costly) and are not provided any financial support from the state. My opinion is that the rules are great guidelines and I think it is important that there is a governing body in place to make sure the kids are receiving everything they need.
