by Florina Crețar, Social Worker, 6 years with HHC Romania
Serban is 21 years old. When he was 12, he was institutionalized, after being found on the streets in a state of precarious health. He was abusing hallucinogenic substances. Serban was born in a family with 11 children. His parents had separated and the breakdown of Serban’s family was caused by his father’s excessive drinking and his mother’s immoral behaviour.
Due to the total neglect of the children by both parents, a special protection measure was taken for 10 of the children, in different centres, and only one child stayed with the family until turning 18 years old.
Presently, Serban’s mother is living with a 27 year old man. She has another child from this relationship, aged 4, and the birth of this child is not recorded at the registry office. Serban’s mother states that she cannot take responsibility for the upbringing and education of Serban and that there are no employment opportunities in the village where she lives. The mother and her concubine live out of an income based on casual work done for villagers. The house where they live, together with their 4 year old child, is the property of the concubine’s mother. The home has two rooms (one of which is used as a kitchen), it is very modestly furnished and deplorable from a sanitary point of view: it is connected to electricity, the heating is done with wood and the water is brought from neighbours. There is no toilet.
Serban’s mother states that, under these circumstances, she can’t even ask Serban to visit, because there isn’t enough space. But, based on Serban’s verbal statements, the real reason is that his mother’s concubine will not allow him to visit, because he and Serban do not get along. Serban’s father states that he has a very good relationship with the young man and that he visits him periodically.
Serban’s father would approve of Serban’s reintegration into his family, but he states that there are no employment opportunities in his hometown. The father also lives out of casual work done for villagers, thus he doesn’t have a stable income. At the same time, Serban himself would prefer not to be reintegrated into his family, because he wants to finish his studies and work, which would not be possible if he lived in his father’s village.
Serban’s eldest sister, Diana, is married and lives with her husband. Serban is described by her as a very dutiful and diligent young man. Presently, Serban still has four brothers in the protection system, as a protection measure. He keeps in touch both with the brothers who have left the institutions and the ones who are still under state protection.
For about five months, Serban has been sharing a rented one bedroom apartment with a colleague, Andrei, in Cluj Napoca, Cluj county.
Serban is capable of managing his own assets. He has a highly developed sense of property. He is employed at a construction company, but since he is still in school he works only as often as his schedule allows. Serban is a senior at an Arts and Crafts School.
The HHC Romania Foundation is involved in supporting this young man, together with DGASPC Cluj, thus a common intervention plan has been developed for him, mainly targeting material support for socio-professional reinsertion from the Foundation. So far, expenditures for food and hygiene products, as well as for home maintenance, have been supported, and in the future the expenditures related to the young man’s senior year in school will be supported, as well as furnishing his home with kitchen and bathroom necessities. DGASPC Cluj has offered emotional support, as well as material support for paying the rent of the apartment and furnishing it.