Several dozen infants still in need of foster parents, as infant institutions prepare to close

Several dozen children under the age of three still remain in so-called infant institutions, which will close at the end of the year, the ctk news agency reported, citing sources from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. The authorities are looking to find suitable short-term foster parents for them. There are reportedly 78 foster parents for short term care in the Czech Republic that are immediately ready to take in children in need.

The Czech Republic has long been criticized for placing infants in institutions, a practice that is known to be harmful to their development. Many of the infant institutions across the country have been in service since the first half of the twentieth century.  The first was opened in 1922 in Prague, and they reached their peak during the communist era, when all childcare facilities were state-run.