The official news agency of Russia has reported that some 90 percent of children in orphanages are not true orphans as they do have living parents. Due to poor conditions, inadequate nutrition and insufficient emotional care, many of these children are underdeveloped mentally and physically. The older the child and the longer he/she is in the system, the greater the emotional and, often, physical problems become.

Keeping Kids Home is working to keep Russian children out of the system.  The program was created with the thought that the most difficult time for a parent financially is when a child is under 6 years of age. Also, this is the period when the parent is most likely to become desperate enough to abandon the child to an orphanage. This seems to be confirmed by previous statistics, which indicate that a major cause of poverty is lack of childcare for children under 1.5 years.

In three years of working with needy families, no family in the Program has ever abandoned their child to an orphanage. In addition, six mothers have made decisions not to abort their babies.

$35 a month will keep a child under the age of 6 years at home
with it's mom instead of an orphanage.