The figures from Russia reflect both views. It is a concern that the number of children in foster care rose from 175,000 in 1989 to 250,000 in 1995, but it may be a positive sign that as a proportion of the total in public care this represents an increase from 30 to 40 per cent. Romania, to take another example, has made the development of foster care a priority, but the fostering rate is still very low and declined slightly after peaking in 1991. Most children in need of substitute care in Romania still end up in institutions. Due to lack of systematic monitoring, information is inevitably limited but the Report discusses a range of factors, including funding, conditions in institutional care and innovatory practices.
Money spent on public care is one measure of input to provision.
Available information on changes in public expenditure on child institutions reveals considerable differences among countries. Data for several countries are drawn on in Figure 11, and the trends show more consistency with changes in GDP than with changes in children's needs. In Poland, expenditure fell by 20 per cent in real terms by 1992 and remained at that level until 1995, when preliminary data showed a return to pre-transition levels. A similar pattern is found in the Czech Republic, although expenditures here held up at a higher level, dropping slightly until 1991 and increasing steadily thereafter. And Bulgaria has experienced an especially disturbing drop in expenditure, which fell by almost two thirds over 1989-95.