Language, Individual & Society, Volume 17, 2023

Abstract: The Lithuanian child care system is undergoing reforms, with the aim of reducing and phasing out the number of children growing up in care homes. In order to do so, there must be alternatives to guardianship – not only guardianship authorities, but also guardians and on-call guardians. So far, the service network has been a missing element. If we want to have guardians/carers who are courageous to undertake this complex and difficult mission, we need to think about how we can help when a person or family is committed to this mission. ‘In 2020, 18.2 % and in 2019 23.2 % of cases for children deprived of parental care were placed in institutional care, 58.8 % in families (53.4 % in 2019), 0.5 % in families (0.9 % in 2019) and 21,6 % in care centres (2019: 22.5 %)‘(VKT report) The establishment of care centres in Lithuania started in 2018 and currently there are 66 care centres in Lithuania. There is at least one guardianship centre in each municipality. In Lithuania, the care centres have only recently started their activities. They are responsible for carers/guardians and children in care, meeting their needs and providing adequate assistance. These centres are a new function of social security activities with a strong focus on child care reform. There is a lack of research to analyse the activities of the care centres and their specificity in the child care process, and it is therefore appropriate to carry out studies to reveal the experiences of guardians/carers in receiving the services provided by the care centre. This would help to determine whether the care centres pay sufficient attention to guardians/carers and children in care, thus improving the support system for guardians/carers to ensure a child care.