Friday, Oct. 17, 2008, Noon

Child Welfare in Russia: A Brief History & Current Opportunities

Russia’s child welfare system is evolving. After the October Revolution of 1917, all children were declared to be wards of the state in order to standardize their care and upbringing. This policy led to the development of children’s homes (orphanages) and other forms of group or community care. Foster care was implemented in 1924, but was abandoned in 1930 due in part to bureaucratic complications.

Consequently, during the mid-1930s it was decided that children’s homes constituted the best form of care and upbringing of children. Following WWII, foster care was again attempted, but Khrushchev, in the 1960s declared that children should be brought up in boarding homes (orphanages) -- the policy for child care over the next 30 years. During the past decade, Russia again has begun looking at foster homes for out of home care for children, but not without opposing forces.

Dr. Lanny Endicott

About the Speaker:
Endicott is Director of the Social Work Program at Oral Roberts University. He has been with the university for 34 years. In addition to teaching and directing the social work program, he also serves as Director of Service Learning for ORU. He also serves as president of the South Peoria Neighborhood Connection Foundation, a neighborhood organization that sponsors the South Peoria Neighborhood House for providing services to low-income persons in the 61st and Peoria area of Tulsa. He utilizes junior and senior social work students to provide these services to the community.

Endicott is a case management consultant for child welfare supervisors for the Child Welfare Professional Enhancement Program sponsored by the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma Department of Human Services. He provides similar service to the Osage Nation tribe in Oklahoma. Additionally, he performs critical incident stress debriefings for Child Welfare workers in Oklahoma. He is a regular presenter on the subjects of stress management, secondary trauma and burnout prevention to child welfare, professional, and ministerial groups. He was selected Social Worker of the Year in 2003 and is currently (2008) President-Elect for the Oklahoma Branch of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW-OK). 

Endicott has traveled to Russia on numerous occasions working with Childrens Hope Chest to provide summer and winter camps for older orphans, as well as, help develop evaluation procedures for programs aiding older orphans. He teaches social work courses (summer session) at the Russian American Christian University (Moscow). He also has helped create a small foundation, OKAssist (Oklahoma Aid Supplying Scholarships for International Student Training), to facilitate training opportunities for international students seeking social work or related training in Oklahoma colleges or universities.

He is licensed in Oklahoma as a licensed clinical social worker and licensed marital and family therapist. He has degrees from Missouri State University (BS), University of Missouri-Columbia (MSW), Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (MRE) and Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (D.Min.).

Endicott and his wife attend Southern Hills Baptist Church (Tulsa), where he serves as deacon (and is past chairman of the deacon council). He currently serves on the Venture Grant Committee of the Tulsa Area United Way and past served on the Tulsa Human Rights Commission (including time as Chair), and Community Service Council of Greater Tulsa. Additionally, he works as a site visitor chair for the Council on Social Work Education and makes visits to universities to review social work programs seeking reaffirmation of accreditation.

Audio and Transcript (Opens in new window)