The Future of Romania (FOR) Children Project, lnltiated in July, 1992, is completing 4,5
years of program development and implementauon. The Project goal has been to reduce child
abandonment and unnecessary institutionalization of children. Holt International Children's
Services used both a development (capacity building) and a modeling (demonstration) approach in the mplementation of the FOR Children Project due to the paucity of trainned social
assistants in Romama in 1992. Holt initiated a trainniung program to enable them to develop and
train Social Assistants in local Romanian Child Welfare Institutions. These Social Assistants
provided direct services to children at risk of abandonment according to professional standards of social work practice.