From foundling to foster children

Na družbenem polju reševanja socialnih vprašanj, kjer so bili zapuščeni otroci in sirote med najbolj potrebnimi pomoči, so jim sprva nudile pomoč dobrodelne organizacije ter premožni posamezniki s svojimi velikodušnimi prispevki. Šele kasneje v 2. polovici 18. stoletja je skrb za to ranljivo skupino otrok prevzela država in jim z ustanavljanjem dobrodelnih ustanov pomagala, po kasnejših dognanjih pa jim celo škodovala, saj so zaradi slabega ravnanja v najdenišnicah pomrli prenekateri otroci. Njihova smrt je bila v času zgražanja nad rojstvom nezakonskega otroka često zaželena, saj je mater rešila sramote, obenem pa je bilo eno siroče manj, ki bi moglo bremeniti deželni sklad. V času Avstro-Ogrske, pod vladavino cesarja Jožefa II. je bila na naših tleh osnovana najdenišnica, vendar se je skozi svoj obstoj nenehno spopadala z enormnimi stroški, kar je pripeljalo k njenemu koncu. Vsem otrokom, ki so začeli svojo življenje v vrtljivi napravi najdenišnice ali se kakorkoli znašli za njenimi zidovi, so nadeli pridevek najdenček. Od tod naprej so romali v rejniške družine, največkrat kmečke ter postali njeni hlapci in dekle. V precejšnji meri, vendar tudi s svetlimi izjemami, je bila življenjska pot rejencev trnova, kar je bila posledica rejniškega sistema, ki je bil skozi zgodovino svojega nastajanja zakonsko neurejen in kot tak podvržen izkoriščanju ter prevaram, ki pa so jo občutili nihče drug kakor ravno otroci.Before the second half of the 18th century orphaned or abandoned children were mostly looked after by well-to-do individuals or charitable foundations. There was no systemic solution for this problem. Later the government established and financed charities that were often doing more harm than good, including by causing unnecessary deaths due to substandard living conditions in state run institutions. Sadly, orphan deaths were often convenient for the mother and the society. The mother was relieved of her obligation to care for the child born out of wedlock while the government was relieved of the financial burden associated with childcare and education. A single orphanage was founded on the Slovene territory during the reign of emperor Franc Joseph II, however it closed quickly due to alleged extraordinary costs and lack of funding. Orphans that ended up being institutionalized were referred to as foundlings. They were often quickly transferred to foster families, mostly to peasants who benefited from free labour. These orphans became indentured servants, without any reasonable chance at getting ahead due to lack of opportunity and social mobility. The foster care system was prone to abuse due to lack of government regulation, resulting in child exploration through indenture contract scams or other trickery. Unfortunately, the most vulnerable children had little protection from the society that wanted to pretend they did not exist