Overview of the strategic session results: key aspects of the development of the guardianship and custody system in the Russian Federation until 2036

<p><strong>Context and relevance.</strong> The Plan of Main Events for Implementing the Decade of Childhood, as well as several assignments from the President of the Russian Federation, include the task of improving the structure and activities of guardianship and trusteeship bodies. Today, the system for protecting children's rights and interests is unable to fully and promptly respond to modern challenges. A strategic session serves as a tool that allows determining the development vector, evaluating current results, envisioning the future, and creating a clear action plan. <strong>Objective.</strong> During the course of the strategic session, it was aimed at forming an ideal vision within the professional community regarding medium-term and long-term perspectives (up to 2036), specifically concerning: organizations for orphans and children deprived of parental care, including their purpose, structure, categories of children and families, types of activity, etc.; guardianship and trusteeship authorities (competences, organizational structure, content of work, delegation of powers, personnel policy, professional development, interaction with organizations for orphaned children). The<strong> hypothesis</strong> suggests that developing a strategic approach to enhancing the system for safeguarding children's rights and interests will enable effective responses to both present and future challenges. <strong>Methods and materials.</strong> More than 250 leaders of organizations for orphans and guardianship and trusteeship bodies participated in the strategic session: 49 heads of guardianship and trusteeship authorities from 44 regions of Russia, 101 directors of institutions for orphans and children deprived of parental care from 58 regions. Methods used included focus group discussions, individual surveys, qualitative and quantitative analysis methods. <strong>Results.</strong> Vectors for refining the structure and activities of guardianship and trusteeship authorities and institutions for orphans were identified, along with measures to achieve set goals and conditions for their implementation, expected outcomes in the medium term. <strong>Conclusions. </strong>The conducted survey revealed a high level of readiness among specialists for changes in the system but also highlighted the need for further elaboration on issues related to power distribution and standardization of approaches.</p>