The Russian Federation has inherited from the Soviet Union an extensive institutional system of services and education for children that unnecessarily and improperly segregates them from society. The vast majority of children we observed within Russia's institutions and special schools could live, grow, develop, receive an education, and maintain family ties in a more integrated community environment.

The MDRI investigation was conducted during a series of site visits in 1995 and 1996 by a team of experts in disability law and psychiatry. The MDRI team spent several weeks visiting social care homes, psychiatric institutions, psychiatric wards of general hospitals, outpatient clinics, and one community-based rehabilitation program.