The number of abandoned children, orphans or those separated from their parents, living in public or private orphanages in Mexico, had an increase during the past year.

According to information from the Institute of Integral Development for the Families (DIF), obtained by EL UNIVERSAL, until December 2013 there were 25,700 children in that situation, in a sharp increase from 2012, when 17,522 were living in those centers.

Out of that total, 11,181 were abandoned or living there in order to prevent abuse from their parents.

The documents allowed this newspaper to respond to the old question about how many orphanages are in the country: There are 922, with 805 being privately funded and 117 government operated.

According to the documents, the federal government invested 3,083,000 million dollars to be delivered to the state DIF centers in order to sent to the organizations receiving the children.

The national DIF also expresses that it is necessary to keep the children from remaining institutionalized and allow them to live with a family, either their own or an adoptive one. But, according to their information, just a few of the children can be integrated back into families