Last December, there was a lot of excitement about the adoption of an unprecedented UN Resolution on Child Rights (you can read the blog about that HERE). It raised a lot of hope that there would be a real boost in making sure Governments take measures to ensure that children can grow up in their own families or in family-based alternative care. And then the pandemic happened.
Continue reading “Remember the UNGA Resolution on Child Rights?”Author: Florence
I am the founder of and consultant at Family-Based Solutions. I have started this website and this community, and I am the moderator. I have been involved in alternative care since 2007, having been involved up close in China, Brazil, India, Kenya and Myanmar.
Initially I ran another NGO dedicated to improving the chance of survival and the quality of life of children in institutions, over time getting more and more involved with family-based alternatives and community services. In 2018 I folded the previous NGO and founded Family-Based Solutions. You can find more information on what I do now on the other pages of this website.
Family Strengthening IS Economic Stimulus
While there was a sense of relief when the EU managed to reach agreement on the Recovery Fund, which is to help EU economies fund economic stimulus to prevent the post-pandemic recession from becoming a bottomless pit, and the next EU long-term budget, there was disappointment too. There had been a lot of hope among people like me who work for child protection and child rights coming up to these talks. This was because there was to be a requirement for EU member states to spend at least 5% of the resources allocated to them from the European Social Fund Plus on addressing child poverty. In the text of the final agreement, this requirement was not mentioned.
Continue reading “Family Strengthening IS Economic Stimulus”Proof That Funding Determines Where Children Go
I have repeatedly written about the ‘orphanage industry’ and how funding and/or volunteering in ‘orphanages’ causes children to be separated from their parents and to end up living in institutions. You can read about that HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE. I have made the following claim many times:
Continue reading “Proof That Funding Determines Where Children Go”Two Years (Why) Family-Based Solutions
Another year has passed, and what a year it has been! Hard to imagine that it is already two years ago that I started to set up Why Family-Based Solutions. One year ago, I wrote about how I was ‘reimagining’ my work (you can read about that HERE) and trying to determine in what direction to take it. In the intervening time, I have developed this further and am quite pleased with how things are going right now.
Continue reading “Two Years (Why) Family-Based Solutions”The Simulation Lab Conference Report
In February this year, I was a co-organiser and facilitator of the conference: Immersive Simulation Lab for Family-Based Care (you can read about the event HERE)in Pune, India. In April, I mentioned the delays in bringing out the conference report, due to the increased and shifted workload due to the pandemic and the lockdown that accompanied it, and I gave a sneak peek at the contents (you can find it HERE). As it turned out, the delays ended up being even longer than expected. However, the moment has finally arrived and the conference report is finally completed.
Continue reading “The Simulation Lab Conference Report”Deinstitutionalisation During the Pandemic
The Covid-19 pandemic has had an enormous effect on the efforts to deinstitutionalise alternative care in many countries. The interesting thing is that there have been two main effects, pulling in opposite directions. There does not seem to be a lot of middle ground at the moment.
Continue reading “Deinstitutionalisation During the Pandemic”Eurochild’s DataCare Project
In November, I mentioned my excitement at learning that Eurochild was planning to start a research project to see whether it would be possible to come to definitions of alternative care provisions that would make data comparable across Europe. The reason why this got me so excited, is that when I was doing the research for Alternative Care for Children Around the Globe (which you can download HERE), the main problems I ran into were lack of data gathered on vulnerable children and data not being comparable between – and sometimes even within – countries.
Continue reading “Eurochild’s DataCare Project”Listening to Children
I have written before, on various occasions about child participation (in this blog you can read what that is exactly, HERE). Like many other things the pandemic crisis has brought this topic to the forefront. Overall, there seemed to be a gradual improvement in governments and decision-makers being more willing to ask children for their insights and perspective and actually taking them into account. Then the crisis hit and all the hatches are down again.
Continue reading “Listening to Children”No Post-Pandemic Volunteering in Orphanages
Volunteering in ‘orphanages’ has come to a standstill during the pandemic. With lockdowns and travel restrictions in place, non-essential global travel has come to a halt. Volunteering in ‘orphanages’ is definitely non-essential. However, there is a concern that once the restrictions are lifted and daily life goes back to something approaching normal, people who are able to still afford it may rush out to ‘help’ the ‘poor orphans’ by volunteering in institutions again in great numbers. Just like with the preparation for recovery in child protection that needs to start now, the same is true for raising awareness that volunteering in ‘orphanages’ is not as beneficial as many people think.
Continue reading “No Post-Pandemic Volunteering in Orphanages”Making Pandemic Solutions Permanent Solutions
During the pandemic crisis, solutions need to be found fast and implemented straight away. Suddenly, what usually took months or years, or what was said to be impossible, is decided on within days and implemented. In some cases, this provides a risk factor. There is not the same scrutiny and due diligence, and some of the solutions that are acceptable for a temporary crisis situation are not at all desirable as a permanent solution. This is something we need to be alert to and to make sure is dealt with appropriately when the recovery phase arrives. However, there are also cases where the crisis has allowed the red tape to be swept aside and the measures that have been advocated for years are suddenly implemented without delay. These should be kept in place.
Continue reading “Making Pandemic Solutions Permanent Solutions”