Children’s voices and opinions are left out of the decision-making process in alternative care far too often. Even when we are talking about decisions that have an enormous impact and will cause big changes in a child’s life. More often than not, children are not even asked for their opinion on what they think would be a good solution, or on what they do and do not want. And if a child courageously tries to make themselves heard, they are often silenced or drowned out.
Continue reading “Children Need to Have a Say”Tag: #alternativecare
The New Online Alternative Childcare Community
The moment has arrived. As I mentioned already before the summer and at the start of the month, part of Why Family-Based Solutions’ plan is to provide a platform where people who are involved in alternative care, in transformation of care and in child protection, from all over the world, can come together and exchange knowledge, experiences and ideas. That platform is now available on this website: www.familybasedsolutions.org/community/
Continue reading “The New Online Alternative Childcare Community”Supporting Young Adults After Foster Care
After looking at why it is important to continue to provide support of young adults who were in alternative care on their 18th birthday (HERE) two weeks ago. And looking at the kind of aftercare needed by young adults who grew up in institutions (HERE) last week. This week we are going to have a look at the options for young adults who grew up in foster care.
Continue reading “Supporting Young Adults After Foster Care”Supporting Young Adults After Institutionalisation
In last week’s blog, I described how the transition of being cared for as a child to living independently as an adult should happen gradually for young adults, in order to be successful. I also mentioned that unfortunately support for care leavers is often still lacking and young adults are left to fend for themselves once they reach the age of 18.
This week I want to talk about how to support young adults who have grown up in an institution, once they venture out into the world.
Continue reading “Supporting Young Adults After Institutionalisation”Support Can’t End at Age 18
When alternative care is discussed or arranged – no matter whether it is family-based or institutional – in many cases thoughts only reach as far as the child’s 18th birthday. At that point the child is no longer a child, she has become an adult. And so, the obligation to provide care, whether under the law or under Child Rights, disappears into a puff of smoke.
In far too many cases and countries care provisions and support end on that very day. The child is waved off at the door of the institution, or made to move out of her foster family, and is expected to take care of herself now.
Continue reading “Support Can’t End at Age 18”How the Report Changed My Life
In the past two blogs I have written about what I did for the report ‘Alternative Care for Children Around the Globe’ (which you can download HERE), in this blog I want to tell you something about what the report – or rather the working on the research project that led to the report – has done for me. It is not that often that working on a project makes you change the direction of your life and work, but in this case, it really did.
Continue reading “How the Report Changed My Life”Developing the Report
A week ago the report ‘Alternative Care for Children Around the Globe’ was made available to the public (it can be downloaded HERE). In the previous blog, I wrote about how I ended up starting this enormous project in the summer of 2015. This week I would like to dive into another question that I get asked quite a lot with regards to the report: How did you find all of that information?
Continue reading “Developing the Report”The Report Is Out
This week a major milestone was reached: ‘Alternative Care for Children Around the Globe’, the report giving an overview of the child protection and alternative care situation – and circumstances that impact it – for all autonomous countries in the world, was finally finished. It is now available to the public as a free download, which you can find HERE.
Continue reading “The Report Is Out”DI: The Government’s Role
It is possible for individual institutions to decide to start deinstitutionalisation by themselves, at the grassroots level. They can look for ways to support the families of the children in their care, so that the children can go home. They can provide training to the staff working at the institution to give them the skills to become foster parents or small group home caregivers instead, for the children who do not have a home they can go back to.
I am currently involved with an organisation in India that is working not just towards making sure all the children in their care can be moved to family situations, but to create a replicable model that can be followed by others in the country. However, to be able to put together a sustainable system of family-based alternative care, some government involvement is always necessary.
Continue reading “DI: The Government’s Role”If Not Extended Family, Then Foster Family
Despite the impression created by the huge numbers of children in institutions and other types of formal alternative care around the world, by far the majority of children not cared for by their parents, are not in formal alternative care. Most of them are already taken in by their extended families, right at this moment, without any additional awareness raising or support. This is something worth building on.
However, just like there are some children who will not be able to be cared for by their parents, no matter how much support they receive and how great the community services available are, there will also be children who do not have extended family members able to take them in and care for them. For them other family-based solutions need to be found.
Continue reading “If Not Extended Family, Then Foster Family”