#familybasedcare

Report on the Simulation Lab Conference

Posted on April 20, 2020April 20, 2020 by Florence

With the sudden interruption of life due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been some delays in bringing out the conference report. The first priority has to be ensuring the safety and mental well-being of the children. However, while the report is not entirely ready to be brought out yet, work on it has been progressing. So today I would like to give you a sneak-peek at some of the highlights from the report on the outcomes of the Immersive Simulation Lab: Family-Based Care Conference:

The conference attendees included government representatives involved in child protection in Maharashtra including the District Child Protection teams, Child Welfare Committee teams and members of the Government Sponsorship and Foster Care Approval Committees. There were also representatives from UNICEF, SOS Children’s Villages, Miracle Foundation, CSA, Prerana, and Swanath Foundation. A wonderful mix of government and NGO people exchanging ideas and experiences.

Should There Be a Time-Limit on Family Support?

Posted on April 16, 2020April 15, 2020 by Florence

During the Immersive Simulation Lab: Family-Based Care Conference in February, one of the participants made an interesting remark, one that I feel is worth looking into more closely. He was a representative of a major NGO and said that when families were offered support in order to make family reintegration possible, there should be a time limit on the support offered.

Dedicated Staff for Deinstitutionalisation

Posted on April 6, 2020April 4, 2020 by Florence

At its core, deinstitutionalisation is a temporary state. It is the transition between running a residential childcare institution and running a family-based alternative care system. While the transition can take up several years depending on the circumstances, it will end. The temporary nature of the deinstitutionalisation process can lead to people underestimating how important and how complicated it is. This, in turn, can lead to a reluctance to really invest in it. However, not mobilising the resources needed to make the process go smoothly is a big mistake and one that can come at both a high human and financial cost.

Practical Model for Implementing UN Guidelines

Posted on March 30, 2020March 29, 2020 by Florence

In February, I announced that I was developing a Theory of Change model to given an overview of the practical stages involved in implementing the UN Guidelines on Alternative Care for Children. This is applicable both for places wanting to move from institutional to family-based care or for those who are just trying to set up family-based care and family strengthening. Today I would like to present the model I came up with.

Q&A Video on Deinstitutionalisation

Posted on March 19, 2020March 16, 2020 by Florence

During the Immersive Simulation Lab: Family-Based Care Conference in Pune, on 27 February, I was asked to explain some aspects of the process of moving from institutional care to family-based care, and I did a short Q&A session. Today, instead of a blog, I would like to share the video of that part of the conference with you.

Home from India

Posted on March 16, 2020March 15, 2020 by Florence

This weekend I returned home from just over three weeks in India. As I predicted, in the blog on 17 February, it has been an extremely busy time, but very worthwhile. It has been a question of working straight through, long days of providing training, strategy and exploration meetings, preparing for the conference and holding it, and days of observation and on-the-job training.

Making the Placement Decision

Posted on March 5, 2020March 5, 2020 by Florence

Three blogs have just been dedicated to understanding the individual assessment process. However, while gathering the data on the child through the assessments is extremely important, in itself the data is worthless if nothing is done with it. Just having notes on a paper or having an overview in a spreadsheet is not going to automatically lead to a good placement for the child. Something needs to be done with the information gathered.

Individual Assessments: Who?

Posted on March 3, 2020March 3, 2020 by Florence

After looking at why individual assessments are necessary (HERE) and getting a glimpse at how they should be approached (HERE), it is not unimportant to have a look at ‘who’. With ‘who’, I am not talking about who should be conducting the individual assessment, that was addressed in the ‘how’ blog. Rather we need to take a look at whom you need to get information from.

Immersive Simulation Lab for Family-Based Care

Posted on February 28, 2020March 12, 2020 by Florence

Yesterday, a unique event took place in Pune: an immersive simulation lab conference that allowed key decision-makers with regards to alternative care in Maharashtra to gain first-hand, concrete knowledge on what is involved in establishing family-based care and family strengthening services.

Individual Assessments: How?

Posted on February 25, 2020February 25, 2020 by Florence

In the previous blog (HERE), we looked at why it is so important to do individual assessments before making decisions about placements for children. In this blog, we will have a look at how individual assessments should be done. The short version: it is NOT a question of sitting across from a child for an hour with a clipboard with questions and rattle your way through them.