#FamilyBasedSolutions

Filling the Gap with Emergency Foster Care

Posted on April 25, 2019October 1, 2019 by Florence

More and more people agree that institutional care is not good for children. However, there is still a belief that in some situations putting children in institutions is inevitable. A belief that while it is not good, it is still better than the alternative. This belief exists, because there is a lack of awareness of alternative options. The thought is that the only options are leaving the child in a dangerous situation or putting her in an institution.

The good news is that this is not true. There is a family-based alternative, also in emergency situations. In this blog we will look at what that is.

NGOs ‘Helping’ Where There Are No State-Run Institutions

Posted on April 22, 2019January 4, 2020 by Florence

In 2018 Rwanda announced that they are planning to be the first country in Africa without orphanages by 2022. A nice sentiment, and I hope they will be able to get rid of all institutions by then, but they will not get the prize. Because Comoros is way ahead of them, it does not have, and never had, any residential childcare institutions.

However, with regards to countries without childcare institutions, during my work on the report ‘Alternative Care for Children Around the Globe’ (which you can download HERE), I was struck by a troubling issue: NGOs or faith-based organisations jumping in in places where there were no residential childcare institutions run by the government, to open orphanages.

How the Report Changed My Life

Posted on April 18, 2019January 4, 2020 by Florence

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.

Ending Poverty Is Too Much to Ask

Posted on April 5, 2019March 12, 2019 by Florence

Poverty is a major reason for children ending up in care and especially for them ending up in institutions, as we have seen in various blogs (HERE and HERE). So combating poverty is an important part of ending institutionalisation. However, this does not mean that we have to put an end to poverty world-wide in order to prevent children from ending up in institutions.

World Autism Day

Posted on April 2, 2019March 12, 2019 by Florence

Today is World Autism Awareness Day. I consider it very important that awareness is raised about autism, both as an advocate for children with autism who are often more likely to end up in an institution, and as someone who is on the spectrum herself.

India Trip

Posted on April 1, 2019September 30, 2019 by Florence

As I am about to get on an airplane again, to go home tomorrow, it seems like a good moment to look back on the weeks I have spent in India and the work I have done here.

As many of you know, before I founded Why Family-Based Solutions, I ran Orphanage Projects. This trip has been an interesting juxtaposition of the work of those two. Having spent half of it on strategising for deinstitutionalisation and the other half on still improving conditions in several institutions.

DI: Resources

Posted on March 28, 2019March 12, 2019 by Florence

When the idea of deinstitutionalisation is first mentioned at an institution, there is usually a lot of push-back. Among the first arguments to be brought up are usually: ‘but we have all these buildings here’, and ‘what about our staff, they will all be out of work’. These are understandable concerns, but – as we shall see in this blog – not things that need to be obstacles.

World TB Day

Posted on March 25, 2019March 12, 2019 by Florence

Yesterday was World TB Day. Tuberculosis is a healthcare issue, of course, but it is also one relevant with regards to institutional care. First of all, as long as TB still goes around, it spreads like wildfire in places where children live close together, for example in so-called orphanages.

World Down’s Syndrome Day

Posted on March 21, 2019September 30, 2019 by Florence

Today is World Down’s Syndrome Day, a day to raise awareness about Down’s Syndrome and to help dispel some of the myths around it. Myths that in many places lead to children being abandoned and sometimes institutionalised.

Until recently even in so-called Western countries, and today still in many places do people have the impression that every child with Down’s syndrome is a worst-case scenario, with even doctors advising parents not to keep the child, because it is no use. This is a major misconception.

DI: Preparing the Children

Posted on March 18, 2019September 30, 2019 by Florence

A child who is moved from an institution into a family situation without any preparation, is likely to be traumatised and this may cause a lot of very challenging behaviour. It has been shown that if children with severe intellectual disabilities, who have lived in an institution for a long time, are moved to a family without preparation, the shock can actually kill them.

So, it is essential to provide proper preparation for the children, when you are planning to move them out of an institution. This blog will look at what that entails.