India
India has had a long and successful commitment to providing services to vulnerable children growing up without families. Over the last several years the Government of India has developed programs for legally abandoned children to be adopted internationally and domestically and to be placed in foster care in India. The Government has expanded and improved orphanage care, both public and private. But as the number of vulnerable children needing services continues to increase, so has the need to improve and expand these services. At present there are about 5,700 Child Care Institutions across India who minister to children from birth to 18 years of age.
Beyond those in institutional care, thousands more homeless children live on the streets or in impoverished communities without access to care, protection, or basic services. These children are often undocumented, missing from any formal census, and excluded from many government programs. As India’s population continues to grow, so does the number of children living without the safety and nurturing support of a family environment.
The Mission of Foundation for Our Children is to prepare children who grow up in institutional care or in the community or in the streets, to be better prepared for legal adulthood at age 18 and to become high-functioning, independent adults integrated into their communities as responsible, independent and contributing citizens.
Our Methodology is to develop working models of programs for these children which address and ensure their optimal physical, emotional, and mental well-being during their formative years toward adulthood.
Our Approach has two phases; in the First Phase, the Foundation will concentrate on the design, testing and implementation of these working models within selected Child Care Institutions. In the Second Phase, the Foundation will engage in training, knowledge sharing, and capacity building to enable other stakeholders—government bodies, NGOs, community organizations and care professionals-to replicate these models in other Child Care Institutions across India
These are the three programs that the Foundation which will be developing into working models:
1. The Nutrition and Feeding Project
This project is for institutionalized children to ensure that they receive the proper nutrition and care necessary for their optimal health and development. It consists of training and support for their caregivers, as well as implementation of digital tools and advocacy efforts. Training is both in-person and remote and covers how to screen for and address anemia, how to weigh and measure children and what to do if they are not growing well, how to optimize diets, how to feed children with disabilities, and how to screen for disabilities and delays. Following training, trainees are provided with digital tools to assess and monitor children over time. These tools assist with care plans and counselling of caregivers, as well as providing information that supports sustainable systems change.
2. TBRI - Trust-Based Relational Intervention
These are interventions for children traumatized by physical and sexual abuse, neglect, abandonment, maltreatment, multiple caretakers, and exposure to violence. This describes most of the children in institutional care. Our approach shall integrate globally recognized, evidence-based models, i.e. Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI), Traumatic Attachment Resilience (TAR) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). These are holistic and multidisciplinary approaches to addressing and healing childhood behavioral challenges. This program addresses the physical, emotional and mental health issues of children age 0-18 years old.
3. The Aging-Out Project
When institutionalized children turn 18, they no longer qualify for any services for children. They are discharged from the orphanage and are considered adults. This is the meaning of "Aging-Out." Their transition to adulthood without family, life skills, resources or emotional support is often traumatic and destabilizing. They move from being entirely dependent on a structured system to facing the world alone, often with no safety net. Without a family or support network, they often feel isolated and unwanted. Many lack the skills or qualifications needed to secure a decent job. With nowhere to go, they are at high risk of ending up on the streets. These youth are vulnerable to exploitation by traffickers, gangs, and predators who target them due to their desperation and lack of protection. Anxiety, depression, PTSD, and suicidal thoughts are common in these children. Many end up in adult shelters, prisons or psychiatric institutions----just another institution, but harsher.
This program is designed to prepare them for this transition, starting in the orphanage in their last few years before they age-out at 18 years old and continuing to be available for them until they are 21.
Before they reach 18 years, they will be oriented to what to expect. They will learn the importance of knowing how to support themselves and will be given a choice of what further training they would like, e.g. technical skills, academics, etc. They will learn how to manage money: costs, budgets, bank accounts, credit, debit, etc., how to make decisions, how to make choices, how to take responsibility for every consequence of their choices, how to integrate into the community.
When they "graduate" from the orphanage at age 18, this program will provide them with safe housing, a group home managed by a couple who will monitor them and keep them safe. The Program Director will work with the community to seek their support for these children. Local businesses, institutions and agencies will be asked to offer them training programs, with the prospects of employment upon successful completion of their training. Senior citizens in the community will be asked to volunteer to be one-on-one mentors with a child. Children will be guided and counseled on how to create their own support system by forming their own "family", a circle of carefully chosen personal friends who guide and support them on every level.
This program will be built from a similar model that has been successfully operational for several years in Ethiopia. However, this Indian Project will be modified and adapted to Indian culture and become the basic model for India which will be further adapted and modified according to the regional culture where the children's orphanage is located.
Foundation for Our Children does not directly operate programs in any country. We partner with a Country Coordinator who is responsible for the implementation of the projects, obtaining any necessary permission from the government, and regular reporting back to the Foundation as to the use of the funds, ongoing effectiveness and results. In India, our Country Coordinator is Dr. Jagannath Pati.
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