Orphans into loving foster families in China

Preparing children for family placement In China, we have had unprecedented success in enabling the government to move children out of institutions (also known as orphanages) and into local family-based care.

Our training covers the whole process of placing a child in a family, from assessing the children and foster carers to monitoring the success of the placement. One of the important parts of the process is preparing the child for the placement. It is crucial that the following steps are followed to ensure that children are prepared, understand what is happening, and feel safe throughout the process.

Assessment

The family care worker assesses a child individually by asking questions, doing fun activities and exploring their views, wishes and feelings. The developmental, cognitive, medical, psychological and learning needs are also taken into account when considering a child's suitability for family care.

Care planning

Each child should have clear short and long-term plans that detail their needs and outline how they will be met once in family care.These are reviewed regularly and updated as part of ongoing monitoring and support.

Life story work

Life story work helps children to make sense of their past, understand their thoughts and feelings about their present, and explore their wishes for the future. This work is very interactive and great focus is given to the information that is known rather than what is not.

I hope this gives you an insight into this element of our training, which is such a key part of our work in transitioning countries from institutional care to family-based care for orphans and vulnerable children. Stay connected for more updates. Thank you so much for your support.