Foster Care for 100 Orphan Children in India

Executive Summary:-

Orphaned and vulnerable children/ children without parental care often have a long trail of painful experiences. Nothing can take away the pain of the children who have lost one or both parents due to various circumstances and leading a life full of insecurity.

Foster care is a form of care where a child is placed outside his own or relation who has been deprived of care from his/her own family. Foster care is the priority when the child does not live with his/her own family or failed to get a relation.

Foster Care Provides Care and Protection to children outside family:

Foster care is an interim arrangement where a child is placed in the care arrangements in an extended family naturally not having any blood relation. It ensures the child’s right to a family. The child grows up in surroundings of similar culture and social family background, making it possible to wean the child & be integrated with his own biological family as and when they have overcome the crisis. Foster family care provides a child with basic need of love, affection and attention.

According to the UNCRC every child should live in a supportive, protective and caring environment that promotes his/her full potential. Children with inadequate or no parental care are at special risk of being denied such a nurturing environment. Children who cannot live with their parents should still grow up in a loving home and enjoy all their rights.

With an objective to ensure the family environment YCDA has been promoting the Foster Care initiatives in the districts of Boudh and Bolangir. This programme supports the foster families- families who open their homes to children in need of care.

To ensure the safe childhood, continue their education and ensuring all-round developments of the children. During the period we have identified 100 children who are living with out parental care and stated intervention with small individual donation and existing project support.

Key intervention during the period:

Need based Support to the Children:-

The programme for assistance to needy children aims to help the children living in Foster care and Kinship care arrangements. Children profilling and individual care plan are prepared before the intervention. A family’s situation is reviewed every year and an annual plan is made as per their need.

Children need various types of support ranging from those things necessary for survival, such as food and health care, to those interventions that will provide a better quality of life in the future such as education, clothes, shoes, psychosocial support and economic self-sufficiency. In the real world many children who are orphan and semi orphan are malnourished, sick and without shelter.

All the children are in family based care. Need and planning of every child is different, so to fulfill their needs to some extent, YCDA provide support to Foster Children as per there need annual need base plan. During the period all 100 children are supported by Food packets, Educational support, Tuition fees, Shoes, Clothes, School bags & many more.

The major focus of the project is to ensure that all children continue their study. During the period, regular follow up is going on so that children do not get dropped out from schools. During the period, the social worker supervised their academic progress records and discusses with the parents and teachers. All the 100 children are going to school and tuitions regularly. On regular basis, counseling and psychosocial support helps to the children to come out from the depression & traumatic situation.

Cluster Level Children Camp:

YCDA creates a small initiative of this camp to create a child friendly learning atmosphere where children learn, play, enjoy their life. Enabling children to realize their inherent potentials and as gesture of project initiation, cluster level children camps were organized for the children age group of 9 to 14 years.

10 nos. of cluster level children camp have been organized in both the districts. 874 nos. of School children came together to a platform, shared their views on their issues and   participated in different competitions like role play, Debate, drawing, singing, quiz & clay model preparing &creative writing and they expose their potentiality heroically. The children gain knowledge & skills on four rights, responsibilities & life skills.Prizes have been given to children who performed better in the competition.

Cluster level children camp has been resulted to enhance the participation of the children and make them efficient for leadership quality. It also enhances the involvement of teachers. Children could participate to share their views and difficulties they get in regular basis. Different competitions and a winning attitude developed among the children which enhanced their confidence to participate actively. The teachers were also actively involved and carried on the whole process of the camp sincerely.

Training to care givers on parental skills :- 

The role of parents and caregivers is critical in ensuring optimal child developmental outcomes and positive parenting is related to fewer behavioural problems during childhood and adolescence as well as improved emotional and social competence.

55 nos of caregivers participated in the training programme where we trained them in their parenting skills & care.In the training the topics to be discussed are defined by caregiver themselves. In the training programme information is provided on health, nutrition, and child development that it is felt would be useful to caregivers.

The program is useful and effective in bringing out some positive changes in their knowledge and attitudes toward child rearing such as decrease in beating the child and increase in talking to the child and explain wrong doings. The program changed the participants' behaviours in positive ways that after the program they started to spend more time in various activities with their children comparing with their responses at the beginning of the programme.Our staffs do home visit regularly to addresses the issue of care for the child within the child's natural context and underscores the importance of the caregivers' role in supporting the child’s development.

Family Strengthening:- 

YCDA aims to build the capacity of caregivers so as to provide better care and protection to their children. During the period, few families were identified for under taking various Income Generation Activities. We provide training and orientation on entrepreneurship, business plan development & planning.

During the period 12 nos. of families have been supported by revolving fund for income generating activities like vegetable cultivation, Puja shop, Rice processing, Grocery shop etc. which can allow the families to earn additional income.We trained & capacitate the families in business plan, profit loss calculation & market linkages. Staffs visited the family and giving the hand holding support for taking forward the Income generation activities and generate savings for the children.

Hii…

I m a 13 years old girl reading in class VIII. I lost my both parents 2 years ago. Then after, I am living with my uncle & aunt. They give me love & affection same as their biological children.

I was irregular in school & in depression when I lost my parents but now I am going to school & tuition regularly, reading well in my class. I love to play with my friends.

                                   Thanks to Global Giving for Your Support …

• Report on Foster Care for 100 children in India (PDF)
  

Executive Summary 

Orphaned and vulnerable children/ children without parental care often have a long trail of painful experiences. Nothing can take away the pain of the children who have lost one or both parents due to various circumstances and leading a life full of insecurity.
Foster Care Provides Care and Protection to children outside family:
Foster care is a way of providing a family life for children who cannot live with their own parents. All over the world, foster families open their hearts to children in need, and share their family life with them.Due to illness, death, desertion of one parent or any crisis at home children deprived love , affection and care from the family. It provides temporary care for children in difficult circumstances. This placement is intended for a planned period of time and does not involve the permanent transfer of parental rights and responsibilities. It’s mainly addressing those children who are unable to live with their biological parents and families. It is a care for those children who are in need of care and protection for which the child’s parents are unable to provide food, shelter and a protective environment.

With an objective to bring back together the child with his/her own family- YCDA has been promoted the Foster Care initiatives in the districts of Boudh and Bolangir .
To ensure the safe childhood, continue their education and ensuring all-round developments of the children. During the period we have identified 100 children who are parentless and stated intervention with small individual donation and existing project support.

Key intervention during the period:

Follow up visit / Psychosocial support to Foster children

Follow up visit and monitoring is the major part of the programme to strengthen the system. The social worker regularly visits the children, care givers and counseled them. All the 100 children are in family based care.
The social worker supervised their annual academic progress records and discusses with the parents. All the 100 children are passed out their academic session successfully & enrolled in next class. The children are going to schools and tuition regularly. The social counseling and psychosocial support helps to the children to come out from the depression & traumatic situation. During the visit various challenges are identified and prepared the safety majors.

Need based Support to the Children:

Children need various types of support ranging from those things necessary for survival, such as food and health care, to those interventions that will provide a better quality of life in the future such as education, clothes, shoes, psychosocial support and economic self-sufficiency. In an ideal world all children would have access to all types of high quality services. In the real world many children who are orphan and semi orphan are malnourished, sick and without shelter.
Need and planning of every child is different, so to fulfill their needs to some extent, YCDA provide support to Foster Children as per there need assessment & annual need base plan. During the period all 100 children are supported by birth registration, Food packets, Shoes, Clothes, School bags, shoes & many more.

Career Counseling of the Foster Children:

Children placed in the Foster family are needed to have proper career counsel. As the children are vulnerable so the children need to have proper education and life skill education. YCDA has been endeavored to take the career counsel and to plan for their appropriate education. There after the counseling started and based on their potentiality and children interest the appropriate higher & Technical education and trainings are provided. During this Period career counseling of 19 numbers children have been conducted and as per the plan they took admission in higher & technical education as per their interest. This helps the children to build up their career and focused on their education.

Educational Materials Support to the Children:

The major focus of the project is to ensure that all children continue their study. During the period, regular follow up is going on so that children do not get dropped out from schools. Our social worker monitored their academic progress & all the 100 children are successfully passed out their academic session and enrolled in their next class. The children are going to schools & tuition regularly. In the new academic session, as per the need analysis of the care plan, children are supported by reading & writing materials, school bags & tuition fees.

Training to adolescent Girls & Boys:

During the period adolescent training on family life education to Boys & Girls was organized .The main objective of the programme was to sensitize and aware to the adolescent boys & girls on the problems & difficulties faced by the teens and the adolescents age groups of 10 to 19 years. In this training programme 60 children gain knowledge on various developmental transformation including physical, emotional and social changes. And also the issues affected the stages of growth the changes come many responsibility & privileges to the adolescent age.

Children Camp:

Alternative forms of child care are dealing with orphan, semi orphan and other vulnerable children who are deprived of many rights ,education, health, family and so many. In their daily life hardly they get a scope of enjoyment, a friendly atmosphere where they get a chance of fearless, friendly atmosphere and enjoy their childhood in a true sense. Children have different needs and wishes. But to have a good relationship with their peer groups, one must be sensitive to their needs and wishes. YCDA creates a small initiative of this camp to create a child friendly learning atmosphere where children learn, play, enjoy their life and the camp becomes a remarkable event for them.
YCDA has created the opportunity for the children and camps where 100 children have got the emotional maturity and developed the social competence and increased their physical play. They enhanced their ability to communicate and interact positively with others peer group. They have gained knowledge on child rights & protection, life skill & family life education through story telling & role play. Even children learnt Yoga, creative art, thread, spray & pot painting. Children enjoyed a lot and they also do the fun moments with dancing, playing & singing. All 100 children have got the opportunity of participating in the camps and got opportunity of recreation and basic entertainment.

Capacity Building / Family Strengthening:

During the period, we provide training and orientation on child care to the 100 care givers so that they could actively take care of the children.
We also capacitate them and facilitated them to avail the benefits of govt. schemes & provisions as Family strengthening is the major part to bring sustainable changes of the foster family and child.
During the period 12 nos. of families have been linked in IAY, Old age, Widow Pension schemes and availed it. YCDA also provide revolving fund support to run the income generation activities. Staffs visit to the family and giving the hand holding support for taking forward the Income generation activities and generate savings for the children.

Helloww…
I m a 12 years old girl reading in class VII. I lost my both parents 3 years ago. I love to live with my grand ma & younger brother who love me very much. My grand ma cares for me & my younger brother.
I was irregular to school but now I m going to school & tuition regularly, love to play with my friends & want to be Doctor ….Hope I will do it..

Thanks to Global Giving for Your Support …

• Report on Foster Care for 100 Orphan Children (PDF)