Helping Children Grow Up In Loving Families

Hello,

We appreciate your ongoing support to Children in Families.

With genuine compassion, two of our staff worked hard to support children to find a family that they belong with. Their commitment has meant that the organization they founded, Children in Families, has become a trusted place for children who need help.

For the last six months, 81 children have been referred to Children in Families, 50 of which are successfully enrolled into our new program for Kinship Care project, FOR-1 (Family of Origin is the 1st Priority). Out of the 50 children who entered our care, seven are children with special needs. 

Since May, Children in Families has submitted 17 Domestic Adoption cases to the court, and seven of them have been approved, while the rest are in progress. Providing permanent care for children from our Foster Care project is one of CIF’s greatest achievements!

In July, we conducted a child safeguarding policy training, attended by staff members from all provincial offices - Phnom Penh, Kandal, Kampong Chhnang, Svay Rieng, Prey Veng, Siem Reap and Battambong. The training improved staff awareness of child abuse and to will help prevent any acts of child abuse from occuring, as well as improving reporting and appropriate responses through our Child Response Team. 

In the month of August, Children in Families arranged two meetings, one of which provided training to case workers and community rehabilitation workers on case management, basic counselling, and autism identification. All CIF staff members participated in an annual reflection event on the same month, updating on main achievements, areas for improvement, best practices and the orientation on Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance (Mexico City Policy). 

Success Story

In 2017, a child was referred to Children in Families due to the deteriorating health of her mother, who was diagnosed with HIV, and her aging grandmother’s inability to care for her. After assessing the case, CIF identified that the child was at risk of being separated from her family. This frequently leads to dropping out of school, and creates increased risk of labor exploitation. Children in Families then entered the child into our Family Preservation project. With regular ongoing care through food provision, education support, training and follow-up visits, the family’s well-being has improved gradually. The child now attends school regularly, while her mother has worked with our case managers to develop skills in home gardening. This produces crops for both daily food, and for selling in her local community to support her family. 

Thanks once again for making a better difference through Children In Families. 

Hello,

Thank you for your continued support of Children in Families.

Children in Families exists to place vulnerable children in loving families. We do this by supporting families with parenting skills, financial support and regular case meetings with our social workers. We also do that by helping orphanages reintegrate children and talking to groups about the harms of volunteering in orphanages. 

On International Children’s Day, Children in Families started conducting a campaign in Kandal province to raise awareness of “the importance of growing up in a family and of alternative care services” that we and our Family Care First offer. With the success of the first campaign, Children in Families hosted the second campaign in Kampong Chhnang province, which received even greater success, to the delight of our hard-working staff. 

Since May, Children in Families has submitted 17 Domestic Adoption cases to the court and seven of them got approval while the rest is on its way.  This is considered one of CIF’s main achievements to be able to provide children in our Foster to Adopt Project their permanency in a loving family. 

Recently, we conducted a Child Protection training, attended by our staff members from all the provinces our organization is located in, such as Phnom Penh, Kandal, Kampong Chhnang, Svay Rieng, Prey Veng, Siem Reap and Battambong. This training is conducted annually so as to improve staff awareness of child abuse and to prevent any acts from occurring as well as to report and seeks appropriate response through our Child Response Team. 

In March, ABLE project has welcomed two new members to their team: Chet and Bridget. Chet is our new physiotherapist, a current student of Physiotherapy for the Bachelor of Bridging Program. Bridget, our newest volunteer for the ABLE project, has joined us as an Educational Psychologist. We have finally formed up a more effective team in order to provide more relevant support to children with special needs where resources are still scarce.

Up to date, with the support you have contributed through this platform and from supporters around the world, Children in Families could better serve 386 vulnerable children where 114 are supported in loving Foster Care families, 272 are preserved with biological and kinship families instead of orphanages which among them, 56 are children with special needs and two are in Emergency Care. 

Thanks once again for making a better difference through Children In Families.