Care for Children

Care for Children partners with governments in Asia to help create a positive alternative to institutional care through local family-based care for disadvantaged children. Care For Children’s vision is to see a million children moved from institutional care into families.

In China, Care for Children helped build up family-based care a nationally recognised practice. Care for Children is also working to build robust models of best practice in family-based care that will serve as beacons for the nation. 

Their Thailand project is working alongside the Department of Children and Youth to launch the National Foster Care project which will include 20 project sites.

Care for Children also launched a new project in Vietnam in April 2017 when the team were invited by the Vietnamese government to partner with them to help implement foster care in local communities for orphaned and vulnerable children, piloting in Hanoi municipality and Thai Nguyen province

Care for Children has offices in China, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Care for Children is a member of the Convention on the Rights of the Child Coalition for Thailand.

Where they operate

Contact this organization about:

Care reforms in the countries where they operate
Finding out more about their work and experience
Guidance/technical support
Networking and partnerships
Other (detail below)
Referrals to their services
Support in transitioning from residential to family-based care

Organization Size

Size of the organization
Medium (15-49 employees and sub-contractors)

Headquarters Location

Care for Children, 3 The Close
Norwich
NR1 4DH
United Kingdom

Main Areas of Work

Residential Care Service Transition Support

Location
Global

Supports they have offered, or plan to offer, include:

  • Introducing the importance of family care and reintegration to leaders in the organization
  • Strategy and planning for the transition
  • Donor and board engagement
  • Community awareness raising and engagement
  • Partnerships
  • Government engagement and linking to systems reforms
  • Assessments of children and families
  • Family tracing
  • Preparing children and families for transition
  • Social work or case management training or support
  • Staffing adjustments or training
  • Use of buildings and other assets
  • Developing new programs, including:
    • Alternative family care (including kinship care, foster care, adoption)
    • Advocacy
  • Provide funding for the transition
  • General coaching or consultation
  • Onsite training
  • Online training
  • Onsite visits/meetings
  • Phone calls/video conference
  • Provision of standards and written guidance or tools for transitioning
  • Connecting with others or building a network

Care for Children plans to support transitions in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Nepal, India, and Myanmar

National Foster Care Project, China

Location
Offices in Beijing & Shanghai
Implementation
Directly

Translation, editing, and delivery of national foster care training programme. Launched in 1998 in partnership with the China Association of Social Workers, overseen by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. 

National Foster Care Project, Thailand

Location
Office in Chiang Mai
Implementation
Directly

Translation, editing, and delivery of national foster care training programme. Launched in 2012 in partnership with the Department of Children and Youth, Ministry of Social Development and Human Security.

National Foster Care Project, Vietnam

Location
Office in Hanoi
Implementation
Directly

Translation, editing, and delivery of national foster care training programme. Launched in 2017 in partnership with the Department of Children’s Affairs, Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

National Foster Care Project, Cambodia

Location
Office in Phnom Penh
Implementation
Directly

Translation, editing, and delivery of national foster care training programme. Launched in 2019.

We asked this organization to tell us a little more about their learning and knowledge sharing practices. Here is what they said

What area of your practice are you most proud of and why?

Care for Children recognises that governments have the authority to care for children in their nation. We tell them that their success is our success. To achieve sustainable systemic change for orphans and vulnerable children we have learnt how to empower and equip a nation’s child welfare system in favour of family-based care as a positive alternative to institutional. Care for Children’s national level partnerships and grassroots implementation all serve this goal, and is where we have been most successful in seeing more children in families.

What area of your work has resulted in the most significant learning for your organization?

We have learnt the need to treat each country independently, taking time to adjust our training materials to suit their respective language, culture and political contexts, while also maintaining approved, international standards. 

What are the top 2 pieces of advice or wisdom you’d offer to others from this learning?
  1. Respect the authority of the nation you are working in, and look how to empower both national and local child welfare agencies.
  2. Have the necessary professional expertise on staff.
As an organization how do you engage in reflection and evaluation of your work, and incorporate learning into your practice?

We arrange regular independent evaluations of our work, from both professional individuals and established institutions (such as Universities).

As an organization how do you collaborate and participate in learning and knowledge exchange with other organizations, networks?

We attend, and participate in, international events, as well as work alongside like-minded organisations in our project countries, particularly on projects that support government policy.