Global Child Advocates began in 2008, in response to a few children working on the streets in Thailand, where young girls and boys begged at night or dug through the trash for recyclables to sell. If they did not earn enough money each day, they were ‘beaten’. We responded by opening a ‘Safe house’ for these children, which was always meant to provide short-term care. Yet, many children did not have a safe family and foster care did not exist so over the years, it became long term. In offering care for children in such a vulnerable place, more children were referred to GCA, which led to the opening of 3 more children’s homes.
In 2011, our team discovered that we could recruit and equip families was possible, our organizational leaders quickly bought in and became equipped for transition. Over the course of 5 years, we partnered with expert consultants and the Thai Child Welfare Department to place 47% of the children into trained permanent alternative families. By tracing, screening, and equipping safe family members, another 47% of the children were reintegrated back into their communities with their parents or kinship carers. The remaining 6% of older youth are now supported in community-based care and our team continues to monitor these placements as needed. Having seen children on both sides of transition and the incredible benefits of family, GCA now advocates for global care reform. We focus on strengthening families and communities so that long-term residential care is not even necessary and they help other organizations shift to do the same.
GCA's mission is to strengthen the layers of protection around children to prevent abuse, trafficking and institutionalization while empowering through education and advocacy.
Where they operate
Contact this organization about:
Organization Size
Headquarters Location
Austin, TX
United States
Organization Type
Main Areas of Work
Residential Care Service Transition Support
We desire to support other organizations in transitioning residential care centers to family-based care. Support could 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:
- Family and community strengthening
- Alternative family care (including kinship care, foster care, adoption)
- Advocacy
- Equipping social workers to provide onsite support during initial phases of 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
We will work on referrals only and with partner organizations of our CPC Churches.
Early Childhood Development Center
Free preschool for children at-risk of being orphaned aimed at empowering families to stay together
Crisis Prevention Team
Strengthens struggling families using the Protective Families Framework
Crisis Response Team
Crisis hotline and police referral response to reports of child abuse, trafficking, and intimate partner violence.
Emergency Shelter
Short-term care for women and children referred by the government, for assessment and rehab while long term solutions are determined.
Foster Care
Recruiting, training, supporting, monitoring of long-term foster families for children.
Sojourn Studio
Social enterprise, which provides dignified employment for moms and survivors of exploitation.
Education and Training
Equipping organizations and churches about child protection, foster care, family reunifications, and children’s needs.
Child Protection Coalition
Awareness training for American churches about the importance of family care for children and the need for care reform.
Global Advocate Program (GAP)
Training and supporting social workers to serve onsite to help organisations transition to family based care.
We asked this organization to tell us a little more about their learning and knowledge sharing practices. Here is what they said
We desire to do what is best for children. As we grow, we are continually adapting our services to fit the need, even if mean major change. Also we take the cases that other organizations won’t accept, even if it negatively reflects in our outcomes.
Definitely our transition from long-term residential care to family based care. We are forever grateful for Rebecca Nhep and ACCI for their support in that direction.
- Seek professional help if you want to transition your care model.
- Do not open a children’s home if it is possible to empower families for children.
Each team leader meets with their reporting staff weekly to discuss clients and learning opportunities. We also conduct evaluations of our projects of progress and opportunities for growth.
We seek out training for our staff from outside resources. Our leaders are apart of several organization networks within the global movement, which allows for collaboration and partnership on many levels.
