Malaika Babies Home was a residential transition centre established in Uganda in 2009 and run by Child’s i Foundation. It was designed to provide high quality temporary care to abandoned babies whilst family tracing, reintegration or adoption efforts took place. The goal was to combat the long-term institutionalisation of children that was prevalent in Uganda at the time, and ensure more children ended up in family-based care. Child’s i Foundation aimed to do this by coupling the residential service with a strong reintegration program. However, despite efforts to ensure children spent as little time in residential care as possible, the Founder and senior staff began to recognise that reintegration and domestic adoption processes can sometimes take considerable time, and even children in high quality residential care facilities can experience developmental delays as a consequence of institutional care. As a result of this learning and realization, Child’s i Foundation embarked upon a journey of transforming their model of care.
The case study is organized around the various stages of transition and explores some of the key themes outlined in the Transitioning Models of Care Assessment Tool. It also features a timeline that provides a visual representation of the key milestones and durations of each of the stages of transition.
*Names and locations of individuals and organizations have been changed; however, the details represent a true account.
