Summary from Faith to Action
Transitioning to Family Care for Children: A Guidance Manual aims to provide practical guidance and tools for churches, faith-based organizations, donors, and others who are transitioning care for children away from residential care to care within families. This resource is aligned with biblical principles, a strong evidence base, and a growing movement within the Church that affirms the importance of family in every child’s life.
The Guidance Manual provides an overview of the key concepts and steps that are important to a successful transition process, and complements the professional practices, national policies, and international standards necessary for the healthy and safe support of children transitioning from residential to family care. Specifically, the Guidance Manual:
- Provides a framework for understanding the transition to family care, including core principles to keep in mind throughout the process;
- Offers key considerations for transition planning, including the steps in transitioning to family care and how an organization can raise awareness to bring others along;
- Explores how to work in partnership with staff, partners, donors, and others to support the transition;
- Focuses on some of the ways that transitioning care can mean a shift in a business model, such as cultivating resources that fund the cost of the transition and reallocating current assets;
- Provides an introduction to child-centered case management, including gatekeeping mechanisms to ensure appropriate family placements, key steps in determining placements, developing individual care plans, and preparing children and families for the transition.
- Explores the “continuum of care” as a range of family-based options for child placement, including family reintegration, kinship care, adoption, and foster care; and
- Covers tools and concepts for monitoring and evaluation to ensure children are safe and cared for in their family placements.
To read the manual in its entirety, please click the image above. Please visit the Faith to Action website here to access the Transitioning to Family Care for Children Tool Kit, an online resource for those seeking to transition to family-based care models. A Transitioning to Family Care for Children Online Training is also now available.
