Date: Wednesday, April 22, 2026
Time: 9-10:30 AM EDT
How do countries move care reform from policy to practice — and what does it take to sustain that change? This webinar, co-hosted by the Transforming Children's Care collaborative and Hope and Homes for Children, will dive into the ground-level realities of system strengthening across three diverse national contexts: South Africa, Rwanda, and Bulgaria. Drawing on the Hope and Homes for Children Global Roadmap for Care Reform: Families. Not Institutions., country experts will share the critical bottlenecks they encountered, the strategies that worked, the course corrections required, and the evidence of impact for children and families. This is a session for practitioners, policy-makers, and funders who want to understand not just what reform looks like — but how it actually happens.
Speakers will address:
- South Africa: Building prevention and community strengthening as the primary gateway to care reform — and what HHC's longitudinal study reveals about outcomes for children.
- Rwanda: Creating a dedicated workforce through national action plans and policy development, including Rwanda's Transition Management and Monitoring (TMM) plan.
- Bulgaria: How gatekeeping mechanisms, enabling legislation, and EU grant funding drove the closure of institutions for babies and broader systemic transformation. Spanish interpretation will be available
Speakers
- Lourenza Steytler Foghill, Senior Programme Lead, Hope and Homes for Children
- Imaculee Vidivi Karangwa, Executive Director Rwanda, Hope and Homes for Children
- Galina Bisset Pourcheva, Technical Consultant DI, Europe, Hope and Homes for Children
Moderators
- Otto Sestak, Head of Learning and Engagement, Hope and Homes for Children
- Ani Kulkarni, Senior Advisor Evidence and Learning, Better Care Network
This webinar is the second in a new series of webinars under the Transforming Children’s Care Collaborative, which convenes diverse stakeholders from across the globe to exchange knowledge on strengthening child care and protection systems to prevent family separation and promote inclusive, family-based alternative care. Each session will highlight innovative approaches and promising practices to address some of the most complex challenges in achieving systemic change.