Family-Based Care

CAFO Webinar Recap: Strategies and Resources for Transition to Family-Based Care

In the last Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) webinar, Strategies and Resources for Transition to Family-Based Care, experts in advocacy, research, and hands-on experience spoke about helpful information for faith-based organizations to use as they transition from residential care to care within families. Joining the discussion were Sarah Gesiriech, Executive Director of the Faith to Action Initiative; Beth Bradford, International Child Protection Consultant with Maestral International; and Tara Garcia, Co-Founder and CEO of Identity Mission. This webinar provides practical tips and highlights free resources, including Faith to Action’s newly released Transitioning to Family Care for Children: A Guidance Manual, to assist [...]

CAFO Webinar Recap: Strategies and Resources for Transition to Family-Based Care2024-01-10T14:25:26-05:00

For Unto Us a Child is Born!

We are thankful for your support and partnership in our mission to see families empowered and supported to care for children. As we reflect on the Christmas story this year, Faith to Action is reminded of the strength and power of vulnerable children and families.  In the nativity, almighty God embodies the most vulnerable state of humanity; a newborn, wholly reliant on others for His care and protection. While contradictory to western culture, scripture continually displays God’s preference for utilizing those whom others would least expect to do great things.  From His birth to His ministry and ultimate death, Jesus displayed [...]

For Unto Us a Child is Born!2024-01-10T14:24:38-05:00

Noonday Collection: Strengthening Families through Fair-Trade Business

Tags: Community Strengthening If you were to journey across the ocean to Uganda and enter a lively artisan workplace filled with the sounds of chatter and fluttering fingers rolling colorful paper beads, you would meet Olivia. Olivia’s story is not unlike those of other women in the room. Just two years ago, Olivia was a single mother unable to find consistent employment. Out of sheer desperation, she was on the brink of sending her beloved daughter Rachel to an orphanage. Herself an orphan and survivor of exploitation, Olivia felt that she had no other options [...]

Noonday Collection: Strengthening Families through Fair-Trade Business2024-01-10T14:24:04-05:00

Identity Mission: Fostering a Continuum of Family Care Options for Honduran Children

Tags: Adoption | Community Strengthening | Economic Empowerment Best practice in caring for orphaned and vulnerable children indicates the need for a continuum of care options for children currently living in—or at risk of being sent to—institutions. While a growing number of ministry leaders, practitioners, and researchers agree that children are best cared for within families, the question of what type of family placement setting looms large. One child may have living parents with whom they can reunite, while another may have no trace of a family. It is God’s inherent love for every child that [...]

Identity Mission: Fostering a Continuum of Family Care Options for Honduran Children2024-01-10T14:21:42-05:00

CAFO Webinar on Finding Your Piece of the Foster Care Puzzle

Tomorrow, Wednesday, November 9th, Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) will host a webinar entitled, "Finding Your Piece of the Foster Care Puzzle." When people think about getting involved in foster care, the first things that often come to mind are foster parenting and adoption. To be sure, these are two important pieces of the foster care puzzle. But, what are some of the other pieces and how can God use your unique gifts and experiences in some of these vital areas? This webinar is designed to help you and others in your church understand multiple pieces of the foster [...]

CAFO Webinar on Finding Your Piece of the Foster Care Puzzle2024-01-10T14:18:46-05:00

New Resource on Exploring the Continuum of Care

Today the Faith to Action Initiative launched our new resource on the continuum of care for children. This web-based tool will help you explore a range of care options for children who are separated, or at risk of separation, from parental care. The continuum of care interactive graphic depicts an overview of the different types of care to consider when a child is separated from family care. The colorful graphic allows you to explore each topic on the continuum of care through links to short narratives, helpful resources, and inspirational examples. Multiple pathways illustrate the uniqueness of children’s circumstances [...]

New Resource on Exploring the Continuum of Care2024-01-10T14:18:03-05:00

Reaching Vulnerable Teens Through Life Skills and Mentoring

Tags: Community Strengthening When someone envisions orphan care and adoption, it is likely that images of babies and toddlers come to mind. However, across the globe, the group that most often remains overlooked and largely at risk are the adolescents who are on the verge of aging out of orphanages or foster care. These youth are at risk of never having the opportunity to experience the importance of being part of a family. For nearly 12 years my context has been the government-run orphanages of Ukraine and the former Soviet Union. Upon moving to Ukraine [...]

Reaching Vulnerable Teens Through Life Skills and Mentoring2024-01-10T14:17:15-05:00

Following God’s Lead: My Journey into Family-Based Care

Tags: Community Strengthening | Economic Empowerment Journeys in life rarely take a straight path, and my journey into orphan care is no exception. Yet, God promises that if we trust in Him, he will direct our paths (Proverbs 3:5–6). In my case, God’s directing was a U-turn. In 2010, I signed up to go on a short-term mission trip to serve at an orphanage in Zambia. Five years later, I found myself in Uganda empowering local churches to support vulnerable children and their families, advocating for family-based care rather than the use of orphanages. When [...]

Following God’s Lead: My Journey into Family-Based Care2024-01-10T14:14:54-05:00

International Alternative Care Conference in Geneva

Faith to Action is excited to be part of the International Alternative Care Conference in Geneva, Switzerland. This is the 2016 edition of the annual conferences hosted jointly by the International Institute for the Rights of the Child (IDE) and the Centre for Children's Rights Studies at the University of Geneva (CIDE). For this “international alternative care conference”, the two hosts are partnering with several concerned international agencies that make up the Steering Group. The conference provides a bridge between research, policy and practice in the overall sphere of alternative care, and a much-needed space for discussion and exchange among [...]

International Alternative Care Conference in Geneva2024-01-10T23:32:26-05:00

The Threshold Is a Sacred Space: The Casa Viva Story

The story of Casa Viva is a story of children, family, and the local church. As the founders, we can see that it stretches from our childhood summers visiting grandparents in Nebraska to our present work in Costa Rica caring for children through local families and the local church. We are well aware that our parents created homes that were safe and delightful. Our memory of family when we were children is deep and rich. Our motivation to get involved with the issues facing children and families around the world is embedded in the collective past of our strong [...]

The Threshold Is a Sacred Space: The Casa Viva Story2024-01-10T23:42:12-05:00

Launch of New Guidelines on Children’s Reintegration

Today Family for Every Child launched the Guidelines on Children’s Reintegration, which have been endorsed by 31 organizations, including many of the largest child protection agencies in the world.  The Guidelines call for greater investment in reintegration, and advocate for it to be pursued as the primary response before other care options are considered. The Guidelines were spearheaded by an interagency group led by Family for Every Child, that was set up in 2011 and has conducted an extensive literature review and consulted with 158 children, 127 service providers and policy makers from 66 organizations across over 20 countries. [...]

Launch of New Guidelines on Children’s Reintegration2024-01-10T23:43:45-05:00

Casa Viva: Family as Sacred Space

Tags: Economic Empowerment For a child, there is no substitute for the lively discussion, the eye contact, the emotional support, and the affection that take place within families. Jill Aspegren, Co-Executive Director of Casa Viva, offers a compelling appeal to care for children who have been separated from their families: “The time has come for the local church to learn again the ancient art of hospitality—to welcome the guest in the name of Christ. Children know when they have entered the home of a real family—the threshold is a sacred space.” Prior to Casa Viva, Jill and [...]

Casa Viva: Family as Sacred Space2024-01-10T23:45:52-05:00

Northeast Adoption & Child Welfare Summit in October!

The Northeast Adoption & Child Welfare Summit is just a little over a month away! Healing children and adolescents with adverse life experiences requires a concerted effort at many levels across multiple sectors. The Northeast Adoption & Child Welfare Summit brings together expert speakers, adoptive and foster parents, professionals, and church leaders to be trained, encouraged and build new networks that will strengthen efforts to better care for vulnerable children, adolescents, and their families. There will also be 50+ breakout sessions! By attending this summit, your community will be better prepared to care for vulnerable children and families [...]

Northeast Adoption & Child Welfare Summit in October!2024-01-10T23:47:51-05:00

Listening Hearts. Shifting Focus. Five Tips for Hurdling Over Alternative Orphan Care Conversation Starters

Watching the Olympics, I find myself mesmerized by the skill, timing, and rhythm of the hurdlers. With ease, they keep their momentum moving forward until the finish line is in sight. But what happens when their tempo is suddenly interrupted by an injury or when another athlete unexpectedly comes into their lane? They fall down—sometimes in pain or defeat. Have you ever felt like you are stumbling over a hurdle when talking to someone about a topic that is important to you? Even if you think you know the perfect conversation starter, awkward silence, unsure words, and feeling unprepared in [...]

Listening Hearts. Shifting Focus. Five Tips for Hurdling Over Alternative Orphan Care Conversation Starters2024-01-10T23:50:06-05:00

Heaven’s Family: A Story of Donor Transformation

Tags: Transitioning “I’d rather work in the fields of my village with my own family than live in an orphanage,” explained a Burmese girl to Philip Barker, Director of Heaven’s Family UK. She was the very first child Philip met in Myanmar (Burma) eight years ago when he visited orphanages as a child sponsor through the organization’s Orphan’s Tear Ministry. Her sentiment—along with the ever-expanding body of research on family-based care—is what compelled Heaven’s Family to radically change their approach to caring for vulnerable children. Heaven’s Family, a Christian missions organization with offices in the [...]

Heaven’s Family: A Story of Donor Transformation2024-01-17T17:09:05-05:00

Foster Care in Panama: Our Journey

Tags: Foster Care Growing up in the U.S. I dreamed of moving to Africa to start an orphanage. But I met and married my husband at a young age, and in 2008 we moved to Panama City, Panama, with our then three-year-old daughter. Our new Panamanian church had a volunteer program that involved holding babies and playing with children in local orphanages. When I signed up I didn’t know anything about institutionalization (what a mouthful), attachment disorder, or alternative care. It didn’t take more than a few visits to see the children were not thriving. [...]

Foster Care in Panama: Our Journey2024-01-17T17:20:15-05:00

CAFO Webinar on Caring for Caregivers

Tomorrow, Wednesday, July 20th, Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) will continue their monthly webinar series, Knowledge + Practice. These webinars translate research into actionable information that OVC care practitioners can implement immediately to elevate the quality of the care they provide. This seventh webinar in the series is called “Caring for Caregivers: A Critical Component of Improving Child Wellbeing” from 2-3pm Eastern.  Research and common knowledge both suggest that the most influential relationship in a child's life is with his or her caregiver.  A strong caregiver relationship can limit the effects of trauma, increase a child's confidence and independence, [...]

CAFO Webinar on Caring for Caregivers2024-01-17T17:19:20-05:00

Gatekeeping in Thailand: Reinforcing God’s Design for Family and Protecting Children

Tags: Economic Empowerment Along the Thai-Burma border are communities fraught with poverty and filled with families struggling to survive. The communities mostly comprise people who fled Burma due to decades of violence and oppression. Their children, stateless and without citizenship or official identity, are at high risk of exploitation, chronic poverty, abuse, and human trafficking. Yet, in the midst of this brokenness is a group of people who, choosing to follow Christ’s example, enter into their neighbors’ suffering and work to bring about restoration and hope. This group is the community outreach team of Global [...]

Gatekeeping in Thailand: Reinforcing God’s Design for Family and Protecting Children2024-01-17T17:18:48-05:00

Potter’s House: Transformation Through Livelihood Strengthening

Tags: Community Strengthening | Economic Empowerment In the garbage dumps of Guatemala, children are born and raised in an environment that can impede human flourishing. They grow up in the middle of society’s waste, which makes it difficult to see a future beyond the desolation. In this community, family culture encourages partnering and starting a family of their own when they reach adolescence, with many children leaving formal education behind by age 12. It is not uncommon for 14-year-olds to begin living with a girlfriend or boyfriend; marriage rituals are rarely celebrated and it is the general [...]

Potter’s House: Transformation Through Livelihood Strengthening2024-01-17T17:16:37-05:00

No Ordinary Love Ministries: Reuniting Children and Families in Ethiopia

Tags: Economic Empowerment In 2015, 158 children were reunited with their families through the work of No Ordinary Love Ministries (NOLM). The mission of NOLM is “to bless and serve people living in extreme poverty in Ethiopia, and beyond,” and one of the ways they live this out is through reuniting separated children with their families. One such family is that of a young girl named Tesfanesh. Wanting to help support her parents, she agreed to travel from her village to the capital to find employment. After only a week in Addis Ababa, Tesfanesh ran away, unable [...]

No Ordinary Love Ministries: Reuniting Children and Families in Ethiopia2024-01-17T17:16:43-05:00
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