Child's - I Foundation is fundraising on Maanch. Take a look at their impact!

Uganda

Giving Every Child a Safe and Loving Family

By Child's - I Foundation

Registered Charity

Executive Summary

Orphanages are separating families, fracturing communities, and ultimately harming children. Orphanages are standing in the way of a thriving society yet they are still being set-up and run, in spite of the huge cost to children’s wellbeing and Uganda as a whole.

If it was more widely known that 80% of children in orphanages have families, funding could be directed to help families stay together instead of separate.

Child’s i Foundation will provide the blueprint for sustainable alternatives to orphanages: truly social services run by and for communities to strengthen families and support them to raise their children, as well as finding new foster and adoptive families for those who need them.

We learned the hard way that there’s no such thing as a good orphanage so we’re uniquely placed to help others reimagine the way they care, repurpose the orphanages that exist and rebuild community approaches to supporting families and children.

Impact Indicators

People: Social Impact

Number of Lives Impacted:

12,300

Gender:

Female, Male

Age:

0-3, 4-11, 12-17, 18-25, 26-40, 41-60, 60+

Employment Status:

Student, Employed, Self-employed, Unemployed

Accessibility:

Disabled, Non-Disabled

Location:

Urban, Suburban, Rural, Remote

Planet: Environmental Impact

Land:

Rural

Water:

Inland

Air:

Rural

Topic and Activity Grid

Topics

	Community Engagement	Poverty Relief
Advocacy
Catalysing
Convening
Goods Provision
Infrastructure Provision
Services Provision
Research & Development
Raising Awareness
Training

Geography

Country:

Uganda

Project Outcome Indicators

Short Term:

— 6,072 children prevented from family separation through referrals to relevant services via CDNs.

Children are prevented from institutionalisation

— 64 children transitioned from institutions (reunified with biological family or placed in alternative family - adoptive/foster)

Children are cared for in family based alternative care when they can’t live with parents

— 540 government policy and decision makers trained to reform the care system

Child protection & care is delivered at community level by volunteers, social & development workers & government technical staff through established mechanisms

Long Term:

— Increased ability among families to care for their children because of Child?s i interventions

Parents and children are empowered and have the knowledge to access support they need. Children in Uganda are provided with a range of family based services.

— Increased levels of satisfaction of various stakeholders including families, children, government officials etc. with our work.

Community-based child protection systems strengthen communities, connect informal workers with government structures, and provide additional support to minimise Covid19 impact.

— Change in attitude, knowledge, perception, behaviour and practice of all DI relevant stakeholders including; parents, civil society, government, CVs, CDNs, foster carers, institution owners etc.

A strong business case is being made and communicated to all key stakeholders encouraging redirection of funding from orphanages to families and community services

Activities:

Our team of social workers supervise a network of 500 community volunteers. Community volunteers are at the frontline of response for children and families at risk. They tend to be respected individuals who live in communities alongside children and families who need support. They are trained by our team of social workers to identify vulnerable families and children and educate communities on the importance of children growing up in families, not orphanages. 

Our social workers are in regular contact with the community volunteers, supervising their family visits and making sure that the families referred to us by the volunteers are appropriately supported. Our social workers also make sure that community volunteers are equipped with the right skills to identify child protection concerns.

The more community volunteers we can train, the more people there are to provide the protection systems that need to be in place before we can achieve real change for children. Appropriately trained community volunteer force makes communities safer, more resilient and self-sufficient.

This year, in order to support the families who are desperate to receive help to keep their children, we need to train and supervise 620 community volunteers across our target districts to provide the safety net children and families so desperately need. With the help of our network of community volunteers, we will reach and support 6,072 children in 1,518 families to prevent them from separation.

Partnership