Wanting to help some of the world’s most vulnerable children is a great intention. But without understanding the true impact of your help, you could unintentionally be part of a big problem that is separating 8 million children from the love and care of their own families.
Children who live long-term in Residential Care Institutions, like orphanages, are at serious risk of suffering lifelong damage, such as:
An ‘Orphanage’ is a Residential Care Institution. There are many names for Residential Care Institutions that sound well-meaning but ultimately cause harm due to family separation and lack of individualised love and care. E.g. Orphanages, Shelters, Safe Houses, Children’s Homes, Children’s Villages, Boarding Schools, Rehabilitation Centres.
— Tara Winkler, TEDx Sydney 2016
In Cambodia, the government policy on residential care is that it should only be used as a short-term and temporary solution for children, after all options to live with parents or relatives have been exhausted.
If you support a Residential Care Institution, ensure that they can demonstrate through their case management process that all the children in residential care are living there temporarily as a last resort. For children who can’t return to biological family, a permanency plan should be developed to transition children from residential care to a permanent family-based care placement, such as local adoption or long-term foster care.
Some orphanages have recognised that long-term residential care is damaging for children and have started the process of transitioning to a family-based care model and reuniting children with their families. If the Residential Care Institution that you support is going through this process, keep supporting them through the transition.
How to identify a Residential Care Institution:
The best scenario for a child is to grow up with the love and care of their family, surrounded by friends and relatives in their community. Often the reason children end up in Residential Care Institutions in Cambodia is because of poverty. Families can’t meet their child’s basic needs so entrust them into the care of an orphanage where they will access nutrition, education and healthcare services. Orphanages don’t have to be their only option. It is much more cost-effective to redirect donations to support families and programs that bring vital family support services into communities. In cases where children are not safe to live with their biological family, the best option is to preserve the relationships in a child’s life and place them with a foster family who the child already knows, ideally in their home community.
Help us change the trajectory of vulnerable children’s lives and end the era of orphanages
