Preventing family breakdown

The vast majority of children in institutions have at least one living parent but have been institutionalised due to poverty or ill health.

We aim to stop children being separated from their families in the first place by supporting families to get back on their feet. This prevents families breaking down and stops children being placed in institutions.

Supporting families

On one level we do this by supporting individual families who are at risk of breakdown. We have developed a model called Active Family Support which targets support in five integrated areas – living conditions, family and social relationships, education, physical and mental health and household economy. This enables us to build up a detailed picture of a family's strengths as well as the areas which make them vulnerable. The key to our approach is that each intervention is based on individual needs and circumstances, empowering the children and families themselves to contribute to a successful outcome.

Meeting wider needs

We also work with local communities to identify clusters of common needs which might lead to the institutionalisation of children, and address these wider needs by developing services for the whole community. These services might provide emergency support for families such as a Mother and Baby Unit where the most vulnerable young families can receive support without mothers and babies being separated, or an Emergency Reception Centre where children at risk of neglect or abuse can be placed on a short term basis. Other services might provide support that helps parents to look after their families. A Day Care Centre provides a safe environment where children can learn and play while their parents find work to support their family. Meanwhile, life skills training can give adults the training and encouragement they need to keep their families together – vital if the parents themselves grew up in institutions and have found it difficult to adapt to family life.

In many areas we have worked with local communities to develop Community Hubs. These are resource centres for the whole community and can provide a wide range of services, according to the needs identified by the community. Community Hubs are important for bringing communities together. They help to break down barriers and encourage members of the community to support the more vulnerable families among them.