3.1.1 STRENGTHENING FAMILIES
and respected by reliable adults who love
Breaking the vicious circle
and raise their children. Many parents lack
them unconditionally.
By making families and communities stronger
this basis or allow it to slip through their
we can break the vicious circle of vulnerability
fingers due to their circumstances. We build
The best place for a child to grow up is with his or her own family. However, in many
SOS Children’s Villages works with families,
and stimulate sustainable change processes.
on a caring and safe home by providing
places around the world, families experi-
caregivers and communities to prevent
We compile a personal and achievable family
workshops about, for example, parenting,
encing crisis or (extreme) hardship may
crises that can lead to child-family
development plan with each family, which is
hygiene and nutrition, the importance of
have difficulties caring for their children.
separation. Our services strengthen and
based on their strengths and identifies the
having a good relationship with your child and
Apart from having access to enough
stabilise families and their social networks
challenges they must face in order to effec-
positive discipline.
nutritious food, water and healthcare,
so that children are better cared for and
tively protect their children and look after them
children need to feel protected, encouraged
protected.
properly.
Rights education
Our family-strengthening programmes
Awareness about the rights of the child is
contain the following aspects.
incredibly important – for the children and the parents/caregivers. We organise workshops
Prevent child-family separation Making the family of origin stronger So the children can continue to live with their parents in safety
Support in accessing basic needs
on what the rights are and what they mean, as
and facilities
well as the consequences of domestic
In some countries families are overwhelmed
violence, the importance of family planning
by their struggle to survive. We can alleviate
and need to have a birth certificate. We give
the worst misery by supporting families in
children a voice and support families through
gaining access to the authorities and
advocating for the construction of essential
essential provisions such as education (with
facilities in their community, such as water
school fees, school uniforms and materials)
wells for clean drinking water.
and basic medical care, and the provision of
Gatekeeping protocol*
Reintegration
basic needs such as clothing and food – by
Working with communities
distributing seeds to grow crops, cattle and/or
We work closely with local organisations and
nutritious meals. By providing this support,
authorities in the communities in which we
parents can focus on caring for their children
operate to improve the lives of children and
and generating income.
families for good. By facilitating sustainable change processes within communities,
Family-based care Kinship care
Children are cared for informally if, temporarily, they can no longer live with their parents.**
Foster care within the wider family
Children are formally taken in by the wider family.**/***
Foster care outside the wider family
Children are cared for by a foster family when their own family is no longer able to look after them.**/***
Care in an SOS family
In a family house in a Children’s Village or in the community.
Small group homes
Supervised accommodation for young people in our youth programmes or temporary care in a transit home.
* Compliance with the gatekeeping protocol means that there is careful consideration in each child’s case to decide which form of care is most adequate. The outcome could also be that the child remains with the own family, on condition that the family receives support. ** SOS Children’s Villages strengthens the family so they can take care of their children. *** SOS Children’s Villages also helps improve the quality of and access to foster care.
Residential facilities
We collaborate to support these facilities in the de-institutionalising process.
Economic strengthening
so-called civic driven change, they can take
Creating economic opportunities helps
responsibility in the future for the vulnerable
families stay together. We jointly examine with
families in their midst. We achieve this by
families whether and how they can ensure
using the knowledge and contacts in the
sufficient income. We offer parents/caregivers
community and by improving skills and
vocational training so they can find a job or we
building capacities at the same time. The
provide them with funds to start a small
community must act as the strong social
business. Afterwards we teach them how to
safety net that families can turn to for infor-
manage their income. We also look at
mation, if they have questions or problems.
creating economic opportunities in the
Working with families and communities is
community, for instance with microfinancing
complex and is highly dependent on the
models and local Village Savings and Loan
context. The situations of families, commu-
Associations, which make it possible for
nities and countries vary. SOS Children’s
vulnerable households to save and borrow
Villages has gained years of experience in
money.
various circumstances and we use the lessons learned from previous programmes to
Teaching parenting and care skills It is essential that parents/caregivers possess the knowledge and skills they need to care for
17 | SOS CHILDREN’S VILLAGES ANNUAL REPORT 2020
improve existing and new programmes.
