We started talking about empowerment strategies versus relief strategies in global development efforts with our longest partners in Africa, the United Methodist Church Sierra Leone Annual Conference Children's Ministries, and the institution we co-founded, the Child Reintegration Centre in Bo. Some of the discussions focused on their work, which was directly serving children and families, and some was directed on how we might change our practices to better align with this new vision of empowerment.
As of July 2018, the residential program of the Child Reintegration Centre (formerly Child Rescue Centre) had been officially ended and children in residential care were reintegrated with their families, following careful preparation for both caregivers and children.
The discussions centered around how we could effectively ally with them to support and encourage extremely vulnerable children within families, as well as in their child protection work in locating families for unsupervised children in Sierra Leone. From those discussions, we began to look at ways to place the voices of the global south in the center of the conversation, rather than being heard as a quiet aside to global north conversations. In 2019, the CRC's work was globally recognized as a best practice model. and the HCW/CRC alliance as a best practice international cross-cultural development model.
The CRC and HCW continue to be in the forefront of the international movement to move children out of institutional care, as UNICEF and other child-focused organizations across the globe recognize that caring families are far better at raising emotionally and mentally healthy children than institutions.
CRC and HCW now partner with other child welfare organizations and child protection agencies to exchange best practices, share workshop opportunities and collaborate on child welfare cases in its role in the 1MH Accelerator Partnerships, a global initiative to end the unnecessary institutionalization of children. CRC has a specially devoted department to send teams of social workers to educate and support the work of other institutions across the continent of Africa moving to models of care that will support and strengthen families and instill resilience in children. In 2022, CRC leadership traveled to Liberia, and Nigeria to present before faith based and secular leaders on the impact and possibility of change. In 2023, they presented the theory of change and their role as skilled professionals in implementation of the change model before all of the UMC African Bishops. Five Bishops expressed continued interest in having CRC travel to their country to provide instruction to the institutions in their conference.
HCW and CRC teamed up with a new program partner, Child and Family Permanency Services in Wellington, Freetown, Sierra Leone to promote a national policy change to promote alternatives to institutionalization of orphans and vulnerable children and family-based care models.
HCW supports the work of CRC with a dedicated donor initiative, Family Empowerment Advocacy. - FEA
HCW supports the work of CFPS with a similar dedicated donor initiative, Family Empowerment Advocacy Program - FEAP - CFPS Family Empowerment and Advocacy Program
Learn more about the process of change and the movement to end the institutionalization of children.
As of July 2018, the residential program of the Child Reintegration Centre (formerly Child Rescue Centre) had been officially ended and children in residential care were reintegrated with their families, following careful preparation for both caregivers and children.
The discussions centered around how we could effectively ally with them to support and encourage extremely vulnerable children within families, as well as in their child protection work in locating families for unsupervised children in Sierra Leone. From those discussions, we began to look at ways to place the voices of the global south in the center of the conversation, rather than being heard as a quiet aside to global north conversations. In 2019, the CRC's work was globally recognized as a best practice model. and the HCW/CRC alliance as a best practice international cross-cultural development model.
The CRC and HCW continue to be in the forefront of the international movement to move children out of institutional care, as UNICEF and other child-focused organizations across the globe recognize that caring families are far better at raising emotionally and mentally healthy children than institutions.
CRC and HCW now partner with other child welfare organizations and child protection agencies to exchange best practices, share workshop opportunities and collaborate on child welfare cases in its role in the 1MH Accelerator Partnerships, a global initiative to end the unnecessary institutionalization of children. CRC has a specially devoted department to send teams of social workers to educate and support the work of other institutions across the continent of Africa moving to models of care that will support and strengthen families and instill resilience in children. In 2022, CRC leadership traveled to Liberia, and Nigeria to present before faith based and secular leaders on the impact and possibility of change. In 2023, they presented the theory of change and their role as skilled professionals in implementation of the change model before all of the UMC African Bishops. Five Bishops expressed continued interest in having CRC travel to their country to provide instruction to the institutions in their conference.
HCW and CRC teamed up with a new program partner, Child and Family Permanency Services in Wellington, Freetown, Sierra Leone to promote a national policy change to promote alternatives to institutionalization of orphans and vulnerable children and family-based care models.
HCW supports the work of CRC with a dedicated donor initiative, Family Empowerment Advocacy. - FEA
HCW supports the work of CFPS with a similar dedicated donor initiative, Family Empowerment Advocacy Program - FEAP - CFPS Family Empowerment and Advocacy Program
Learn more about the process of change and the movement to end the institutionalization of children.
So why Family Advocacy instead of Family Sponsorship?
We know that child sponsorship programs can be a life-changing force for children who would otherwise be unable to access education or medical care. However, even the best child sponsorship programs raise some ethical questions around promoting an ethos of donor guardianship over a child, and positioning a child as a “money engine” within the family. It also leads to a greater focus on that child (by both donor and in some respects, the CRC), when best practice in social work focuses on the entire family as the unit of care.
Our former SAC program was one of the best child sponsorship programs in the world, providing crucial financial and material support that helped children to attend school, receive education and medical treatment and assist vulnerable families in their struggle to survive. It connected supporters with people in need of support in a way that felt personal and genuine to both, but protected the well-being of children with specific safety protocols. But, as the CRC became better at supporting more and more children and families, the SAC support program’s traditional “orphanage culture” approach didn’t go far enough in sharing the type of parent strengthening and family capacity building work that had become the core of the CRC programs.
We think that shifting the focus of our communications to reflect the key social work activities that have made the CRC a model program and sharing those stories will illuminate the real impact and change on families who are learning to become stronger and more resilient. Do not worry that the children CRC serves are getting less. The CRC will use your donations exactly as they have in the past, to ensure that children are cared for in the best way possible. HCW donors will still provide funds that contribute to services that are provided to children for things like school fees and medical care, but even more importantly, we want you to be able to recognize how these funds are crucial to providing families with targeted social work and family strengthening curriculum and the skills that enable families to enjoy the dignity of independence and the ability to help others reach that same independence. Becoming an advocate for strengthening the capacity of families and expecting that they will graduate from the program and parents become the family’s reliable and independent caregiver allows us to shift to a partnership model that empowers a family’s "capacity to use outside resources while reinforcing the qualities of autonomy, responsibility, and resourcefulness" (Fikkert and Mask). We are following the science, and the Bible, in ensuring parents can provide for their children as a sign of their faith in God’s plan. 1 Timothy 5:8
How are things changing?
The social work of the CRC has increasingly focused on the family as the unit of care, and is now putting into place mechanisms to work with families to set graduation goals, chart their progress toward independence, and help them to get there. They’re seting expectations with caregivers in the CRC programs that they’ll be given the tools and capacity to become independent within approximately 5 years.
The work that is ongoing in strengthening and empowering families and communities in villages is the next step in the growth of this work.
We know that child sponsorship programs can be a life-changing force for children who would otherwise be unable to access education or medical care. However, even the best child sponsorship programs raise some ethical questions around promoting an ethos of donor guardianship over a child, and positioning a child as a “money engine” within the family. It also leads to a greater focus on that child (by both donor and in some respects, the CRC), when best practice in social work focuses on the entire family as the unit of care.
Our former SAC program was one of the best child sponsorship programs in the world, providing crucial financial and material support that helped children to attend school, receive education and medical treatment and assist vulnerable families in their struggle to survive. It connected supporters with people in need of support in a way that felt personal and genuine to both, but protected the well-being of children with specific safety protocols. But, as the CRC became better at supporting more and more children and families, the SAC support program’s traditional “orphanage culture” approach didn’t go far enough in sharing the type of parent strengthening and family capacity building work that had become the core of the CRC programs.
We think that shifting the focus of our communications to reflect the key social work activities that have made the CRC a model program and sharing those stories will illuminate the real impact and change on families who are learning to become stronger and more resilient. Do not worry that the children CRC serves are getting less. The CRC will use your donations exactly as they have in the past, to ensure that children are cared for in the best way possible. HCW donors will still provide funds that contribute to services that are provided to children for things like school fees and medical care, but even more importantly, we want you to be able to recognize how these funds are crucial to providing families with targeted social work and family strengthening curriculum and the skills that enable families to enjoy the dignity of independence and the ability to help others reach that same independence. Becoming an advocate for strengthening the capacity of families and expecting that they will graduate from the program and parents become the family’s reliable and independent caregiver allows us to shift to a partnership model that empowers a family’s "capacity to use outside resources while reinforcing the qualities of autonomy, responsibility, and resourcefulness" (Fikkert and Mask). We are following the science, and the Bible, in ensuring parents can provide for their children as a sign of their faith in God’s plan. 1 Timothy 5:8
How are things changing?
The social work of the CRC has increasingly focused on the family as the unit of care, and is now putting into place mechanisms to work with families to set graduation goals, chart their progress toward independence, and help them to get there. They’re seting expectations with caregivers in the CRC programs that they’ll be given the tools and capacity to become independent within approximately 5 years.
The work that is ongoing in strengthening and empowering families and communities in villages is the next step in the growth of this work.
