Permanent Homes for Children in Adversity

Check out our children in adversity infographic which shows our goal — up to 90% of children in adversity being re-united with their biological families.  If that’s not possible, placing the remaining 10% children in adversity in loving adoptive families.    

Children in Adversity need Permanent Homes

The best solutions for children in adversity are permanent, loving homes.  Research here and here  shows a clear distinction in the outcomes between kids in flux, and those who have permanent homes.   

Some studies even suggest that a mediocre but permanent home is better than moving a child around to several different “excellent” homes.  A permanent environment provides the structure for a child to focus on developing rather than surviving.  They are free to form their own identity, throw themselves into school work, social activities, and participate in the local community. 

At CIF we really want to help our children find permanent solutions.  Currently the law in Cambodia does not provide a clear legal pathway for adoption.  Sometimes you can work with a friendly judge, sometimes you can find good paper work.  Still, in country wide, there is no long-term clear, uniform solution for working toward adoptions.

We’re hoping that will change!  And with that we can help to move many of the children already living in loving foster homes towards becoming adoptive families.  Help us!

So What about Kinship and Foster Care?

Kinship and Foster Care are vital steps on the road to permanency.  Unfortunately most of these situations do not resolves themselves quickly.  They require lots of work and patience.  Our staff of community workers want to ensure we don’t rush the process in placing kids in potentially harmful situations.  Both Kinship and Foster care provide the needed bridge to finding the final placement.

With Children in Adversity – It Takes a Village

We recently wrote a blog post about our unique twist on the idea of “it takes a village.”  For us, one of the most important aspects of the entire process are the Child Advocates.  We work hard to train our staff on knowing how to work with children in crisis.  They are continually learning how to know the difference between a crisis and a problem.  Something that can be solved quickly with some good communication, or a situation where the child is really in danger.

Part of our commitment at CIF is to walk along side local government officials, churches, teachers, local police, and other people who are active in the local community.  This helps to strengthen the local safety nets around the children and will ultimately lower the numbers of children in adversity.  This is a long term solution!

When there are true children in adversity, alongside our staff, all the child advocates will understand the pathway to permanency and how they can help move the child into a permanent solution without adding to the trauma.