Creation of a pilot project in Vietnam to transition orphans away from institutional care and into family-based care

Fondation Dora supports Care for Children in its Family First Vietnam project, phase 1 of a long-term programme to establish a family-placement (foster) system as a positive alternative to institutional care for orphaned and abandoned children in Vietnam.

Care for Children partners with national and local authorities and services to provide the resources and training needed to facilitate the structural transition of caregiving away from its current institutional framework to one in which children are integrated into loving foster homes.

A different, structural approach

The mission of Care for Children is to reduce the number of orphaned or abandoned children currently living in state-run institutions around the world, a number the UN estimates at around 8 million. To accomplish this goal, the programme uses a novel approach of partnering with interested governments to restructure their caregiving system and move children out of institutions and into homes with foster families, a situation that is better suited to meet a child’s emotional and educational needs.

There are approximately 33,000 children, many with disabilities, in institutional care in Vietnam With the support of Fondation Dora, Care for Children has launched a phase 1 (July 2017 – June 2020) project in response to this crisis to equip local social welfare services and practitioners with the tools and knowledge needed to undergo a systemic transformation toward family-based care. 

How the 3-year pilot project works:

• Establish two pilot sites (social protection centres) in Hanoi and Thai Nguyen City
• Develop location-specific core training materials
• Provide weekly training and on-going support in family placement for the centre staff, including transfer of expertise for the placement, support, and monitoring of children in foster care
• Evaluate project impact and evolution through case studies and surveys
• Organize a national conference and an international study visit to ensure governmental support of the transition program

If the pilot program proves successful, then phase 2 will begin: A National Foster Care Project to expand the programme from 2 sites to 15 – 20 sites.

Care for Children is a UK-based charity programme that has worked in Asia since 1998 to create a positive alternative to institutional care through local family-based care for disadvantaged children.