We’ve been working with families for nearly 30 years to keep children out of orphanages, and safe at home, close to the people who love them. So it was an easy decision to partner with ergobaby, the baby carrier experts who share our intimate understanding of the essential role of family in providing the love and care all children need.

Every baby deserves to experience those precious moments of connection with their mum and dad. It’s what makes them feel safe and loved.

For small children this is even more important – for every 3 months spent in an orphanage, children lose on average 1 month’s growth. 

D.E.Johnson,‘Medical and Developmental Sequelae of Early Childhood Institutionalization in Eastern European Adoptees’, in The Minnesota Symposia on Child Psychology. Vol 31: The Effects of Early Adversity on Neurobehavioral Development, ed. by Nelson (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers, 2001).

That’s why our teams support thousands of parents every year to give their children the best start in life, by keeping them close.

And to celebrate the start of our partnership, ergobaby delivered free Airmesh carriers from their new range to Moldovan families supported by our programmes. The carriers are supporting mothers with the smallest of babies, helping families bond, stay close and together:

All families were delighted to receive these carriers, and shared their stories with our programme partners CCF Moldova. Names have been changed.

In addition, ergobaby’s vital support will help us raise awareness amongst up to 100,000 parents and carers, of the harm done by orphanages and the importance of supporting children and parents to make this connection.

We’re excited to invite the ergobaby community of new parents and grandparents to join our movement to consign orphanages to history.

“We are really delighted to introduce our partnership with Hope and Homes for Children, a global expert in the field of deinstitutionalisation.

Our partnership will help Hope and Homes for Children to raise awareness of the harm caused by orphanages and the emphasis of supporting children and parents into loving and stable families whilst understanding the origin of family breakdown.“

Holly Brewer, Marketing Manager ergobaby UK

The post New partners ergobaby to help us keep families close appeared first on Hope and Homes for Children.

At Hope and Homes for Children, we pride ourselves on the partnerships we’ve built. One of our longest-standing partnerships has been with Riviera Travel.  

This year, we celebrate the 25^th anniversary of this remarkable relationship. Since our earliest days, Riviera Travel have been by our side, raising over £1 million during the course of our partnership. Even during difficult times – when Covid 19 threatened their business – they never abandoned our relationship. Their generosity has enabled us to support countless vulnerable children and families around the world – and to continue fighting for every child to grow up with the love and support they need. 

On behalf of all the children we are working with, thank you so very much. 

Support Hope and Homes for Children… by going on holiday!

Book your holiday with Riviera Travel, and you’ll also be helping us to end the cruel institutionalisation of children.

Just quote “Hope and Homes for Children” when booking your holiday or ordering your brochure from Riviera Travel, and 10% of the total cost of your holiday will be given to Hope and Homes for Children. For every passenger that travels, Riviera Travel will also donate £1.

Visit the Riviera Travel website

The post 25 Years of Partnership with Riviera Travel appeared first on Hope and Homes for Children.

KT Tunstall is now an Ivor Novello winning, multi-million selling, Grammy-and-Mercury- nominated singer songwriter. She is also an ambassador for Hope and Homes for Children. 

“I know a little bit about the uncertainly of being a baby without a family,” said KT. 

“After being given up at birth, I spent the first 18 days of my life with a foster family until a caring couple who became my parents took me home. 

“But not every child is as lucky.” 

5.4 million children are trapped in orphanages worldwide today, but 80% of them aren’t orphans. They’ve been separated from families because of disability, poverty or war. Many suffer violence, abuse and torture. In later life, they’re more likely to become homeless, to turn to crime and to experience mental and physical health issues. Some don’t survive orphanages at all. Hope and Homes for Children aims to make orphanages history. Because children need families. 

To let your friends and family know about our BBC Radio 4 Charity Appeal follow @Hopeandhomes (Twitter), @hopeandhomesforchildren (Instagram) or visit our Facebook page.

The post Singer KT Tunstall To present our BBC Radio 4 Charity Appeal appeared first on Hope and Homes for Children.

The new strain of Covid hitting Asia is causing devastation and leaving countries in a state of emergency. In Nepal and India, the Covid situation is at its worst. We have worked with partners CINI in India and Forget Me Not in Nepal for several years, and are saddened to hear that some of our colleagues are infected or looking after family members suffering with the virus. We are extending our support to them during the pandemic. 

We are working to support our partners through immediate risks, and to address longer term problems.  

We know from our experience working in other countries across Europe and Africa, the majority of whom are still grappling with effects of the virus, that a crisis like this pandemic intensify the problems facing already vulnerable children and families.  Disruption to essential services like education or healthcare can expose weaknesses in child protection systems, leaving more children at heightened risk of being locked away in abusive orphanages, ending up on the streets alone, or falling victim to child marriage and sex trafficking.  

Here’s how we’re responding:

• We are ensuring that existing community child protection systems remain operational, to catch abuse or neglect, and support vulnerable children to stay safe  
• We are identifying the most vulnerable children and linking them with support services and temporary care in families if needed  
• We are continuing to provide direct emergency support to children and families at risk of separation, to ensure children can safely remain with their families 
• We are working with local governments and NGOs to combine efforts and streamline services to reach more communities 
• Alongside our partner in India, CINI, we’re setting up a Covid helpdesk so communities can receive health advice, guidance and access to various government support services 

If you are an organisation interested in supporting our long-term work to ensure children grow up in families in India, please contact us at mysupport@hopeandhomes.org 

If you want to support immediate crisis response efforts through our trusted partners CINI and Forget me Not, you can learn more and donate directly at:

India: Click here  

Nepal: Click here

Learn more about our work in India

Learn more about our work in Nepal

The post We stand With Those Affected by COVID in India and Nepal appeared first on Hope and Homes for Children.

Ukraine – one of the highest rates of institutionalisation in the world

Nearly 1.5% of all children in Ukraine live without the love or protection of a family in some form of residential institution. These children with disabilities, developmental disorders, illnesses, or from disadvantaged social backgrounds are deprived of their human rights.

“Despite some positive developments, including the adoption of National Strategy on Reform of the Institutional Care System (2017–26), this system has not changed much over two decades” explains Hope and Homes for Children’s Country Director for Ukraine, Halyna Postoliuk. “It employs more than 60,000 staff across almost 700 facilities nationwide. Yet we know that 92% of children who are brought up in these institutions in Ukraine actually have parents who may be able to care for them if they have the right support.”

The child care reform that has taken place to date, has not been comprehensive and has encountered significant challenges that serve to preserve the current system of institutions that threaten children’s safety, development and life-chances.

“Despite some positive developments… this system has not changed much over two decades… It [still] employs more than 60,000 staff across almost 700 facilities nationwide.”

Halyna Postoliuk

In some cases, children have been misdiagnosed to ensure their placement in an institution. In other cases, institution directors have re-categorised their facilities by changing the name but not the reality of the setting. The impact of the Coronavirus pandemic has increased the risk of children being separated from their families and confined to institutions. At the same time, pressure on institutions means children already in them are at greater risk than ever of abuse and neglect.

In some cases, children have been misdiagnosed to ensure their placement in an institution. In other cases, institution directors have re-categorised their facilities by changing the name but not the reality of the setting.

Our Call to Action

A new Call to Action published today breaks down the main obstacles to reform for children and provides several concrete actions for both the Government of Ukraine and the European Union to take. By joining forces with 21 European organisations (including Lumos, Eurochild, SOS Children’s Villages International, European Roma Rights Centre) and Ukrainian NGOs (e.g. Ukrainian Child Rights Network), Hope and Homes for Children aims to put pressure on the key political stakeholders to urgently step up their efforts.

“Reform of the child care system in Ukraine is at a crossroads. The new EU budget in the 2021–27 is a remarkable opportunity to see real change in the lives of children and families. Together with our partners, we call on the Government of Ukraine and the European Union to act now before it’s too late to protect the rights and future of some of the most forgotten and left behind children in Europe,” commented Hope and Homes for Children’s CEO, Mark Waddington CBE.

With the right support and services in the community, these children could grow up with the love, care and attention of a family, not alone in harmful institutions. The time to act is now.

Download the full Call to Action PDF

*This work is supported by Clifford Chance

The post Urgent Action Needed to Protect Children in Ukraine appeared first on Hope and Homes for Children.

SC: Most people are aware that the Church has historically been involved in orphanages. What point are we at now—if there is a shift in thinking, how do we make sense of the changes?

KK: Things are changing in this area, and I don’t know if any of the large Christian NGOs that work in development around the world are running orphanages. Orphanages tend to be run by individuals who are passionate and concerned; those who have visited a poorer country in the world and been very moved, then get involved and start their own orphanage. But these people are going against the flow of the development sector. Not just secular development, but Christian development too. That change is happening. I think some of our churches have been supporting orphanages for decades and, again, out of good intentions, but gradually I think we’re finding people changing their minds and doing the maths.

Not good enough for our children shouldn’t be good enough for anyone’s children. The mindset is beginning to shift, but still what we would say is if your church has been supporting an orphanage, don’t just turn the money off immediately because that will mean children are put in more danger of unplanned transition. Maybe use your influence as a donor to encourage orphanages towards family unification, and family-based care. That’s one of the great things that Hope and Homes for Children bring to the table: technical expertise on the ground. There may be an opportunity for a connection between an orphanage that you know about and a deinstitutionalisation charity like Hope and Homes for Children.

“Not good enough for our children shouldn’t be good enough for anyone’s children.”

SC: Some people who aren’t part of a church community might potentially see Christians as fundamentally being part of the problem. How can the Church be more a force for good?

KK: To be clear, it isn’t just Christians that are running orphanages around the world. There are secular charities running all sorts of institutions around the world, not driven by a Christian conviction. That’s just an old model of development. Christians are over-represented in this space because they often seem to be very generous.

I think things are changing and some Christians have been at the leading edge of this change. The ReThink Orphanage movement in Australia, for example, is connected to a large Christian denomination and they’ve led the charge. The Australian Government’s Modern Day Slavery Act now recognises orphan trafficking as a damaging outcome of orphanage support.

Christians are also well-placed on the ground, in a lot of the countries where these orphanages are, to be part of the solution. I’ve seen situations where Christian families in places like Romania or Ukraine have adopted many children out of those orphanages because they want them to have a loving stable family to grow up in. I think problematising the Church is not going to be the solution, and actually may exasperate the problematic opinion that “other people’s orphanages are bad, but Christian orphanages are okay.” We’re trying to say that everybody needs to change, let’s join this journey together, let’s see how the Church can be part of the solution—not just part of the problem.

“We’re trying to say that everybody needs to change, let’s join this journey together, let’s see how the Church can be part of the solution—not just part of the problem.”

SC: What are the sort of things individual Christians, churches and organisations could do—prayerfully, practically, and financially?

KK: I’d say still keep the passion to help vulnerable people. When you hear news like this, that orphanages are not a good idea, it can dissuade you from wanting to get involved at all. Sometimes people give that message—that it’s better you do nothing than you help. I don’t think that’s helpful. So keep the passion, but let’s be smart in our giving, let’s be wise in our philanthropy, and just think through the consequences of what we’re doing.

That could mean reading up on the subject. It’s not hard to find a lot of good resources out there around deinstitutionalisation. There’s a great group in America called Faith to Action, who have a toolkit for churches. Home for Good have launched the Homecoming project, where you can become more educated about this issue. There’s an excellent book on development called When Helping Hurts (Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, Moody Publishers, 2014), written by Christians who are trying to help other Christians think through the implications of what they’re supporting.

I think it’s also time to reconsider visiting orphanages. We feel great about going to an orphanage and playing with children; but would you allow a stranger to come into your house, and play with your children, and leave again—without knowing who they were, or where they were from, or doing any checks? More and more studies are telling us the attachment theory, the way children relate to a consistent caregiver, can be blown up a little bit when you have random strangers and visitors coming through an orphanage.

So I think we should reconsider volunteering in that way, and look for ways that we can support these kinds of deinstitutionalisation charities, maybe on the ground, here in the UK. There’s lobbying that needs to be done, there’s education that needs to be done.

When it comes to financial support, I think use the power that you’ve got as a giver, so that you’re bringing good outcomes for children—encouraging orphanages, where possible, to change their model. Some people might be bold enough to put a window on that, to say, “Look, I’m going to continue funding you but I need to see some evidence that you’re moving towards this, otherwise after a certain period of time I’m not going to fund you anymore.” That can help motivate an orphanage to change its policies.

Read part III of this conversation: Time to move on

In partnership with Hope and Homes for Children and other global experts, Home for Good have launched the Homecoming project to raise awareness of the global orphanage crisis, and to encourage Christians to transition their support towards family-based alternatives.

The post In Conversation with Krish Kandiah, Part IV appeared first on Hope and Homes for Children.

SC: You say there is a biblical, theological imperative for us to care for ‘orphans’. Should Christians be concerned about any support they have given, or currently give, to orphanages?

KK: I think most people who are giving towards orphanages are doing it out of good intentions. Christians are over-represented in their giving in general. Statistically, Christians are often giving in ways that are generous and out of proportion to the rest of society, and when we [at Home for Good] did some research we found that to be the case. So I don’t want Christians to feel bad and guilty. Our thinking in development, and in child protection, has moved on. As that has moved on, it’s time for us to redirect our giving to help change the circumstances for these children.

It is true that Christians have been running and supporting orphanages for a long time now, but they are not the only ones that have been doing this. Governments have been running orphanages. I think we’re all seeing change, both inside the Church and out. If we align and not stigmatize one group over the other, we can all say that, in the past, this seemed like a good way of doing things. Our understanding of child psychology, attachment, development theory… all of these things have moved on, and so now we need to move on in our thinking.

“I don’t want Christians to feel bad and guilty. Our thinking in development, and in child protection, has moved on. As that has moved on, it’s time for us to redirect our giving to help change the circumstances for these children.”

SC: Some people might respond and say, “No, I get that you should shut down bad orphanages. But my orphanage is different—I support a good orphanage.”

KK: Well, a lot of the news reporting—and sometimes the way that people in this sector talk about orphanages—suggests that they’re all involved in people trafficking, or they’re all places of abuse. Sadly, there are orphanages that are like that; that have been deliberately set up to make money or to exploit children or even to sexually abuse them. But they are a minority of the orphanages I’ve ever come across. Most of the orphanages I know are well-intentioned, run by people who want to make a difference in young children’s lives. As Rebecca Smith from Save the Children often says, there are better and worse orphanages—but there’s no such thing as a good orphanage. And I think even the most well-run, well-intentioned orphanage is not as good as a family for these children.

SC: We’ve seen examples of ‘DIY deinstitutionalisation’, where people have attempted to place children back into families without the appropriate support. How can we avoid doing deinstitutionalisation badly, making sure it’s done in a careful and considerate way instead?

KK: You might hear this message that children staying in orphanages is not good for them, and there might be a rush to get these children home. I think there is a couple of things to think about. Firstly, some of the families that these children have come from were struggling, they were in poverty, and therefore to send children back home into that context without support will not necessarily be helpful.

The other thing to mention is that children in orphanages, if they’ve been there for quite a while, will have developed all sorts of psychological and emotional issues. Again, sending them back to families that are not prepared for that transition, even though they are their birth parents, that’s not in the child’s best interest, either. I think we want to be very wise, and nuanced and careful.

And recognise there is expertise out there, there’s technical wisdom about how that transition can work out, what kind of social work provision might need to be in place in that country. Some families are not right for children to come back to, some kinship care situations are not right for children to go to. Just rushing and being very active about it might not be the best way forward. That’s why we like partnering with organisations like Hope and homes for Children. You’ve got that on-the-ground technical expertise, and we can provide the inspiration and encouragement—and then, together, I think we can deliver better outcomes for children.

“That’s why we like partnering with organisations like Hope and homes for Children. You’ve got that on-the-ground technical expertise, and we can provide the inspiration and encouragement.”

Read part II of this conversation: Rethinking the relationship

Read part IV of this conversation: A force for good

In partnership with Hope and Homes for Children and other global experts, Home for Good have launched the Homecoming project to raise awareness of the global orphanage crisis, and to encourage Christians to transition their support towards family-based alternatives.

The post In Conversation with Krish Kandiah, Part III appeared first on Hope and Homes for Children.

SC: How did your own personal experience lead you to where you are now, in terms of thinking about orphanages overseas?

KK: Weirdly, my wife and I, after we got involved in fostering and adoption, always thought that in retirement we’d go and take those skills and use them somewhere else in the world. Maybe in Africa—you can read all sorts of stories, see all sorts of movies about there being an orphan crisis there. So why wouldn’t we want to go and set up an orphanage, or work alongside an orphanage, and help children in that way? Then a number of different events happened that made us think about that differently. Hearing statistics about the number of children currently in orphanages around the world who have living parents, it seems ridiculous. Children who could be flourishing in a family—if that family were properly supported—but are in institutions instead, seems to be a really bad idea.

We began to recognise that the Western Church has been supporting orphanages around the world out of a sense of wanting to make a difference, out of generosity, out of good intentions. But unintentionally keeping children in institutions is not helping them to thrive and flourish. The stats around children in orphanages who struggle with mental health; who struggle with making normalised family relationships after being in an orphanage; who are more vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation… Those all alerted us to the problem that orphanages are not good for children.

It seems to be the case that orphanages don’t serve orphans. Orphanages seem to create orphans. Once an orphanage is in a town, families that might be at the edge of poverty, or might be struggling to educate their children, relinquish their children to the orphanage—thinking they’re doing good, but actually are making their children more vulnerable.

A whole bunch of factors alerted us to the need and we recognise that a lot of money and support visits were coming from the UK Church to the rest of the world. And so we thought, here’s something that we can do. We can help to educate and inspire and encourage Christians to be a bit more thoughtful about what they’re doing. And instead of supporting orphanages, finding ways to help reunify these children with their families. Where that’s not possible, to find alternative family care locally through fostering and adoption.

“It seems to be the case that orphanages don’t serve orphans. Orphanages seem to create orphans.”

SC: What does the Bible say about families?

KK: A really well-known Bible verse is in Psalm 68, where it says, “God sets the lonely in families.” It’s in reference to God describing himself as a father to the fatherless, and a protector of widows and orphans. Right there is just one little cameo, if you like, of God’s intention for family to be the place where children flourish.

Similarly, in the New Testament, it talks a lot about God adopting us into his family. There you have a little blueprint, that God saw humanity in need, saw that we’d got ourselves into all sorts of trouble, and wants to meet that need by adopting us into his family. So you’ve got two powerful pictures. One, God’s concern for the vulnerable, putting them in families. And the other is God’s concern for us, putting us in his family. You put those two together and you’ve got quite a powerful picture that family is the place where God wants us to flourish.

Again, why wouldn’t we want that for children all around the world? Why would we want that for our own children, but not want it for children in the majority world? In one sense it’s equalising the provision, so it isn’t just “family is what we want for kids in the West, but institutions are what we want for kids everywhere else.” That would seem to be an unhelpful distinction.

“You’ve got two powerful pictures. One, God’s concern for the vulnerable, putting them in families. And the other is God’s concern for us, putting us in his family. You put those two together and you’ve got quite a powerful picture that family is the place where God wants us to flourish.”

SC: What about those who would say, “Yes, of course. I get it. The Bible says about family. But orphanages exist because they’re a necessary evil. They’re needed, and that’s why it’s important to support them.”

KK: I think often there’s a misconception of what everyday life is like in some of the countries around the world. So many people have a skewed picture of Africa. When you think of Africa, you think of a photo from a charity website, or an earthquake, or a flood, and actually that isn’t the experience of everybody in Africa. There are middle class people in Africa as well as the bottom billion, so because of that skewed view I think we catastrophise the orphan crisis.

There are lots of places in Africa where children are unnecessarily institutionalised and, at best, orphanages are an intervention to help in a crisis but not a destination where children ought to be living long-term. Our feeling is there is enough people and facilities for most of the children in orphanages to go home to have a normal family life and to be allowed to flourish—and I don’t want to deprive children of that opportunity.

Read part I of this conversation: Fostering a new perspective

Read part III of this conversation: Time to move on

In partnership with Hope and Homes for Children and other global experts, Home for Good have launched the Homecoming project to raise awareness of the global orphanage crisis, and to encourage Christians to transition their support towards family-based alternatives.

The post In Conversation with Krish Kandiah, Part II appeared first on Hope and Homes for Children.

Home for Good’s Founding Director, Krish Kandiah sat down with Steve Coffey, Head of Brand at Hope and Homes for Children, and explained why he’s calling on fellow Christians to change their approach to orphanages. Here, in the first of a four-part series, Krish explains how his own experience of fostering children inspired him to set up Home for Good.

SC: Krish, tell us a bit about who you are, what you do, and what people might know you for.

KK: I’m the founding director of Home for Good, a charity trying to find a home for every child in the UK care system. Home for Good was set up to call the Church across the UK to action. God in the Bible is really clear that He is particularly concerned about vulnerable people. He sometimes talks about the widow and the orphan. Those who are both at the beginning of life, and at the end of life. Those who are particularly vulnerable because there aren’t enough structures around them to care for them. Time and time and time again, that comes up in the Bible. Hopefully, it’s encouraging the Church to take that part of the Bible seriously, particularly vulnerable children.

SC: What has been your personal experience of fostering?

KK: My wife and I had three children in three years. I thought I had contributed to the global population, but my wife thought we had capacity to care for some more children, and encouraged us to become fostering and adoptive parents. I was a little bit resistant at the beginning. But it’s one of the best things that we’ve done as a family. It’s incredibly demanding, but amazingly rewarding to see children who’ve come from a really difficult set of dramatic circumstances to be loved and cared for, and to begin to flourish. Our own personal experience made us think there was something more the Church across the UK could do.

When we first started the charity, there were around 5,000 children waiting for adoption. There was a shortfall of about 9,000 foster families across the UK. Through various networks and connections, we had pretty easy reach to about 15,000 churches. We thought that’s totally achievable, isn’t it? We’re not asking every Christian in the country to adopt or foster, but we are saying if just one new family per church steps up, the rest of the church wraps around them, then we can meet the entire need.

“It’s incredibly demanding, but amazingly rewarding to see children who’ve come from a really difficult set of dramatic circumstances to be loved and cared for, and to begin to flourish. Our own personal experience made us think there was something more the Church across the UK could do.”

SC: And what success do you see?

KK: We’ve been so encouraged that all sorts of people that would never have considered fostering or adoption are stepping forward. It could be a millennial couple in their twenties, not thinking about adoption as Plan C, but Plan A. It could be single people coming forward to adopt and foster. We’ve met people who already have children and are including more children into their family through fostering. It’s been phenomenal, and to see how the Church steps up and offers genuine practical support around them has been wonderful.

SC: Staying with your personal experience at Home for Good, what would you say is the benefit of a child growing up in a foster family? Why fostering?

KK: According to Christian understanding of family, that was God’s intention for where people flourish best. We know that from our own experience. I think in my circumstances, if my wife and I were to die, we wouldn’t want our children to grow up an institution. We’d want maybe my sister or my wife’s sisters to think about taking these children into their families. We recognise that family is one of the most precious and wonderful things that we have in our lives. The idea that children in care don’t have ongoing permanent family relationships, that’s to their detriment. We can see that for young people who live in the care system, and ‘age out’ the other end, the statistics relating to care leavers who don’t have an ongoing family around them are pretty horrific.

We know from our experience, we can see it in the Bible, we can observe it from sociology and the demographics of what’s going on across the nation: family is absolutely essential for flourishing.

“We know from our experience, we can see it in the Bible, we can observe it from sociology and the demographics of what’s going on across the nation: family is absolutely essential for flourishing.”

Read part II of this conversation: Rethinking the relationship

In partnership with Hope and Homes for Children and other global experts, Home for Good have launched the Homecoming project to raise awareness of the global orphanage crisis, and to encourage Christians to transition their support towards family-based alternatives.

The post In Conversation with Krish Kandiah, Part I appeared first on Hope and Homes for Children.

Popular Christian author, speaker and broadcaster Dr Krish Kandiah recalls the experience of his own mother, rescued from a remote orphanage in India. Observing how tragedy, discrimination and poverty continue to have a similar impact on young lives today, he urges the UK Church to help replace orphanages with loving families for millions of children around the world. Krish asks whether Christians’ long history of supporting orphanages is starting to do more harm than good.

Home for Good: finding family-based care for children

Krish is the founding director of Home for Good, a charity seeking to make a real difference in the lives of vulnerable children by finding loving homes for children in the UK care system. In an interview we undertook with Krish earlier this year, and something we’ll share more of in the coming weeks, he explained that Home for Good was started to call the Church across the UK to action: “When we first started the charity, the numbers were there, it was around 5,000 children in the UK only, waiting for adoption. There was a shortfall of about 9,000 foster families across the UK. Through the various networks and connections we had, it was pretty easy to reach to about 15,000 churches. If just one new family per church steps up, the rest of the church wraps around them, then we can meet the entire need. It’s been phenomenal to see how the Church steps up and offers genuine practical support. At Home for Good we recognise that family is one of the most precious and wonderful things that we have in our lives.”

This is how Krish came to realise that, in the UK and US care systems, residential care is used as an absolute last resort. For decades now we have closed our orphanages and have worked hard to promote family-based care—reunification, kinship care, fostering and adoption. But at the same time, we in the UK and US have continued to export and support orphanages all around the world. This is a major discrepancy. We have bolstered a system abroad that we would deem entirely unsuitable and unhealthy for our own children. “If it’s not good enough for our children, it shouldn’t be good enough for anyone’s children,” Krish tells us.

The Church’s support of orphanages

The Western Church has been supporting orphanages around the world out of a sense of love, generosity and positive action. Unintentionally this has resulted in confining children to institutions that, at best, are not helping them to thrive and flourish. At worst, institutions are causing untold damage through abuse and neglect. Krish not only recognised how UK churches provide generous and well-meaning support to orphanages, he and his wife even considered running an overseas orphanage after retirement. But since discovering that orphanages don’t actually protect children, and are proven to harm them, he decided to help address misconceptions by educating, inspiring and encouraging Christians to think through how they want to help. Instead of supporting orphanages, Christians and churches can have a huge impact, supporting the work to reunite children with their natural families, or to build a new family to love them.

Orphanages are, Krish firmly believes, running out of time.

Find out more

We are also partnering with Home for Good on their new Homecoming Project, launching in August.

You can read Krish’s full article on the Premier Christianity website.

The post Christian Magazine Questions Church’s Support of Orphanages appeared first on Hope and Homes for Children.