Family-Based and Community-Based Care
The Need for Change
In Kenya, an estimated 46,000 children are living in institutional care. These children are institutionalized for many reasons, including “poverty, disability, displacement, and orphanhood” (usually because of HIV/AIDS). But the effects on children’s well-being affect them long after their stays in an orphanage.
Over the next 10 years, Kenya’s government is on a mission of change. The National Care Reform Strategy calls upon “all partners and stakeholders to forge together… to transform the childcare system from institution-based care to family and community-based care.” Children deserve to grow up in families. They deserve a place to grow and develop, safe and loved. That’s why we’re getting involved.
This article will provide you with a deeper understanding of what these types of care entail and why they’re so important.
What is Family-Based Care?
According to the Lausanne Movement, “Family-based care includes building the capacity of families to provide and care for children, helping them gain support and access to necessary services to meet the material, educational, and emotional needs of their children.”
Vulnerable children often end up in orphanages because their families can’t take care of them, or think an institution can provide better care than they can. A recent study from the Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) says that 70% of children who had experienced institutional care are not orphans, 11% are single orphans (with one living parent), and 19% were double orphans (no living parents).
Family-based care turns these misconceptions on their head. When institutions change to support the family instead of inadvertently separating them, they help children receive the individual love and stability they need.
Types of Family-Based Care
Family-based care can take several forms. These are some of the most common:
- Kinship Care: Care by relatives (grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.).
- Foster Care: Temporary care by unrelated, trained individuals or families.
- Adoption: Permanent legal transfer of parental rights.
- Family Strengthening: Providing support and resources to a child’s biological family to prevent separation.
Benefits of Family-Based Care
Family-based care is scientifically proven to be more financially sustainable, but more importantly, more beneficial to the well-being of children who experience it.
Just a few of the benefits include:
- Promoting strong attachment and bonding
- A sense of belonging and identity
- Individualized care and attention
- Better emotional and behavioral control
- Preserving cultural and family connections.
Miale ya Tumaini Rescue Centre is one of the homes in our partner, Child in Family Focus – Kenya’s network. They are embracing the care reforms happening in Kenya, and the effects are beautiful.
In April alone, eight children who grew up in the orphanage were reunited with their families. The power of healing and belonging was clear in the tearful embraces and shy smiles. With the support of CFFK and A Child’s Hope Foundation, the home has the resources necessary to provide relentless casework, heartfelt counseling, legal support, and compassionate home visits.
The therapists, social workers, and caregivers who made these reunions possible are eager to help these transitions continue smoothly.
The journey from an institution to a family is not just a transition; it’s a restoration of identity, love, and home. True care goes beyond shelter. It rebuilds the foundation of a child’s well-being. The recent reunifications have also sparked hope among the children still at the orphanage. They know firsthand that going home is possible and that they, too, belong somewhere beyond the walls of the institution.
What is Community-Based Care?
Community-based care still focuses on providing optimal care for children, especially through families. However, it also encompasses the wider community’s capacity to help. This can include a range of support and services. In Kenya and many parts of Africa, community groups are already stepping up.
Types of Community-Based Care
The goal of community-based care is to strengthen families. Though there are many possibilities, here are a few common forms:
- Support for Biological Families: Providing resources to prevent family separation (e.g., financial aid, parenting education, access to healthcare).
- Informal Care Networks: Strengthening support from extended families, neighbors, and community members.
- Community-Based Organizations: Local groups (faith-based, NGOs, etc.) providing services like education support, health assistance, psychological support, sports groups, and child protection initiatives.
- Small Group Homes: Providing care in a smaller, more family-like setting within the community, often for children with specific needs.
- Supervised Independent Living: For older adolescents who are preparing for independence, with community support and guidance.
Benefits of Community-Based Care
Community-based care can help strengthen families, often eliminating the option of institutional care. It benefits children in many ways, including:
- Maintaining a child’s connection to their community, culture, and peers.
- Can provide a wider network of support for the child and caregivers.
- Empowering the community to take responsibility for its vulnerable children.
- Can be more sustainable and culturally appropriate in some contexts.
Our partners are fantastic examples of this type of care. Shelter Yetu, one of our partners in Kenya, is an incredible resource for strengthening families and communities. They rescue vulnerable children off the streets, rehabilitate them, and help them gain valuable skills, and reunite them with their families whenever possible.
15-year-old Musa and 13-year-old Caleb are brothers who ended up living on the streets after facing neglect at home. Their mother, who struggled with alcoholism, was often away and unable to care for them. With no support from their father—whose whereabouts are unknown—the boys began collecting scrap metal and relying on strangers to survive.
In July 2024, Shelter Yetu’s street outreach team met the brothers and brought them in. Reintegrating them with family was difficult at first, but eventually, the home located their grandmother. She warmly welcomed the opportunity to care for them, and social workers conducted several visits to ensure her home would be a safe and nurturing environment. In May, the boys spent a short home visit with her, giving them time to reconnect and build trust.
Since that visit, Musa and Caleb prepared for full reintegration in June. Their grandmother is committed to raising them, but she has some health challenges and is currently unemployed. Shelter Yetu’s Family Strengthening team is supporting her with an economic empowerment program to help her care for the boys sustainably. With renewed family bonds, community support, and a focus on long-term stability, Musa and Caleb are on the path to a brighter future.
Why Both Are Needed
Building strong communities centered on family is essential to protecting orphans and vulnerable children. The Constitution of Kenya states, “The family is the natural and fundamental unit of society and the necessary basis of social order, and shall enjoy the recognition and protection of the State.” Family and community-centered care supports the family and supports the children every person and organization involved wants to help.
As countries around the world take the challenge to eliminate institutional care and instead build structures around families, the children will be blessed. Every child deserves to grow up in their family. That’s a globally accepted fact.
At A Child’s Hope Foundation, everything we do leads toward the goal of getting kids raised in families. Our programs, tools, and fundraising efforts all lead to that goal. Learn how you can get involved in supporting the best care for children today.