May 25, 2025 • 53 mins
Child welfare is undergoing a profound transformation worldwide as organizations shift away from institutional orphanages toward family-based care models. But what does this transition actually look like on the ground? How can we redirect well-intentioned support toward solutions that truly serve children's needs?
This eye-opening conversation brings together true pioneers in the global care reform movement. Stephen Ucembe draws from his lived experience growing up in a Kenyan orphanage to advocate for family care through Hope and Homes for Children and Transform Alliance Africa. Phil Aspegren shares his remarkable journey from orphanage founder to family care champion as Executive Director of Casa Viva, supporting transitions across Latin America. Together with host David Titus Musa of Sierra Leone, they unpack myths about orphanages that perpetuate family separation.
The statistics are sobering: for every three months in an institution, a child loses approximately one month of development. Yet there's tremendous hope in the successful transitions happening worldwide. We hear about a Honduran children's home that reunified all 40 children with families, then redirected their resources to support 125 vulnerable families in the community, preventing separations before they happen.
Whether you're a donor, volunteer, or simply care about vulnerable children, this conversation presents a compelling vision for reform. Family isn't just a nice option – it's essential.
Family is the foundation for healthy development, identity formation, and cultural connection. The good news? There are concrete ways that all of us can redirect our compassion toward solutions that strengthen families rather than separate them.
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Travel on International Mission, meet local leadership and work alongside them. Exchange knowledge, learn from one another and be open to personal transformation. Step into a 25 year long story of change for children in some of the poorest regions on Earth.
https://www.helpingchildrenworldwide.org/mission-trips.html
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A bible study for groups and individuals, One Twenty-Seven: The Widow and the Orphan by Dr Andrea Siegel explores the themes of the first chapter of James, and in particular, 1:27. In James, we learn of our duty to the vulnerable in the historical context of the author. Order here or digital download
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Family Empowerment Advocates support the work of family empowerment experts at the Child Reintegration Centre, Sierra Leone. Your small monthly donation, prayers, attention & caring is essential. You advocate for their work to help families bring themselves out of poverty, changing the course of children's lives and lifting up communities. join
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Organize a Rooted in Reality mission experience for your service club, church group, worship team, young adult or adult study. No travel required. Step into the shoes of people in extreme poverty in Sierra Leone, West Africa, Helping Children Worldwide takes you into a world where families are facing impossible choices every day.
Contact support@helpingchildrenworldwide.org to discuss how.
Shout out to our newest sponsor: The Resilience Institute
Helpingchildrenworldwide.org
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Welcome to Optimistic Voices, a podcast of helping
children worldwide.
We help children worldwide bystrengthening and empowering
families and communities.
This podcast is for peopleinterested in deep conversations
with thought leaders in thefields of child welfare, global
(00:35):
health and internationalmissions.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Welcome to the Optimistic Voices podcast.
Welcome to the OptimisticVoices podcast.
I'm one of your regular hosts,dr Laura Horvath, but today I
get to take a backseat and spendsome time in the audience while
my friend and colleague, davidTitus Musa guest hosts this
episode.
Welcome, david, it's great tohave you here.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
Thanks very much for having me, Laura.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
I will take a minute to introduce David a little bit
before handing the microphoneover.
David Moussa is the SeniorConsultant for Reintegration at
the Child Reintegration Centerin Beau, Sierra Leone but he's
also a recognized thought leaderin child welfare and,
specifically, in the transitionof residential children's homes
(01:21):
and orphanages to family-basedcare models across the continent
of Africa, but mostly in WestAfrica, and the reason David is
hosting today's show is because,together, he and I recently
co-hosted HCW's Rising TidesConference in Washington DC back
in February.
Since 2019, hcw has hosted anannual policy conference called
(01:43):
Rising Tides, and, unlike otherkinds of conferences, rising
Tides comes from the notion that, as Kennedy famously put it, a
rising tide lifts all boats.
Every year, we seek to bringtogether small groups of thought
leaders on specific topics ofinterest within the spheres of
global missions, global publichealth and global child welfare
and protection, and this year weand global child welfare and
(02:07):
protection, and this year wefocused on global child welfare
and specifically on the rolethat transition of residential
children's homes and orphanagesplays within the larger sphere
of care reform for children.
As a transition expert, davidknows a lot more about how to do
that than I do, which is whyhe's hosting this episode and
not me.
So, david, take it away.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
Thank you once more again, laura.
This year's rising tidecatalyzing transition to broaden
the impact brought togetherthought leaders from a number of
different countries in theglobal north and the global
south For deep dive conversationon how to continue to grow the
(02:48):
impact of transition supportservices globally.
These two day in-person earlyconference provided room and
time for transitionpractitioners to reconnect,
reflect on available tools andhow they are using them in their
respective context, wrestletogether with various concepts
(03:10):
and how they might be appliedpractically, and examine and
discuss pieces of transitionprocess and how we can
collaborate and coordinate tobroaden the reach and impact of
transition around the world.
Follow-up is planned, but themost important first step was to
bring these experts together inone place.
Two of those participants arewith me on the show today.
(03:34):
Phil Aspergren is the executivedirector of Casa Viva.
He and his wife, jill,co-founded the initiative in
2003 and continue to serve asdirectors.
In 2005, they launched CasaViva Costa Rica.
Casa Viva seeks to expand thespectrum of alternatives for
(03:55):
children who've been separatedfrom their biological families
through reunification, nationaladoption and short or long-term
family-based foster care.
The Consultants of Casa Vivasolution motivates and equips
children's ministries in othercountries to implement more
(04:16):
family-like solutions forchildren and work throughout
Latin America, in countriesaround the world.
And work throughout LatinAmerica in countries around the
world.
Also with us today is StephenUsimbe, a professional social
worker with skills, knowledgeand experience working with
children and young peoplewithout parental care and
(04:37):
vulnerable families.
Stephen is a caregiver himself,having grown in an orphanage in
Kenya, and is a founder ofKenya Society of Care Leavers,
now serving as the regionaladvocacy manager for open homes
for children.
So welcome to the show, phil.
Speaker 6 (05:03):
David, thanks for having me on the show.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
It is great to be here today and, stephen, you're
welcome to the show.
Speaker 5 (05:12):
Thank you so much, david, and thank you so much,
laura for having us today in theshow.
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
Yeah.
So having briefly introduced myguests, I also want to give
them the opportunity to furtherintroduce themselves and their
roles.
So can you introduce yourselfand share your roles in the work
of transition from orphanagesto family-based care, Either?
Speaker 5 (05:44):
of you can start the conversation.
Speaker 6 (05:50):
Thank you, go ahead.
Speaker 5 (05:53):
No, you go ahead, Stephen, you get started, Okay,
thank you.
Thank you so much, David.
I think you've already made agreat summary of the work that I
do, but just for the sake ofthe audience again, I work for
Open Homes for Children as theregional advocacy manager and
indeed I'm a care leaver.
I also coordinate an alliancecalled Transform Alliance Africa
(06:17):
, a coalition spanning 12countries and with around 17
member organisations.
At Open Homes for Children, weare committed to ensuring
separated children are reunitedwith families, moving them away
from institutional care, andthrough Transform Alliance
Africa, we drive advocacy,knowledge exchange and
collaboration to actuallycatalyze transition from
(06:42):
orphanages to family-based carein the region.
Our advocacy efforts focus onshifting perceptions,
influencing policies andlegislation and strengthening
family care systems to ensurethat the future for all children
is actually families.
(07:02):
Thank you so much.
Over to you, Phil.
Speaker 6 (07:07):
Well, thank you, stephen, and thank you David
again for having us here.
My role in this work of helpingorphanages transition to
family-based care is reallybased in my own story.
I'm from the United States.
I grew up in the state ofOklahoma.
I'm from the United States, Igrew up in the state of Oklahoma
, spent about a decade inChicago after I graduated from
(07:27):
university, and my wife and Iwere really impacted by the
statistics globally of childrenthat have been separated from
their family, and we always hadthis dream wouldn't it be great
if we were able to give familyto the children who do not have
a family?
And so we moved to LatinAmerica and we built an
(07:49):
orphanage.
It's a big jump that is madefrom thinking, wow, wouldn't it
be great to give family tochildren too?
Let's build an orphanage, and Ithink it's what I refer to as
the great orphanage dream that'sout there, that it would be
great to gather all thesechildren and give them family.
(08:10):
What we didn't realize is wemisunderstood who the child was,
that all of these children thatwe thought were orphans
actually have moms or dads andif the rare case that they
didn't, they had extended familydads and in the rare case that
they didn't.
They had extended family.
We misunderstood the trauma, wedidn't understand the trauma
(08:32):
that they'd experienced and wecongregated all these kids into
a single location.
We just immediately came up onthe challenges of the
institutionalization of children, and so really, that began to
stir in our hearts the questionwhat would it take to engage
churches to place children andfamilies, to really be pursuing
(08:52):
the best long-term options forthose kids and also to be
pursuing sustainability?
And so we started Casa Viva inCosta Rica and we engaged local
churches, to engage localfamilies in foster care.
We work for reunification andadoption, did those type of
things, and as we did that,people began to ask us how can
(09:16):
we care for children and familyas well?
So out of that, the work thatwe do supporting orphanages to
transition their model was born,that, the work that we do
supporting orphanages totransition their model was born,
and we call that Casa VivaSolutions.
We really work with children'shomes, especially in Latin
America, but also in other partsof the world, to help them
develop the skills to care forchildren in families.
(09:39):
Back to you, david.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
All right.
Thank you very much, Phil andStephen, for that short
introduction.
So, with such an experience andengagement you both have.
What initially brought you tothe Rising Tides Conference and
what were your expectationsgoing into it?
Speaker 5 (10:03):
Good question, david.
There is a Swahili saying thatgoes that means one finger alone
cannot kill allies.
It's a powerful reminder thatyou know, true change requires
cooperation and if you want tosee an Africa where every child
(10:23):
grows up in the love andsecurity of a family, we must
work together.
We need to build relationships,we need to strengthen alliances
and unite efforts to drivemeaningful transformation.
So, basically, I came to theRising Tides conference because
you know these work cannot bedone in isolation.
(10:44):
The challenges of for funnagesare too huge for any one
organization to solve alone.
But collectively we can make areal impact.
So my goal here was to actuallyexpand my network.
You know, exchange knowledgeand learn from other like-minded
organizations and individualsare working towards the same
(11:08):
vision.
So I think, in summary, that'swhat took me to Washington, to
the Rising Tides Conference.
Thank you.
Speaker 6 (11:22):
Yeah, so for me.
There are so many children'shomes in the world and I think
they play such an important rolelong term in the care of
children and families globally.
We need those small nonprofitsto develop those skills, to stop
focusing inward and begin tofocus outward and to really
(11:44):
engage local churches, localcommunities, to be the solution.
We know that government makes aterrible parent, and so the
wrong thing to do, as we'reworking towards transition, is
to abdicate the role of thechurch, to abdicate the role of
the small nonprofit organizationto the government and allow
(12:07):
them to be the only ones thatare engaged in this space.
And so I came to the RisingTide Conference really to
connect with other people, tolearn from them, to share with
them what we're learning and toempower and, as Stephen said so
eloquently, to work together tomultiply the impact that we have
.
Speaker 4 (12:30):
Yeah, indeed, we spent great time networking
during those two productive daysand then I enjoyed so much
because there are a lot ofexperts in the room.
So why is face care criticalfor vulnerable children
worldwide, phil?
Speaker 6 (12:49):
Well, I think that you know, as we look at the
global research around theimpacts of children that are in
what we call institutional careor children that grow up in
group, that are in what we callinstitutional care or children
that grow up in group careenvironments, we were just
(13:14):
struck by the need for the whatI call the personalization of
care, which is um I.
I define institutionalizationas when we do the right thing
for the group of childreninstead of the right thing for
the individual child, and anexample that comes to mind is
when I had a children's home.
We had six boys who were eightyears old and I knew that this
boy loved Manuel, loved art, andI knew that this boy loved
(13:38):
sports.
But instead of buying an artset for this one and a soccer
ball for this one, I bought atoy truck for all of those boys
because I knew that they wouldbe looking and comparing with
each other.
I made the right decision forthe group of children rather
than making the right decisionfor the individual children.
(13:58):
And that institutionalization,that lack of ability to focus on
the personal and individualneeds of each child, it has
shown that long term, that ithas a great impact on children.
And when, when, you know, Ithink about my own children and
I think about what would I wantif something happened to my wife
(14:20):
and I.
What would I want to havehappen to my, to my own children
, my wife and I, what would Iwant to have happen to my own
children?
I realized, my goodness, Iwould want them to be, first of
all, with my brothers, with mywife's brothers, if not that
grandparents, if not that withextended family, if that wasn't
(14:41):
possible, I would want them tobe with family.
The last place I would everpossibly want my own children to
grow up, I realized, was thebeautiful children's home that I
was building in a LatinAmerican country.
And I realized, you know, I hadto ask myself the question why
would I spend all this time andmoney developing solutions for
children of the world that Iwould not want for my own child?
(15:03):
And why are we not engaging thelocal church, engaging local
families, to be a part of this?
And so that's what I call thecommon sense.
And then, finally, for me, it'slistening to the children.
When we take the time to listento the children and their heart
and their desire, the childrenthat are living in our
children's homes.
(15:23):
We hear them very clearly say Iwant to go back home, I want to
be with mom, I want to be withdad, I want to be with grandma
or extended family.
That's the desire of thechildren, and so when we can
bring all those things together,we can do what I call
personalizing the care for everychild, making the right
(15:44):
decision for every child andallowing them to get back closer
to real family.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (15:58):
Thank you, thank you and thank you, cleo, because I
mean, I don't know how manytimes you'll be mentioning the
word family, but let me start bysaying that, you know, the
foundation of any thrivingsociety is the family, is the
family, and it's more than just,you know, a moral cornerstone,
it's the bedrock of a child'sgrowth, development.
(16:22):
You know, a sense of belonging,sense of identity.
Yet how can we lament, you know, that the breakdown of family
structures were reallycontinuing to invest in systems
that really disrupt, you know,disrupt the family unit itself.
So for me, really, it's allabout making sure that, indeed,
(16:47):
that every child gets to enjoywhat we all value most, and
that's the family, childrenraised outside the family unit.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
You know, children raised outside.
Speaker 5 (16:56):
you know the family unit struggle to understand its
true value If they grow up, youknow, without experiencing
family, you know how can weexpect them to build their own
strong, loving?
You know homes and families.
You know there is the researchthat really paints a troubling
(17:19):
picture.
You know that for every threemonths a young child spends in
an orphanage, they lose anentire month of development.
Beyond that, you know there arestudies that show that children
raised in institutions, youknow, face a higher likelihood
of, you know face a higherlikelihood of, you know, mental
health challenges when they growup.
(17:41):
You know academically theydon't do well.
And then you know they facehigher rates of unemployment.
Even they are more susceptible,you know, to being in conflict
with the law.
So all that, for me, is reallyfundamental in this conversation
.
And to add to that, you know,often it just may provide you
know the law.
So all that, for me, is reallyfundamental in this conversation
.
And to add to that, you knoworphanages may provide.
You know the essentials and Iknow you've heard this many
(18:03):
times that they can provide food, provide shelter, they can
provide education and medicalcare and that's all survival.
But you know, true holisticdevelopment happens, you know,
within families and truethriving happens, you know, only
in the family.
It's where they experience love, it's where they experience,
(18:25):
you know, identity, belonging.
You know the rich culturalheritage for us as Africans
actually is rooted in the familyunit.
So if you truly believe in abetter future for children, we
must rethink the systems that wesupport, because every child
deserves more than survival.
(18:46):
They deserve to thrive and mytrue belief is in that family
unit.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
Thank you, David.
That family unit, Thank you,David.
Yeah, thank you, Stephen.
Meeting the desire of childrenis key to maintain a sense of
belonging and to allow them togrow in a safe and loving
environment, which is reallyvery important.
However, no matter what we do,we need the support.
(19:17):
We need external support indiverse ways.
So how can donors, volunteersand advocates best support this
transition in ethical andeffective ways?
Yes, Stephen.
Speaker 5 (19:36):
Thank you.
Thank you, david, for giving methis opportunity to go first.
Yeah, so first, I think let mesay we need to recognize an
important truth Many donors andvolunteers, often unknowingly,
have contributed, you know, tothe separation of children from
their families and communities,to the separation of children
(19:56):
from their families andcommunities.
But there is good news thatthey can also be part of the
solution by shifting theirsupport to own family-based care
.
Donors and volunteers can playa critical role in reintegrating
children with their parents andrelatives.
Through their donations youknow kind, that sort of you know
(20:18):
donations, whether it'sfinancial or you know in kind
they can also help build andstrengthen families that prevent
separation in the first placeensuring that, you know,
families have the support thatthey need, you know, to stay
together.
You know, governments across thecontinent are already
(20:39):
encouraging this shift.
They are advocating for kinshipcare, they are advocating for
guardianship, they areadvocating for local adoptions,
you know, and culturallyrelevant foster care models.
So these approaches prioritizestability, prioritize this
belonging and the fundamentalright of every child to grow up
(21:02):
in a family.
So the opportunity is here, themoment is now.
You know, together we canactually transform the way we
support vulnerable children andcreate a future where, you know,
family, not institutions, is atthe heart of care.
And so we are not actuallyasking you know, donors, you
know, and volunteers to actuallystop giving, but we are
(21:25):
actually asking them to, youknow, redirect, you know their
support because, we know betterThanks.
Thanks, David, and over to youPhil.
Speaker 6 (21:35):
Yeah, stephen, thank you for those words, and you
started someplace that I want topick up there as well, where
you said that many donors andvolunteers, without knowing it,
have actually caused theseparation of children from
their families when they aresupporting orphanages.
Orphanages, faith Actionrecently did a study and they
(22:01):
found out that one out of everyfive American Christians is
supporting an orphanage globally, and that's challenging,
especially when they find outthat those orphanages are not
actually supporting orphans.
They're supporting children whothey've actually helped to
separate from their familyinstead of supporting those
families.
I recently, Laura, you and Iwere recently in Kansas City at
(22:26):
a church that had supportedeight different orphanages in
other countries.
They were supporting anorphanage in Haiti and they sent
a medical doctor to supportthat orphanage from the US to
the home, and when they gotthere, first of all they found
out all of the children werenone of them were orphanages
(22:46):
orphans.
They all had parents.
The second thing was they foundout that all of those children
had been abused in significantways that are very sad.
The orphanage was not what thebeautiful place that they
thought that it was supposed tobe, and so when the first thing
(23:08):
that we have to do is help openthe eyes to the donors,
volunteers and advocates tounderstand this is not pure
religion.
Pure religion does not call usto build orphanages.
It never says that.
What pure religion is is thecare for orphans and widows.
And they always come righttogether the orphan and the
(23:31):
widow and so that the widow istypically the mother of the
orphan.
The orphan has lost a father,the widow has lost a mother.
It is those vulnerable familiesthat we're called to support,
not finding ways to separatethose families, but finding ways
to support those families, tobring them together.
(23:53):
And so when I speak with donorsand volunteers and advocates
that are caring for and have achildren's home that they love,
the place to start is tocelebrate the past.
Place to start is not to attackthe past.
The place to start is to say,wow, there have been good things
(24:14):
that have happened on thiscampus, but we're going to learn
some new things and we're goingto be able to do some new
things better.
We start with questions.
We start with help usunderstand who are the children
that are living on your campusand what do those children need.
And then what we're seeing isorganizations are successfully
making this transition, helpingtheir donors, their volunteers,
(24:38):
their advocates, to move towardfamily-based care.
I was working with a groupbased in Colorado Springs that
supports children's homes inAsia and Africa, and 100% of
their 250 child sponsors havetransitioned with them to a new
model where they're helping carefor children in local families.
(25:02):
But, as Stephen says, we needthose donors to continue
partnering with theorganizations.
The work is more important, thenumber of people involved is
greater and we need the donorsto continue walking alongside of
us in this challenge, but it ispossible to do that.
Speaker 4 (25:21):
Effective communication is the key to
bringing those donors,volunteers and advocates along
with us in this process oftransition thank you, thank Phil
, and yes, indeed, effectivecommunication is really key and
we actually need to continuecommunicating so that we
(25:44):
encourage them to redirect theirfunds and their support to what
we think is the best for thechild now family-based care
support and, thank you very much, care support and thank you
very much so reflecting on thedeep dive conversations we had
(26:05):
in Washington what were the mostpowerful moments or key
insights you took away from theRising Tides conference.
Speaker 5 (26:17):
Thank you, david.
We had a great time.
For me, what was clear is thatthere is a growing awareness of
the critical need for childrento grow up in families.
Where we are now is not wherewe were 10 years ago.
Awareness has really grown, butawareness alone isn't enough.
(26:41):
I felt truly that resources andtechnical expertise, you know,
still remains scarce for manyorganizations.
You know, and that's why youknow, collaboration is key.
By coming together, we canbridge a gap, ensuring that
(27:02):
those who have successfullytransitioned from institutional
care to family care can sharethe experiences, the insights,
the lessons with others who arestill on that journey.
So I feel strongly that indeed,there is still a lot to be done
(27:27):
in terms of, you know, sharingour expertise.
Additionally, you know, bycoming together, I was able to
truly understand, you know, thekey challenges and where the
resources are needed most.
And so, I feel like, yeah,that's for me quite a moment in
(27:50):
terms of you know, understandingone.
You know where we are currentlyin terms of care reform.
You know where we really needto, you know, put our focus.
So I think, in a nutshell,that's what I would say.
Speaker 4 (28:09):
Thank you.
Speaker 6 (28:09):
Steve, david, thank you for the question.
For me, you know, the firstthing was the connection and the
friendship.
The question for me, you know,the first thing was the
connection and the friendship.
Um, you know, I a highlight forme, david was just sitting
around a table with you I didn'tknow you previous to this event
and, uh, so it was just greatto see your heart and to hear
your passion for gettingchildren into family and, um,
(28:33):
you know, and and connectingwith the others in the room who
were I don't even know, werethere 35, 40 of us in the room,
something like that all of uspassionate about seeing children
cared for in familyenvironments, and so that was a
highlight for me.
(28:54):
Another thing that I'll mentionis, you know, a real sense that
the solution already existslocally.
It's not that this idea of thegreat orphanage dream was one
that was imported.
It was not native in thecountries we talked about the
(29:19):
first orphanages being built,and it was in the mid-1900s in a
lot of these countries 1950s,1960s, 1930s, something like
that.
This is not the historicsolution that we have.
There's been children andvulnerable families for years in
all of these countries, and sowe brought in this new model and
(29:42):
set it up as the ideal standard, but it was not a local
solution, and so, really, one ofthe things that we're doing is
calling forth the local solutionthat was the historic solution
for children that have beenseparated from the family, which
was family as that solution,and so we're, you know, calling
(30:05):
forth that solution andsupporting it, saying how can we
come around and support familysolutions for children instead
of residential or institutionalsolutions?
An example that comes to mind isyou know that God is already
working in all these placeswe're going.
I think of El Salvador, where,in one week, we were contacted
(30:26):
by a children's home that wantedto transition, a pastor that
wanted to engage his church infoster care, and a North
American couple that was workingon the ground that was looking
for how they could supportfamily-based solutions there
locally.
These are our examples of howGod is moving to bring about
(30:48):
family-based solutions as theprimary response, the first
response for children that havebecome separated from their
families.
Speaker 4 (30:59):
Thank you, phil.
Thank you very much.
I also enjoyed a lot of greatmoments and the speed networking
was one of my greatest, andamongst a lot of them.
Yeah, so I know you guys have alot of experience and you are
deeply involved in care, reformand going to the rising tide.
(31:20):
Are there any discussions orsessions that particularly
resonate with you, and why isthat?
Speaker 6 (31:37):
All right, I'll get started.
So for me, the why question wasthe biggest, the most impactful
one for me, and it's thatquestion of how can we motivate
a global shift to move childrento families.
It's exciting, with thechildren's homes that we're
(31:57):
working with, to see transitiontake place, with the children's
homes that we're working with tosee transition take place, but
really there's still the vastmajority of children's homes
that are not engaged in thisprocess, finding out how they
can care for children andfamilies.
I think about the country ofPeru.
We have there's in Peru.
There are 500 governmentregistered children's homes in
(32:19):
the country of Peru, and theestimate is that there's another
500 unregistered children'shomes in the country of Peru,
and the estimate is that there'sanother 500 unregistered
children's homes in the countryof Peru.
So let's say there's a thousandchildren's homes in the country
of Peru.
Our team and others there inPeru have been working towards
transition and we currently have10 children's homes that are
(32:42):
actively developing family-basedsolutions, and when I say
family-based, they're working toreunify children that have come
into their orphanage back totheir own biological or extended
family, or they're pursuingnational adoption as an option
for these kids, or they'repursuing foster care, either
short or long term, for thosekids.
So we're seeing 10 homes in thecountry of Peru that are making
(33:09):
that transition towardfamily-based care, but that's 10
out of 1,000 children's homesin that country.
So we're only seeing 1% of thechildren's homes make that shift
.
The question is what does ittake?
You know that.
Why question, why are we makingthis move?
What is it going to take toreally see this idea of caring
(33:32):
for children and families movepast just an idea and become the
norm?
That family-based care would beour first and primary response
for children that are separatedfrom their family, and that's
within their own family orwithin an alternative family.
So that conversation that wehad was really particularly
(33:52):
motivating for me.
Speaker 4 (33:56):
All right, thank you.
Thank you, thanks, phil Over toyou Stevie.
Speaker 5 (34:01):
Thanks, phil.
I think for me it's more reallyunderstanding about the push
and the pull factors.
And you know that conversationreally sort of went back to you
(34:22):
know, how can we address theseissues sustainably?
And you know, we were allsaying you know we really need
to address, you know, the rootcauses.
And so I felt like, indeed, itfeels like for years and years
we really missed the markbecause, you know, most of us
(34:44):
are really into the you knowband-aid kind of interventions,
we are more into addressing youknow the symptoms, and so we
have sort of remained in thissort of revolving door kind of
an approach where we neverreally get to address the issue.
(35:05):
And so I feel like, you know,most of our efforts should
actually be going to addressingthe root causes of, you know,
separation of abandonment for usto see real change, abandonment
for us to see real change.
And so for me, that compositionsort of really kept me awake
(35:28):
since then, asking myself, yes,so if we do this, yes, yeah, a
rescue is good, but you knowwhat's happening, you know, at
the point where this child wasactually abandoned or what
actually, you know led to thatabandonment, we took away the
(35:48):
child, but you know the parentis there or the guardian is
there or the primary caregiveris there.
We never, you know we never didanything.
You know, to really supportthat caregiver, anything you
know to really support thatcaregiver?
You know, maybe that.
You know that you knowcaregiver was traumatized, was a
young teenager and so maybethey had.
(36:11):
You know it was sexual violence.
So what are we really doing interms of addressing issues of
sexual violence withincommunities?
It was poverty.
So what are we really doing,you know, to strengthen
livelihoods?
So it still feels like most ofus, you know support openages
(36:32):
really missed the mark in termsof what we should be doing.
You know, to address the issuesustainably and not just them.
I feel like also the wholesystem needs to look at.
You know the root causessignificantly.
I'm not saying that you know weabandon, you know rescue and
all that, but I'm saying for usto see real change and
(36:55):
meaningful change, I think weneed to go back to a root cause
kind of an approach, thank you.
Thank you, stephen.
Yes, to go back to a root causekind of an approach.
Speaker 4 (37:06):
Thank you.
Yeah, thank you, stephen.
Yes, yes, transition inorphanages to family care was
really the focus of this risingtide which is gradually taking
shape around the world.
So how do you see this shiftplaying out in the regions where
(37:26):
you work currently?
Speaker 6 (37:31):
Phil.
So I'll get started, david Justgiving an example of one
project that has made atransition.
This is a children's home inthe country of Honduras.
They had 40 children living infour homes family-like homes, I
call them 10 children per homeand they were content doing that
(37:56):
work and they were doing a goodjob.
But as they came across some ofthese concepts, they realized,
wow, you know, we need to focusin on each child and ask that
question who is this child, whatdoes this child need?
And they began to do that.
And as they did, they realizeda lot of these children have
moms or dads or uncles and auntsand grandparents, and they
(38:19):
began to work with those kids.
They were able to reunite 26 ofthose children back to
biological or extended families.
That left 14 more children.
So they started a foster careprogram and they started seeing
kids adopted and fostered therenationally.
They ended up seeing all 14 ofthose kids move out of their
(38:42):
orphanage into either foster oradoption care, and so they ended
up with zero children livingback in the residential group
home environment.
And not only that, they began torealize that, wow, we have to
start looking upstream and thinkabout what are some of these
causes that Stephen was talkingabout?
(39:03):
Why is it that children arebeing separated?
Why are there so many childrenliterally being dropped off in
orphanages by families that arein difficult situations?
And so they started aprevention program and they
identified three communitiesthat were the three toughest
neighborhoods, where themajority of kids that were being
(39:23):
separated from their familieswere coming from, and they
started a program where theywere identifying vulnerable
families in those communitiesand finding ways to come around
and support them.
Today they have 125 familiesthat they're supporting in that
ministry.
They also have a team of socialworkers that are out visiting
the kids who formerly lived inthe children's home but are now
(39:46):
living with those families, andso what was once a
inward-focused program, justfocused on their campus, has
become a program that's engagedin their community, that is
preventing separation, that issupporting children that have
been reintegrated into familyand is doing amazing work.
(40:06):
I think this is one example ofreally so many examples that we
could point to, that of waysthat children's homes can move
beyond that inward focus andbegin to focus outward in their
community, to engage the localchurch as well, to be a part of
the solution.
Speaker 4 (40:25):
Stephen.
Speaker 5 (40:28):
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you, Phil, and just toadd, you know, to what you've
already shared, I feel like youknow it's such stories that we
can actually sort of use toscale up.
You know, at the national level, we must, you know, make you
know these learnings, thisknowledge sharing, accessible to
(40:53):
others.
You know organizations andadvocates on the ground.
They need the tools, they needthe insights and experiences
that can actually drive thismeaningful transformation.
And you know they need theinsights and experiences that
can actually drive thismeaningful transformation.
And you know what you've justshared, I feel like you know
that's what is really needed.
You know the modeling from suchsmall organizations and looking
(41:16):
at how I can be scaled up, andit doesn't stop there.
At the regional level, we needto amplify these learnings,
ensure that they inspire othersand serve as a catalyst for
broader change within thesociety.
So, thank you so much, and Ithink that's only what I have to
(41:38):
say on that, I feel.
I think you really put thatwell.
Speaker 4 (41:45):
I know many who are listening now may want to learn
more or get involved.
If so, where should they startif they want to get involved or
learn more?
Phil?
Speaker 5 (42:02):
Yeah, phil, yeah, phil did mention.
You know organizations that arereally doing some remarkable
work, including, you know,helping children worldwide.
You know Faith to Action.
You know Better Care Network.
We have Casa Viva here.
(42:22):
We have Open Homes in Churri,we have Lumos.
We have All Without.
Speaker 3 (42:27):
Offense.
I mean, there are all theseorganizations that Phil did
mention earlier.
Speaker 5 (42:35):
And you know there are also national, small
national organizations.
I feel like you know they'renot mentioned, but I feel like
you know they do incredible workaround.
You know this particular issue.
I think when there is a will,there is a way, and I always
feel like you know, at times Iused to think, oh, there are no
organizations that are doing youknow family work when I was
(42:55):
starting.
But you know, I came to realizethat you know there are all
these small organizations thatyou know don't find their ways
into Facebooks and you knowwebsites, but doing amazing work
, so it's always trying to lookout.
You know, in country as well,who is doing what, the
organizations.
I mean there are coalitions insome countries, like the
(43:18):
Alternative Care AlternativeFamily Care Coalition in Kenya.
There is one in Tanzania.
So I feel like there are allthese initiatives at national
and regional level that one canreach out to, and I know BCN has
a repository of organizationsin different countries that are
(43:42):
involved in family care work, soI think it's worth looking at
their website.
So in the region, I know wehave regional alliances like
Family First for Children, andwe have Parental Care Alliance.
In Africa we also haveTransform Alliance Africa that
I'm a member of, but I don'tthink, yeah, I feel like, yeah,
(44:08):
there are enough organizationsthat one can look out for and
ask for content.
Back to you, david.
Speaker 4 (44:21):
Thank you, Stephen and Steve Phil.
Speaker 6 (44:25):
Yes.
So you know, stephen hasmentioned so many of these
organizations and you know thetwo that maybe he didn't mention
.
Christian Alliance for Orphansand an organization called World
Without Orphans are two moreorganizations that you can look
at.
You know Stephen's organization, hope and Homes.
(44:46):
My organization, casambiva.
Your organization, david,helping Children Worldwide.
There's so many places thatpeople can go to get connected,
to ask the right questions and,like Stephen said, there are
national movements.
We have Paraguay ProtectsFamilies.
We have Peru for the Children.
We have Identify Solutions inHonduras.
(45:08):
There are, you know, all kindsof small movements, big
movements that you can become apart of, get educated, ask the
questions and go there.
The place that I would probablystart would be the Faith to
(45:30):
Action website and where it saysget started, because they have
some beautiful information there.
So lots of opportunities.
The key thing is begin with aquestion.
Send an email to one of us.
I'm at info at CasaVivaorg.
You can get to me and I wouldbe happy to connect you with
people in other countries.
I know David, you, stephen,laura, also would be happy to
(45:53):
connect people to find the bestplace for them to engage in this
topic.
Speaker 4 (45:59):
Yes, indeed, we are always happy to connect and
provide the necessary answers.
Thank you very much.
You can also contact the SierraLeone Coalition for Family Care
.
It's an organization that isbased.
Four organizations cametogether to form this coalition
(46:20):
in Sierra Leone and they areworking hard to also make sure
they provide information,working with the government and
other stakeholders in transition.
So the Sierra Leone Coalitionfor Family-Based Care is also
here in Sierra Leone.
Thank you, stephen and thankyou, phil.
It's great to really let ourlisteners know that family care
is indeed becoming a bettersolution in different parts of
(46:44):
the world and we are trying ourbest to see how this will really
take shape.
Thank you for joining us forthis episode of Optimistic
Voices.
It's a big, big messy world outthere and there is no shortage
of need and there is no shortageof need, but we here at
(47:05):
Optimistic Voices believe thatwith radical courage and radical
collaboration together we canchange the world.
Thank you, guys.
Speaker 1 (47:17):
Please return for part two of the Rising Tides
Optimistic Voices episode hostedby David Titus Moussa.
Speaker 3 (47:32):
Thanks for listening.
If you enjoyed this episode,please subscribe, share it with
others, post about it on socialmedia or leave a rating and
review about it on social mediaor leave a rating and review To
catch all the latest from us.
You can find us at HelpingChildren Worldwide on Instagram,
linkedin, twitter and FacebookHashtag Optimistic Voices
(47:59):
Podcast.
Thank you.
Welcome to Optimistic Voices, a podcast of helping
children worldwide.
We help children worldwide bystrengthening and empowering
families and communities.
This podcast is for peopleinterested in deep conversations
with thought leaders in thefields of child welfare, global
(00:35):
health and internationalmissions.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Welcome to the Optimistic Voices podcast.
Welcome to the OptimisticVoices podcast.
I'm one of your regular hosts,dr Laura Horvath, but today I
get to take a backseat and spendsome time in the audience while
my friend and colleague, davidTitus Musa guest hosts this
episode.
Welcome, david, it's great tohave you here.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
Thanks very much for having me, Laura.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
I will take a minute to introduce David a little bit
before handing the microphoneover.
David Moussa is the SeniorConsultant for Reintegration at
the Child Reintegration Centerin Beau, Sierra Leone but he's
also a recognized thought leaderin child welfare and,
specifically, in the transitionof residential children's homes
(01:21):
and orphanages to family-basedcare models across the continent
of Africa, but mostly in WestAfrica, and the reason David is
hosting today's show is because,together, he and I recently
co-hosted HCW's Rising TidesConference in Washington DC back
in February.
Since 2019, hcw has hosted anannual policy conference called
(01:43):
Rising Tides, and, unlike otherkinds of conferences, rising
Tides comes from the notion that, as Kennedy famously put it, a
rising tide lifts all boats.
Every year, we seek to bringtogether small groups of thought
leaders on specific topics ofinterest within the spheres of
global missions, global publichealth and global child welfare
and protection, and this year weand global child welfare and
(02:07):
protection, and this year wefocused on global child welfare
and specifically on the rolethat transition of residential
children's homes and orphanagesplays within the larger sphere
of care reform for children.
As a transition expert, davidknows a lot more about how to do
that than I do, which is whyhe's hosting this episode and
not me.
So, david, take it away.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
Thank you once more again, laura.
This year's rising tidecatalyzing transition to broaden
the impact brought togetherthought leaders from a number of
different countries in theglobal north and the global
south For deep dive conversationon how to continue to grow the
(02:48):
impact of transition supportservices globally.
These two day in-person earlyconference provided room and
time for transitionpractitioners to reconnect,
reflect on available tools andhow they are using them in their
respective context, wrestletogether with various concepts
(03:10):
and how they might be appliedpractically, and examine and
discuss pieces of transitionprocess and how we can
collaborate and coordinate tobroaden the reach and impact of
transition around the world.
Follow-up is planned, but themost important first step was to
bring these experts together inone place.
Two of those participants arewith me on the show today.
(03:34):
Phil Aspergren is the executivedirector of Casa Viva.
He and his wife, jill,co-founded the initiative in
2003 and continue to serve asdirectors.
In 2005, they launched CasaViva Costa Rica.
Casa Viva seeks to expand thespectrum of alternatives for
(03:55):
children who've been separatedfrom their biological families
through reunification, nationaladoption and short or long-term
family-based foster care.
The Consultants of Casa Vivasolution motivates and equips
children's ministries in othercountries to implement more
(04:16):
family-like solutions forchildren and work throughout
Latin America, in countriesaround the world.
And work throughout LatinAmerica in countries around the
world.
Also with us today is StephenUsimbe, a professional social
worker with skills, knowledgeand experience working with
children and young peoplewithout parental care and
(04:37):
vulnerable families.
Stephen is a caregiver himself,having grown in an orphanage in
Kenya, and is a founder ofKenya Society of Care Leavers,
now serving as the regionaladvocacy manager for open homes
for children.
So welcome to the show, phil.
Speaker 6 (05:03):
David, thanks for having me on the show.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
It is great to be here today and, stephen, you're
welcome to the show.
Speaker 5 (05:12):
Thank you so much, david, and thank you so much,
laura for having us today in theshow.
Thank you.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
Yeah.
So having briefly introduced myguests, I also want to give
them the opportunity to furtherintroduce themselves and their
roles.
So can you introduce yourselfand share your roles in the work
of transition from orphanagesto family-based care, Either?
Speaker 5 (05:44):
of you can start the conversation.
Speaker 6 (05:50):
Thank you, go ahead.
Speaker 5 (05:53):
No, you go ahead, Stephen, you get started, Okay,
thank you.
Thank you so much, David.
I think you've already made agreat summary of the work that I
do, but just for the sake ofthe audience again, I work for
Open Homes for Children as theregional advocacy manager and
indeed I'm a care leaver.
I also coordinate an alliancecalled Transform Alliance Africa
(06:17):
, a coalition spanning 12countries and with around 17
member organisations.
At Open Homes for Children, weare committed to ensuring
separated children are reunitedwith families, moving them away
from institutional care, andthrough Transform Alliance
Africa, we drive advocacy,knowledge exchange and
collaboration to actuallycatalyze transition from
(06:42):
orphanages to family-based carein the region.
Our advocacy efforts focus onshifting perceptions,
influencing policies andlegislation and strengthening
family care systems to ensurethat the future for all children
is actually families.
(07:02):
Thank you so much.
Over to you, Phil.
Speaker 6 (07:07):
Well, thank you, stephen, and thank you David
again for having us here.
My role in this work of helpingorphanages transition to
family-based care is reallybased in my own story.
I'm from the United States.
I grew up in the state ofOklahoma.
I'm from the United States, Igrew up in the state of Oklahoma
, spent about a decade inChicago after I graduated from
(07:27):
university, and my wife and Iwere really impacted by the
statistics globally of childrenthat have been separated from
their family, and we always hadthis dream wouldn't it be great
if we were able to give familyto the children who do not have
a family?
And so we moved to LatinAmerica and we built an
(07:49):
orphanage.
It's a big jump that is madefrom thinking, wow, wouldn't it
be great to give family tochildren too?
Let's build an orphanage, and Ithink it's what I refer to as
the great orphanage dream that'sout there, that it would be
great to gather all thesechildren and give them family.
(08:10):
What we didn't realize is wemisunderstood who the child was,
that all of these children thatwe thought were orphans
actually have moms or dads andif the rare case that they
didn't, they had extended familydads and in the rare case that
they didn't.
They had extended family.
We misunderstood the trauma, wedidn't understand the trauma
(08:32):
that they'd experienced and wecongregated all these kids into
a single location.
We just immediately came up onthe challenges of the
institutionalization of children, and so really, that began to
stir in our hearts the questionwhat would it take to engage
churches to place children andfamilies, to really be pursuing
(08:52):
the best long-term options forthose kids and also to be
pursuing sustainability?
And so we started Casa Viva inCosta Rica and we engaged local
churches, to engage localfamilies in foster care.
We work for reunification andadoption, did those type of
things, and as we did that,people began to ask us how can
(09:16):
we care for children and familyas well?
So out of that, the work thatwe do supporting orphanages to
transition their model was born,that, the work that we do
supporting orphanages totransition their model was born,
and we call that Casa VivaSolutions.
We really work with children'shomes, especially in Latin
America, but also in other partsof the world, to help them
develop the skills to care forchildren in families.
(09:39):
Back to you, david.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
All right.
Thank you very much, Phil andStephen, for that short
introduction.
So, with such an experience andengagement you both have.
What initially brought you tothe Rising Tides Conference and
what were your expectationsgoing into it?
Speaker 5 (10:03):
Good question, david.
There is a Swahili saying thatgoes that means one finger alone
cannot kill allies.
It's a powerful reminder thatyou know, true change requires
cooperation and if you want tosee an Africa where every child
(10:23):
grows up in the love andsecurity of a family, we must
work together.
We need to build relationships,we need to strengthen alliances
and unite efforts to drivemeaningful transformation.
So, basically, I came to theRising Tides conference because
you know these work cannot bedone in isolation.
(10:44):
The challenges of for funnagesare too huge for any one
organization to solve alone.
But collectively we can make areal impact.
So my goal here was to actuallyexpand my network.
You know, exchange knowledgeand learn from other like-minded
organizations and individualsare working towards the same
(11:08):
vision.
So I think, in summary, that'swhat took me to Washington, to
the Rising Tides Conference.
Thank you.
Speaker 6 (11:22):
Yeah, so for me.
There are so many children'shomes in the world and I think
they play such an important rolelong term in the care of
children and families globally.
We need those small nonprofitsto develop those skills, to stop
focusing inward and begin tofocus outward and to really
(11:44):
engage local churches, localcommunities, to be the solution.
We know that government makes aterrible parent, and so the
wrong thing to do, as we'reworking towards transition, is
to abdicate the role of thechurch, to abdicate the role of
the small nonprofit organizationto the government and allow
(12:07):
them to be the only ones thatare engaged in this space.
And so I came to the RisingTide Conference really to
connect with other people, tolearn from them, to share with
them what we're learning and toempower and, as Stephen said so
eloquently, to work together tomultiply the impact that we have
.
Speaker 4 (12:30):
Yeah, indeed, we spent great time networking
during those two productive daysand then I enjoyed so much
because there are a lot ofexperts in the room.
So why is face care criticalfor vulnerable children
worldwide, phil?
Speaker 6 (12:49):
Well, I think that you know, as we look at the
global research around theimpacts of children that are in
what we call institutional careor children that grow up in
group, that are in what we callinstitutional care or children
that grow up in group careenvironments, we were just
(13:14):
struck by the need for the whatI call the personalization of
care, which is um I.
I define institutionalizationas when we do the right thing
for the group of childreninstead of the right thing for
the individual child, and anexample that comes to mind is
when I had a children's home.
We had six boys who were eightyears old and I knew that this
boy loved Manuel, loved art, andI knew that this boy loved
(13:38):
sports.
But instead of buying an artset for this one and a soccer
ball for this one, I bought atoy truck for all of those boys
because I knew that they wouldbe looking and comparing with
each other.
I made the right decision forthe group of children rather
than making the right decisionfor the individual children.
(13:58):
And that institutionalization,that lack of ability to focus on
the personal and individualneeds of each child, it has
shown that long term, that ithas a great impact on children.
And when, when, you know, Ithink about my own children and
I think about what would I wantif something happened to my wife
(14:20):
and I.
What would I want to havehappen to my, to my own children
, my wife and I, what would Iwant to have happen to my own
children?
I realized, my goodness, Iwould want them to be, first of
all, with my brothers, with mywife's brothers, if not that
grandparents, if not that withextended family, if that wasn't
(14:41):
possible, I would want them tobe with family.
The last place I would everpossibly want my own children to
grow up, I realized, was thebeautiful children's home that I
was building in a LatinAmerican country.
And I realized, you know, I hadto ask myself the question why
would I spend all this time andmoney developing solutions for
children of the world that Iwould not want for my own child?
(15:03):
And why are we not engaging thelocal church, engaging local
families, to be a part of this?
And so that's what I call thecommon sense.
And then, finally, for me, it'slistening to the children.
When we take the time to listento the children and their heart
and their desire, the childrenthat are living in our
children's homes.
(15:23):
We hear them very clearly say Iwant to go back home, I want to
be with mom, I want to be withdad, I want to be with grandma
or extended family.
That's the desire of thechildren, and so when we can
bring all those things together,we can do what I call
personalizing the care for everychild, making the right
(15:44):
decision for every child andallowing them to get back closer
to real family.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (15:58):
Thank you, thank you and thank you, cleo, because I
mean, I don't know how manytimes you'll be mentioning the
word family, but let me start bysaying that, you know, the
foundation of any thrivingsociety is the family, is the
family, and it's more than just,you know, a moral cornerstone,
it's the bedrock of a child'sgrowth, development.
(16:22):
You know, a sense of belonging,sense of identity.
Yet how can we lament, you know, that the breakdown of family
structures were reallycontinuing to invest in systems
that really disrupt, you know,disrupt the family unit itself.
So for me, really, it's allabout making sure that, indeed,
(16:47):
that every child gets to enjoywhat we all value most, and
that's the family, childrenraised outside the family unit.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
You know, children raised outside.
Speaker 5 (16:56):
you know the family unit struggle to understand its
true value If they grow up, youknow, without experiencing
family, you know how can weexpect them to build their own
strong, loving?
You know homes and families.
You know there is the researchthat really paints a troubling
(17:19):
picture.
You know that for every threemonths a young child spends in
an orphanage, they lose anentire month of development.
Beyond that, you know there arestudies that show that children
raised in institutions, youknow, face a higher likelihood
of, you know face a higherlikelihood of, you know, mental
health challenges when they growup.
(17:41):
You know academically theydon't do well.
And then you know they facehigher rates of unemployment.
Even they are more susceptible,you know, to being in conflict
with the law.
So all that, for me, is reallyfundamental in this conversation
.
And to add to that, you know,often it just may provide you
know the law.
So all that, for me, is reallyfundamental in this conversation
.
And to add to that, you knoworphanages may provide.
You know the essentials and Iknow you've heard this many
(18:03):
times that they can provide food, provide shelter, they can
provide education and medicalcare and that's all survival.
But you know, true holisticdevelopment happens, you know,
within families and truethriving happens, you know, only
in the family.
It's where they experience love, it's where they experience,
(18:25):
you know, identity, belonging.
You know the rich culturalheritage for us as Africans
actually is rooted in the familyunit.
So if you truly believe in abetter future for children, we
must rethink the systems that wesupport, because every child
deserves more than survival.
(18:46):
They deserve to thrive and mytrue belief is in that family
unit.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
Thank you, David.
That family unit, Thank you,David.
Yeah, thank you, Stephen.
Meeting the desire of childrenis key to maintain a sense of
belonging and to allow them togrow in a safe and loving
environment, which is reallyvery important.
However, no matter what we do,we need the support.
(19:17):
We need external support indiverse ways.
So how can donors, volunteersand advocates best support this
transition in ethical andeffective ways?
Yes, Stephen.
Speaker 5 (19:36):
Thank you.
Thank you, david, for giving methis opportunity to go first.
Yeah, so first, I think let mesay we need to recognize an
important truth Many donors andvolunteers, often unknowingly,
have contributed, you know, tothe separation of children from
their families and communities,to the separation of children
(19:56):
from their families andcommunities.
But there is good news thatthey can also be part of the
solution by shifting theirsupport to own family-based care
.
Donors and volunteers can playa critical role in reintegrating
children with their parents andrelatives.
Through their donations youknow kind, that sort of you know
(20:18):
donations, whether it'sfinancial or you know in kind
they can also help build andstrengthen families that prevent
separation in the first placeensuring that, you know,
families have the support thatthey need, you know, to stay
together.
You know, governments across thecontinent are already
(20:39):
encouraging this shift.
They are advocating for kinshipcare, they are advocating for
guardianship, they areadvocating for local adoptions,
you know, and culturallyrelevant foster care models.
So these approaches prioritizestability, prioritize this
belonging and the fundamentalright of every child to grow up
(21:02):
in a family.
So the opportunity is here, themoment is now.
You know, together we canactually transform the way we
support vulnerable children andcreate a future where, you know,
family, not institutions, is atthe heart of care.
And so we are not actuallyasking you know, donors, you
know, and volunteers to actuallystop giving, but we are
(21:25):
actually asking them to, youknow, redirect, you know their
support because, we know betterThanks.
Thanks, David, and over to youPhil.
Speaker 6 (21:35):
Yeah, stephen, thank you for those words, and you
started someplace that I want topick up there as well, where
you said that many donors andvolunteers, without knowing it,
have actually caused theseparation of children from
their families when they aresupporting orphanages.
Orphanages, faith Actionrecently did a study and they
(22:01):
found out that one out of everyfive American Christians is
supporting an orphanage globally, and that's challenging,
especially when they find outthat those orphanages are not
actually supporting orphans.
They're supporting children whothey've actually helped to
separate from their familyinstead of supporting those
families.
I recently, Laura, you and Iwere recently in Kansas City at
(22:26):
a church that had supportedeight different orphanages in
other countries.
They were supporting anorphanage in Haiti and they sent
a medical doctor to supportthat orphanage from the US to
the home, and when they gotthere, first of all they found
out all of the children werenone of them were orphanages
(22:46):
orphans.
They all had parents.
The second thing was they foundout that all of those children
had been abused in significantways that are very sad.
The orphanage was not what thebeautiful place that they
thought that it was supposed tobe, and so when the first thing
(23:08):
that we have to do is help openthe eyes to the donors,
volunteers and advocates tounderstand this is not pure
religion.
Pure religion does not call usto build orphanages.
It never says that.
What pure religion is is thecare for orphans and widows.
And they always come righttogether the orphan and the
(23:31):
widow and so that the widow istypically the mother of the
orphan.
The orphan has lost a father,the widow has lost a mother.
It is those vulnerable familiesthat we're called to support,
not finding ways to separatethose families, but finding ways
to support those families, tobring them together.
(23:53):
And so when I speak with donorsand volunteers and advocates
that are caring for and have achildren's home that they love,
the place to start is tocelebrate the past.
Place to start is not to attackthe past.
The place to start is to say,wow, there have been good things
(24:14):
that have happened on thiscampus, but we're going to learn
some new things and we're goingto be able to do some new
things better.
We start with questions.
We start with help usunderstand who are the children
that are living on your campusand what do those children need.
And then what we're seeing isorganizations are successfully
making this transition, helpingtheir donors, their volunteers,
(24:38):
their advocates, to move towardfamily-based care.
I was working with a groupbased in Colorado Springs that
supports children's homes inAsia and Africa, and 100% of
their 250 child sponsors havetransitioned with them to a new
model where they're helping carefor children in local families.
(25:02):
But, as Stephen says, we needthose donors to continue
partnering with theorganizations.
The work is more important, thenumber of people involved is
greater and we need the donorsto continue walking alongside of
us in this challenge, but it ispossible to do that.
Speaker 4 (25:21):
Effective communication is the key to
bringing those donors,volunteers and advocates along
with us in this process oftransition thank you, thank Phil
, and yes, indeed, effectivecommunication is really key and
we actually need to continuecommunicating so that we
(25:44):
encourage them to redirect theirfunds and their support to what
we think is the best for thechild now family-based care
support and, thank you very much, care support and thank you
very much so reflecting on thedeep dive conversations we had
(26:05):
in Washington what were the mostpowerful moments or key
insights you took away from theRising Tides conference.
Speaker 5 (26:17):
Thank you, david.
We had a great time.
For me, what was clear is thatthere is a growing awareness of
the critical need for childrento grow up in families.
Where we are now is not wherewe were 10 years ago.
Awareness has really grown, butawareness alone isn't enough.
(26:41):
I felt truly that resources andtechnical expertise, you know,
still remains scarce for manyorganizations.
You know, and that's why youknow, collaboration is key.
By coming together, we canbridge a gap, ensuring that
(27:02):
those who have successfullytransitioned from institutional
care to family care can sharethe experiences, the insights,
the lessons with others who arestill on that journey.
So I feel strongly that indeed,there is still a lot to be done
(27:27):
in terms of, you know, sharingour expertise.
Additionally, you know, bycoming together, I was able to
truly understand, you know, thekey challenges and where the
resources are needed most.
And so, I feel like, yeah,that's for me quite a moment in
(27:50):
terms of you know, understandingone.
You know where we are currentlyin terms of care reform.
You know where we really needto, you know, put our focus.
So I think, in a nutshell,that's what I would say.
Speaker 4 (28:09):
Thank you.
Speaker 6 (28:09):
Steve, david, thank you for the question.
For me, you know, the firstthing was the connection and the
friendship.
The question for me, you know,the first thing was the
connection and the friendship.
Um, you know, I a highlight forme, david was just sitting
around a table with you I didn'tknow you previous to this event
and, uh, so it was just greatto see your heart and to hear
your passion for gettingchildren into family and, um,
(28:33):
you know, and and connectingwith the others in the room who
were I don't even know, werethere 35, 40 of us in the room,
something like that all of uspassionate about seeing children
cared for in familyenvironments, and so that was a
highlight for me.
(28:54):
Another thing that I'll mentionis, you know, a real sense that
the solution already existslocally.
It's not that this idea of thegreat orphanage dream was one
that was imported.
It was not native in thecountries we talked about the
(29:19):
first orphanages being built,and it was in the mid-1900s in a
lot of these countries 1950s,1960s, 1930s, something like
that.
This is not the historicsolution that we have.
There's been children andvulnerable families for years in
all of these countries, and sowe brought in this new model and
(29:42):
set it up as the ideal standard, but it was not a local
solution, and so, really, one ofthe things that we're doing is
calling forth the local solutionthat was the historic solution
for children that have beenseparated from the family, which
was family as that solution,and so we're, you know, calling
(30:05):
forth that solution andsupporting it, saying how can we
come around and support familysolutions for children instead
of residential or institutionalsolutions?
An example that comes to mind isyou know that God is already
working in all these placeswe're going.
I think of El Salvador, where,in one week, we were contacted
(30:26):
by a children's home that wantedto transition, a pastor that
wanted to engage his church infoster care, and a North
American couple that was workingon the ground that was looking
for how they could supportfamily-based solutions there
locally.
These are our examples of howGod is moving to bring about
(30:48):
family-based solutions as theprimary response, the first
response for children that havebecome separated from their
families.
Speaker 4 (30:59):
Thank you, phil.
Thank you very much.
I also enjoyed a lot of greatmoments and the speed networking
was one of my greatest, andamongst a lot of them.
Yeah, so I know you guys have alot of experience and you are
deeply involved in care, reformand going to the rising tide.
(31:20):
Are there any discussions orsessions that particularly
resonate with you, and why isthat?
Speaker 6 (31:37):
All right, I'll get started.
So for me, the why question wasthe biggest, the most impactful
one for me, and it's thatquestion of how can we motivate
a global shift to move childrento families.
It's exciting, with thechildren's homes that we're
(31:57):
working with, to see transitiontake place, with the children's
homes that we're working with tosee transition take place, but
really there's still the vastmajority of children's homes
that are not engaged in thisprocess, finding out how they
can care for children andfamilies.
I think about the country ofPeru.
We have there's in Peru.
There are 500 governmentregistered children's homes in
(32:19):
the country of Peru, and theestimate is that there's another
500 unregistered children'shomes in the country of Peru,
and the estimate is that there'sanother 500 unregistered
children's homes in the countryof Peru.
So let's say there's a thousandchildren's homes in the country
of Peru.
Our team and others there inPeru have been working towards
transition and we currently have10 children's homes that are
(32:42):
actively developing family-basedsolutions, and when I say
family-based, they're working toreunify children that have come
into their orphanage back totheir own biological or extended
family, or they're pursuingnational adoption as an option
for these kids, or they'repursuing foster care, either
short or long term, for thosekids.
So we're seeing 10 homes in thecountry of Peru that are making
(33:09):
that transition towardfamily-based care, but that's 10
out of 1,000 children's homesin that country.
So we're only seeing 1% of thechildren's homes make that shift
.
The question is what does ittake?
You know that.
Why question, why are we makingthis move?
What is it going to take toreally see this idea of caring
(33:32):
for children and families movepast just an idea and become the
norm?
That family-based care would beour first and primary response
for children that are separatedfrom their family, and that's
within their own family orwithin an alternative family.
So that conversation that wehad was really particularly
(33:52):
motivating for me.
Speaker 4 (33:56):
All right, thank you.
Thank you, thanks, phil Over toyou Stevie.
Speaker 5 (34:01):
Thanks, phil.
I think for me it's more reallyunderstanding about the push
and the pull factors.
And you know that conversationreally sort of went back to you
(34:22):
know, how can we address theseissues sustainably?
And you know, we were allsaying you know we really need
to address, you know, the rootcauses.
And so I felt like, indeed, itfeels like for years and years
we really missed the markbecause, you know, most of us
(34:44):
are really into the you knowband-aid kind of interventions,
we are more into addressing youknow the symptoms, and so we
have sort of remained in thissort of revolving door kind of
an approach where we neverreally get to address the issue.
(35:05):
And so I feel like, you know,most of our efforts should
actually be going to addressingthe root causes of, you know,
separation of abandonment for usto see real change, abandonment
for us to see real change.
And so for me, that compositionsort of really kept me awake
(35:28):
since then, asking myself, yes,so if we do this, yes, yeah, a
rescue is good, but you knowwhat's happening, you know, at
the point where this child wasactually abandoned or what
actually, you know led to thatabandonment, we took away the
(35:48):
child, but you know the parentis there or the guardian is
there or the primary caregiveris there.
We never, you know we never didanything.
You know, to really supportthat caregiver, anything you
know to really support thatcaregiver?
You know, maybe that.
You know that you knowcaregiver was traumatized, was a
young teenager and so maybethey had.
(36:11):
You know it was sexual violence.
So what are we really doing interms of addressing issues of
sexual violence withincommunities?
It was poverty.
So what are we really doing,you know, to strengthen
livelihoods?
So it still feels like most ofus, you know support openages
(36:32):
really missed the mark in termsof what we should be doing.
You know, to address the issuesustainably and not just them.
I feel like also the wholesystem needs to look at.
You know the root causessignificantly.
I'm not saying that you know weabandon, you know rescue and
all that, but I'm saying for usto see real change and
(36:55):
meaningful change, I think weneed to go back to a root cause
kind of an approach, thank you.
Thank you, stephen.
Yes, to go back to a root causekind of an approach.
Speaker 4 (37:06):
Thank you.
Yeah, thank you, stephen.
Yes, yes, transition inorphanages to family care was
really the focus of this risingtide which is gradually taking
shape around the world.
So how do you see this shiftplaying out in the regions where
(37:26):
you work currently?
Speaker 6 (37:31):
Phil.
So I'll get started, david Justgiving an example of one
project that has made atransition.
This is a children's home inthe country of Honduras.
They had 40 children living infour homes family-like homes, I
call them 10 children per homeand they were content doing that
(37:56):
work and they were doing a goodjob.
But as they came across some ofthese concepts, they realized,
wow, you know, we need to focusin on each child and ask that
question who is this child, whatdoes this child need?
And they began to do that.
And as they did, they realizeda lot of these children have
moms or dads or uncles and auntsand grandparents, and they
(38:19):
began to work with those kids.
They were able to reunite 26 ofthose children back to
biological or extended families.
That left 14 more children.
So they started a foster careprogram and they started seeing
kids adopted and fostered therenationally.
They ended up seeing all 14 ofthose kids move out of their
(38:42):
orphanage into either foster oradoption care, and so they ended
up with zero children livingback in the residential group
home environment.
And not only that, they began torealize that, wow, we have to
start looking upstream and thinkabout what are some of these
causes that Stephen was talkingabout?
(39:03):
Why is it that children arebeing separated?
Why are there so many childrenliterally being dropped off in
orphanages by families that arein difficult situations?
And so they started aprevention program and they
identified three communitiesthat were the three toughest
neighborhoods, where themajority of kids that were being
(39:23):
separated from their familieswere coming from, and they
started a program where theywere identifying vulnerable
families in those communitiesand finding ways to come around
and support them.
Today they have 125 familiesthat they're supporting in that
ministry.
They also have a team of socialworkers that are out visiting
the kids who formerly lived inthe children's home but are now
(39:46):
living with those families, andso what was once a
inward-focused program, justfocused on their campus, has
become a program that's engagedin their community, that is
preventing separation, that issupporting children that have
been reintegrated into familyand is doing amazing work.
(40:06):
I think this is one example ofreally so many examples that we
could point to, that of waysthat children's homes can move
beyond that inward focus andbegin to focus outward in their
community, to engage the localchurch as well, to be a part of
the solution.
Speaker 4 (40:25):
Stephen.
Speaker 5 (40:28):
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you, Phil, and just toadd, you know, to what you've
already shared, I feel like youknow it's such stories that we
can actually sort of use toscale up.
You know, at the national level, we must, you know, make you
know these learnings, thisknowledge sharing, accessible to
(40:53):
others.
You know organizations andadvocates on the ground.
They need the tools, they needthe insights and experiences
that can actually drive thismeaningful transformation.
And you know they need theinsights and experiences that
can actually drive thismeaningful transformation.
And you know what you've justshared, I feel like you know
that's what is really needed.
You know the modeling from suchsmall organizations and looking
(41:16):
at how I can be scaled up, andit doesn't stop there.
At the regional level, we needto amplify these learnings,
ensure that they inspire othersand serve as a catalyst for
broader change within thesociety.
So, thank you so much, and Ithink that's only what I have to
(41:38):
say on that, I feel.
I think you really put thatwell.
Speaker 4 (41:45):
I know many who are listening now may want to learn
more or get involved.
If so, where should they startif they want to get involved or
learn more?
Phil?
Speaker 5 (42:02):
Yeah, phil, yeah, phil did mention.
You know organizations that arereally doing some remarkable
work, including, you know,helping children worldwide.
You know Faith to Action.
You know Better Care Network.
We have Casa Viva here.
(42:22):
We have Open Homes in Churri,we have Lumos.
We have All Without.
Speaker 3 (42:27):
Offense.
I mean, there are all theseorganizations that Phil did
mention earlier.
Speaker 5 (42:35):
And you know there are also national, small
national organizations.
I feel like you know they'renot mentioned, but I feel like
you know they do incredible workaround.
You know this particular issue.
I think when there is a will,there is a way, and I always
feel like you know, at times Iused to think, oh, there are no
organizations that are doing youknow family work when I was
(42:55):
starting.
But you know, I came to realizethat you know there are all
these small organizations thatyou know don't find their ways
into Facebooks and you knowwebsites, but doing amazing work
, so it's always trying to lookout.
You know, in country as well,who is doing what, the
organizations.
I mean there are coalitions insome countries, like the
(43:18):
Alternative Care AlternativeFamily Care Coalition in Kenya.
There is one in Tanzania.
So I feel like there are allthese initiatives at national
and regional level that one canreach out to, and I know BCN has
a repository of organizationsin different countries that are
(43:42):
involved in family care work, soI think it's worth looking at
their website.
So in the region, I know wehave regional alliances like
Family First for Children, andwe have Parental Care Alliance.
In Africa we also haveTransform Alliance Africa that
I'm a member of, but I don'tthink, yeah, I feel like, yeah,
(44:08):
there are enough organizationsthat one can look out for and
ask for content.
Back to you, david.
Speaker 4 (44:21):
Thank you, Stephen and Steve Phil.
Speaker 6 (44:25):
Yes.
So you know, stephen hasmentioned so many of these
organizations and you know thetwo that maybe he didn't mention
.
Christian Alliance for Orphansand an organization called World
Without Orphans are two moreorganizations that you can look
at.
You know Stephen's organization, hope and Homes.
(44:46):
My organization, casambiva.
Your organization, david,helping Children Worldwide.
There's so many places thatpeople can go to get connected,
to ask the right questions and,like Stephen said, there are
national movements.
We have Paraguay ProtectsFamilies.
We have Peru for the Children.
We have Identify Solutions inHonduras.
(45:08):
There are, you know, all kindsof small movements, big
movements that you can become apart of, get educated, ask the
questions and go there.
The place that I would probablystart would be the Faith to
(45:30):
Action website and where it saysget started, because they have
some beautiful information there.
So lots of opportunities.
The key thing is begin with aquestion.
Send an email to one of us.
I'm at info at CasaVivaorg.
You can get to me and I wouldbe happy to connect you with
people in other countries.
I know David, you, stephen,laura, also would be happy to
(45:53):
connect people to find the bestplace for them to engage in this
topic.
Speaker 4 (45:59):
Yes, indeed, we are always happy to connect and
provide the necessary answers.
Thank you very much.
You can also contact the SierraLeone Coalition for Family Care
.
It's an organization that isbased.
Four organizations cametogether to form this coalition
(46:20):
in Sierra Leone and they areworking hard to also make sure
they provide information,working with the government and
other stakeholders in transition.
So the Sierra Leone Coalitionfor Family-Based Care is also
here in Sierra Leone.
Thank you, stephen and thankyou, phil.
It's great to really let ourlisteners know that family care
is indeed becoming a bettersolution in different parts of
(46:44):
the world and we are trying ourbest to see how this will really
take shape.
Thank you for joining us forthis episode of Optimistic
Voices.
It's a big, big messy world outthere and there is no shortage
of need and there is no shortageof need, but we here at
(47:05):
Optimistic Voices believe thatwith radical courage and radical
collaboration together we canchange the world.
Thank you, guys.
Speaker 1 (47:17):
Please return for part two of the Rising Tides
Optimistic Voices episode hostedby David Titus Moussa.
Speaker 3 (47:32):
Thanks for listening.
If you enjoyed this episode,please subscribe, share it with
others, post about it on socialmedia or leave a rating and
review about it on social mediaor leave a rating and review To
catch all the latest from us.
You can find us at HelpingChildren Worldwide on Instagram,
linkedin, twitter and FacebookHashtag Optimistic Voices
(47:59):
Podcast.
Thank you.
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