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HOME
OUR MISSION
OUR VALUES
OUR VISION AND STRATEGY
DISCOVER
LIFE AS A FAMILY
HOPE IN HONDURAS
DEFEND
PERMANENCY CENTERS
MODEL FAMILY
PREVENT ABANDONMENT
TRAINING AND OUTREACH
A PLACE TO CALL HOME
THE CHILDREN
PROMISE OF A NEW BEGINNING
LOVED BY A FAMILY
CONTACT LINKS

LIFE AS A FAMILY

 

Life as a Family

We are made to belong; we are made to belong in families.

Families provide the best home for children: best for their overall well-being, best for a promising future, best for enriching their town, country and world.

Yet, for millions of children, orphaned, abandoned or otherwise separated from their families, this is just a dream. A dream in sharp contrast to the nightmare of their reality.

Too many children languish without a family, often in large institutions.  Their case remains inactive, incomplete.  

So, they wait.  Wait for someone to defend their cause and plead their case to give them the family they so desperately need.

Thankfully, today, children no longer need to continually languish in institutions. A partnership between governments and the Orphan Institute has been established to significantly minimize the time a child spends outside of a loving family through the work of Permanency Centers. 

In various countries, such as Honduras, social workers, lawyers, and others concerned for the well-being of these children come alongside government agencies within a model of care emphasizing efficiency as well as effectiveness when determining the individual needs of each child. The lasting impact is a life forever changed by many who are unwilling to allow a child languish alone outside a loving family’s care.

Permanency Centers provide orphans with the ultimate solution – a family.
 

HOPE IN HONDURAS

Hope in Honduras

The Orphan Institute has been working in Honduras for the past four years, in partnership with the government department responsible for child welfare, the Honduran Institute for Children and Families (IHNFA).  The result of this partnership has been a Permanency Center, staffed by a Child Defender Team, which includes a lawyer, psychologist, social worker, accountant, driver, and director.  The Defender Team works closely with IHNFA to process the cases of children whose legal family status in unknown.  

Through the efficiency of working in a public-private partnership with IHNFA and a non-government organization, financed by groups and individuals passionate about finding families for orphans, we are able to inject resources, efficiencies, accountability, passion and expertise into these processes; while at the same time strengthening government capabilities and abilities in this vital space.  

The Permanency Center has worked well with IHNFA, building a relationship of trust and collaboration with its leadership and technical staff; this has led to a tangible and quantifiable impact upon the lives of orphaned and vulnerable children.  

Specifically, this partnership and model of the Permanency Center has:

Investigated more than 1375 cases of OVC in protection centers.
Generated more than 605 psychological and social evaluations, necessary to make Best Interest Determination (BID) for each child from 2008-2010. As the project continued to mature assuming increasing responsibilities from 2011-2012, 650 social evaluations were completed as well as an additional 352 psychological evaluations.
Enabled 170 children to be reunited with their families.
Qualified 16 foster families to care for orphans who would otherwise most likely be in larger institutions.
Identified more than 418 cases as possible permanent family candidates based on a comprehensive review and BID.
Helped process 50 cases for the IHNFA adoption department.
Subsidized necessary tests and documentation to expedite the declaration of abandonment for more than 80 children.  

This public-private partnership has been made possible by the important steps taken by each partner in their willingness to work in new and creative ways.  IHNFA leadership signed an agreement giving special authority to the Permanency Center.  The agreement gives our staff a unique opportunity to collaborate on a daily basis with IHNFA staff.  The Permanency Center has also provided a car that is available for use on cases assigned to the Defender Team.  Between October 2008 and December 2012, more than $330,000 has been invested in the Permanency Center’s work, which works out at only $240 per child. This number would go down further as increased efficiencies are generated by additional investments. We believe this is a low-cost way to make a substantial and permanent improvement to the life of a child.

The Orphan Institute has gained valuable insight and experience into the ability of a government system to process the cases of abandoned children.  We are using the experience and knowledge we have gained through this pilot program to establish a model of best practice that can be replicated in other countries for the benefits of orphans worldwide.
 

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