Vision and Strategy

To avoid these harmful effects, the Orphan Institute’s primary objective is to find permanent families for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) living without parental care.  Our strategy, implement social service based projects with a state’s child welfare office in a public-private partnership that brings the assessment tools, referral system, staff and resources needed to build and maintain the organizational capacity to move OVC into permanent parental care. 

The vast majority of OVC have never had a social worker or other trained professional conduct an assessment to determine what is in their best interest for the future.  Each child’s needs are unique and finding the right solution for them is often a complex process.  However, in many cases institutionalized children who have been abandoned simply lack an independent investigation of their situation and the proper identification documents in order to make a "best interest determination" (BID).  

Making a BID for OVC in crisis is a difficult process, but it is a critical area of focus to achieve the best possible overall outcomes for children.  Unlike many OVC- focused initiatives that emphasize nutrition, housing, healthcare and education that eventually need to be repeated, a program prioritizing a child’s need and right to a family, and the tools and the transparent process to get them there, provides a permanent solution.  A family can then provide all their basic needs, but a family does much more than that and provides what no institution can, it provides a home.