Helping Children Grow Up In Loving Families

Thank you so much for your commitment to supporting our project, “Helping Children Grow Up In Loving Families.” Your support has helped to make it possible for CIF to provide case management and other critical supports to 131 children and their families/caregivers in 2025. This was almost evenly split between foster care (where child is in care of non-related foster parents – 47%) and family preservation/kinship care cases (where child is in care of immediate or extended family members – 53%). 

We have shared in previous reports how a clearcut path to domestic adoption is relatively new in Cambodia. We also explained how CIF has been at the forefront of helping to develop national policies and procedures for domestic adoption. A domestic adoption legal framework achieves permanency for children who cannot be reunited with their biological families. It does this while protecting their rights and well-being. So, it was very exciting that among the 62 foster cases managed in 2025, twelve transitioned into post adoption monitoring! 

In all of these cases, the children had been with the same foster families for years. Their love and commitment have been well-demonstrated.  Now the children and their adoptive parents have the security and legal standing of being a real family. It is hard to convey all that this means for a child. There are significant ramifications in terms of their legal standing and place in the community. Even more significant, though, is the emotional security that comes with that legal transfer.

Sophat’s* Story (* name changed to maintain confidentiality)

Sophat is currently 9 1/2 years old. He is in the 4^th grade at the primary school located about 500 meters from home. He rides his bicycle to school every day and really enjoys being in school. Sophat was adopted in August 2025 after being in foster care provided by his adoptive parents for nearly eight years.  

Sophat had been abandoned by his birth mother when he was a year old. Government authorities attempted to locate her or other family members but were not successful. He was referred to CIF and placed into emergency foster care. Ongoing efforts to trace his family yielded no results. Three months later he was placed with his current family. 

“We were happy when CIF contacted us about placing Sophat into our family. We decided to foster him because we wanted to help a vulnerable child to have family like others, and we didn’t have any children of our own,” (Sophat’s adoptive mother).

CIF staff had coordinated with local authorities to recruit this foster family and provided training to prepare them for their role. After placing Sophat with them, staff continued to provide case management support in close collaboration with the village leader, CCWC, OSVY and DoSVY (local, district, and provincial authorities). CIF case workers provided regular visits and case management throughout his time in foster care and continued to train the family in a variety of topics including positive parenting, nutrition, hygiene, child rights and protection, etc. They listened to the family’s concerns and needs and helped them with finding solutions. 

Every year, children in CIF’s care are re-assessed through the Child Status Index, a tool which tracks child wellbeing in six domains. A screening tool is also used to track the child’s development and identify possible signs of developmental delay or disability. When Sophat was about six years old he was suspected of having a disability, He was referred for definitive diagnosis. A local hospital confirmed that Sophat had mild cerebral palsy and required intervention, including serial casting and bracing for his left foot. He was also enrolled into CIF’s ABLE services to receiving ongoing support related to his disability. This support includes coordination for specialized services, provision of home-based rehabilitation, and training the parents on stretching and proper use of the brace following the advice from his doctors. The serial casting and brace use achieved good results and Sophat is able to function well. 

“Raising (Sophat) was not easy. It required a lot of attention, patience, sacrifice and love. Sophat was often sick when he was young. We always took him to the health facilities as soon as possible. CIF staff always stayed by my side, supported me and comforted me. My husband and I were busier after taking in (Sophat). I quit my job in the market as a fish seller and spent most of my time caring for (Sophat). But we focused on home gardening and chicken raising to keep up our income. Before (Sophat) joined our family, it was too quiet. We felt lonely and hopeless. We were less motivated when we did not know for WHAT and for WHOM we were working. Things totally changed after he came to our family and our lives. We feel happy, hopeful and motivated. We acknowledge my husband and I are much busier with his presence, but we are so satisfied.” (Sophat’s adoptive mother)

When continued efforts to trace Sophat’s biological or extended family yielded no results, the DoSVY (provincial government) and CIF staff agreed that domestic adoption would be the best path to permanency for Sophat. A joint assessment by relevant stakeholders and CIF concluded that his foster family was qualified to adopt him. The application was submitted to the provincial court in July 2025 and approval granted the following month. 

“We were so happy when we first heard that we could adopt our little (Sophat). We really love him with all our hearts and we want him to be with us forever and legally. Now, he is our son legally. We have already used the verdict to process a birth certificate for (Sophat) and register him in our family book.  (Sophat’s adoptive mother)

Even when children have been in a stable foster family for most of their lives, the move toward full legal adoption is incredibly significant to them.  CIF is so proud to be a part of making this happen for children in our care and we continue to work toward having every child safe in a forever family. 

“I love my parents so much. They love me, protect me and support me. I want to study hard and be a good child. In 2025, I achieved top 5 at my school. I love my teacher, she is nice. I love my friends, we go to school together and enjoy playing together.” (Sophat) 

So, thanks again for being a part of making this a reality for Sophat and for others like him. We couldn’t do it without the generous support of partners like you and we can’t say enough how much your support means to us and to the children and families we serve.