Orphans into loving families in Vietnam

In our previous report, we mentioned that Care for Children staff from the UK, China and Thai teams were preparing to travel to Hanoi to launch the project. We are now excited to report that this has happened!  Two of the three families have arrived, are settling in well, and are doing all the necessary groundwork to start strong.

Over the last six months, we have been in weekly communication with the Department of Childcare and Protection in preparation to launch the project.  A key strategy of Care for Children’s is to work closely with both central and local government to ensure long-term systemic change and sustainability.  We are pleased to report that the Vietnamese government is looking exclusively at Care for Children to develop family-based care initiatives with over 400 Child Protection Centres (orphanages) in all 63 provinces!  It is an awesome opportunity in front of us, and we recognise the importance of starting well.

The Vietnamese government moved the enactment of their new child law (which provides legislative support for foster care for the first time), one month earlier than scheduled, from July 1^st to June 1^st to coincide with International Children’s Day.  This is indicative of their willingness and speed at which they want to move, which is very encouraging!

We are also encouraged to observe that Vietnam is very open to attracting professional expertise to boost economic and social reform.  This gives Care for Children a supportive and freeing environment within which to work directly with the Social Protection Centres and tailor our training materials to best suit the Vietnamese culture and context.  All pointers suggest we are starting this work at just the right time.

I hope you are as excited as we are in the wake of this new and exciting project with the Vietnamese government to ensure some of the world’s most vulnerable children can be lovingly cared for in local families! 

Once again thank you for your support and staying connected with our work.

We’re excited to announce that over the next few weeks, members from the UK and Thai teams will be travelling to Hanoi to set-up a project office, prior to the launch of this exciting project.  

The official launch of the project is not until July 1^st to coincide with new legislation that is coming into effect.  This new legislation - the result of the Vietnam government attending one of our previous family placement conferences in Thailand - formalizes foster care as a positive alternative to institutional care.  This is a monumental development, as, up until now, there has been no mention of foster care in national legislation.  

Although legislative foundations for family-based care are gradually being built in Vietnam, not enough is being done to practically equip those at the grassroots level to see these systemic changes take hold nationally.  This is where we come in.

From July, our team in Vietnam will start working with two social protection centres (orphanages).  We will introduce them to the concept of family placement, while we develop and test our training materials, prior to rolling out our programme nationwide!

We will let you know once there are any further developments.  Once again, thank you for your support and staying connected with our work.