Community-based care serves as a "bridge" between
orphanage
An orphanage is a Residential education, residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the Childcare, care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parent ...
and
settlement house
The settlement movement was a reformist social movement that began in the 1880s and peaked around the 1920s in United Kingdom and the United States. Its goal was to bring the rich and the poor of society together in both physical proximity and s ...
. Adolescents are placed in a family in their community. The guardians will provide individual care and nurture in the context of a family and community. This teaches adolescents more independence.
Community-based care programs may be described as having a strong ‘prevention’ component, in that they seek to strengthen community coping capacities in order to avoid the adolescent becoming dependent on adults.
Community-based care is an agency privatizing the Department of Children and Families function of providing care and services to children who have been abused, neglected or abandoned. The service this agency provides is supporting children and families in the child welfare system.
Reasons for community-based care
# Adolescents must learn to become self-reliant and self-directing. They need to continue to rely on their peers as the guardians provide guidance.
# It is important for adolescents to develop an identity as this will help them decide what they will do in the future.
# It is vital for guardians to make sure that adolescents learn to get along with their peers. If they do not,
peer pressure
Peer pressure is the direct or indirect influence on peers, i.e., members of social groups with similar interests, experiences, or social statuses. Members of a peer group are more likely to influence a person's beliefs, values, and behavior. A g ...
may arise.
Advantages
The main advantages of community-based care are as follows:
Cost-effectiveness: community-based care for orphans is a more cost-effective approach to orphan care because the emphasis is not on providing resources from outside, but rather identifying the existing resources in a community and building on those.
Community participation: There is an extremely high degree of community participation in community-based care programs because the onus is on communities to care for their own orphans. Extended families will frequently take sole responsibility for many orphans, using their own resources to provide accommodation, food, clothing, education and nurture. Neighbors and local organizations such as churches often make a tangible contribution by helping out struggling families with adolescent minding, advice and other contributions.
Connectedness: Community-based care allows adolescents to connect with others in their community.
Examples
Africa:
The FOCUS program run by Family AIDS Caring Trust in Zimbabwe has mobilized community volunteers to visit and encourage more than 4000 orphans.
THOKOMALA Orphan Care Organization in South Africa places six adolescents with a house mother in their community of origin re-creating family life for these adolescents. Everything is funded entirely through donations: https://web.archive.org/web/20120312190626/http://www.thokomala.org.za/
Bethany Children's Trust http://www.bethanychildrenstrust.fsnet.co.uk/index.htm has community-based care projects for orphans in Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Mozambique reaching thousands of orphans.
The Global Interfaith Partnership http://www.globalinterfaithpartnership.com provides multiple services for orphans and vulnerable children in western Kenya which insure food security, safe housing, uninterrupted education, and healthy psychosocial development.
Asia: Project HALO http://www.urbanhalo.org (Hope, Assistance and Love for Orphans) run by Servants to Asia's Urban Poor http://www.servantsasia.org in Cambodia has mobilized the community to care for more than 1000 orphans.
See also
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Orphanage
An orphanage is a Residential education, residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the Childcare, care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parent ...
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Residential Child Care Community Residential child care communities or children's homes are a type of residential care, which refers to long-term care given to children who cannot stay in their birth family home. There are two different approaches towards residential care: The fam ...
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Group homes
A group home, congregate living facility, or care home (the latter especially in British English and Australian English) is a residence model of medical care for those with complex health needs. Traditionally, the model has been used for children ...
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Congregate Care
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Cottage Homes
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Family support Family support is the support of families with a member with a disability, which may include a child, an adult, or even the parent in the family. In the United States, family support includes "unpaid" or "informal" support by neighbors, families, an ...
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Foster Care
Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home (residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family mem ...
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Foster Care in the United States
Foster care is the term used for a system in which a minor who has been made a ward is placed in an institution, group home (residential child care community, residential treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state certified caregiver (re ...
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Residential treatment center
A residential treatment center (RTC), sometimes called a rehab, is a live-in health care facility providing therapy for substance use disorders, mental illness, or other behavioral problems. Residential treatment may be considered the "last-ditch ...
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Residential Care
Residential care refers to long-term care given to adults or children who stay in a residential setting rather than in their own home or family home.
There are various residential care options available, depending on the needs of the individual. P ...
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Teaching-family model
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Child and family services
Child and family services is a government or non-profit organisation designed to better the well being of individuals who come from unfortunate situations, ''environmental'' or ''biological''. People who seek or are sought after to participate i ...
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Kinship Care
Kinship care is a term used in the United States and Great Britain for the raising of children by grandparents, other extended family members, and unrelated adults with whom they have a close family-like relationship such as godparents and close f ...
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Child and youth care
Child and Youth Care (CYC) is a profession which focuses on the developmental needs of children and families within the space and time of their daily lives.Adapted from Stuart, C. (2013). Foundations of child and youth care. Dubuque: Kendall Hunt. ...
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Child abuse
Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to a ...
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Child abandonment
Child abandonment is the practice of relinquishing interests and claims over one's offspring in an illegal way, with the intent of never resuming or reasserting guardianship. The phrase is typically used to describe the physical abandonment of a ...
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Wraparound (childcare)
The wraparound process is an intensive, individualized care management process for youths with serious or complex needs. Wraparound was initially developed in the 1980s as a means for maintaining youth with the most serious emotional and behaviora ...
Foster care