CREATING, SUPPORTING AND DEVELOPING FAMILY TYPE HOMES
This was the first Hope and Homes for Children project in Ukraine. It started in 1998 and since that time the HHC Ukraine team has worked to support the establishment or development of 65 Family Type Homes throughout the country. Over 700 children benefit from this important alternative to institutional care.
Project goal
To make it possible for children, who, for various reasons could not live or not able to live in their biological families, to grow up in the love and security of another family.
A Family Type Home (FTH) has a married couple or single parent with children of their own, who provide a family home for 5 or more other children who are separated from the care of their own parents (the number of children in the family should not exceed 10 including the biological children of the couple/single person). The children who join the family usually remain with the family throughout their childhood and can be supported through higher education. FTH parents are known as parents-educators in Ukrainian legislation.
Family Type Homes differ from foster families because they take five or more children whereas foster families take up to 4 children.
The children who are placed in a family type home may be either orphans or, more often, separation from their biological family has occurred for reasons associated with poverty, illness or disability.
To promote the development and expansion of family based care HHC Ukraine has engaged in a wide range of activity including
developing mechanism for recruiting potential foster parents or parent educators
training potential foster parents and parent educators for their special task of providing a secure, safe and loving environment
creating new FTHs in cooperation with the local authority, including purchase of some houses in the provision of household equipment
monitoring the development and wellbeing of children in FTHs and working with local authority social workers to support the continuing development of the children
publication of a series of guidance manuals and production of short films to raise awareness about the importance of family based care
raising awareness through a photographic exhibition ‘In Search of a Lost Past’.
The exhibition was shown in 20 oblasts of Ukraine and at the Museum of Red Cross in Geneva. Well-known photographer Oleksandr Gliadielov used 58 powerful images to highlight the life of street children, children in institutions and in Family Type Homes.
Future Plans for HHC Ukraine
contribute to the transformation of child care services and the development of future childcare legislation
maintain support for FTH and promote all forms of family and community based care
assist state authorities in establishing a system of social guidance through providing training courses for social workers.
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