The Directorate of Children Services in Nakuru has embarked on a programme to relocate more than 2816 orphaned and vulnerable children (OVCs) from more than 81 Charitable Children institutions (CCIs): children’s homes and orphanages spread in 9 Sub-Counties.
In this program hinged on the implementation of the 10-year National Care Reform Strategy (2022-2032), the targeted Children will be integrated with their families and communities.
The deadline set for the full implementation of the program for State Removal of Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVC) from Charitable Children’s Institutions (CCIs) and their subsequent integration to families and the community is before the 2032.
The County Children’s Coordinator, Pilot Khaemba, underscored the government’s commitment to ensure that all children who transit to their new settings will get all the required social benefits and privileges.
He affirmed that the reform strategy is a fundamental step in Kenya fulfilling her commitment to international conventions, especially the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of Children, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children among others.
Khaemba elaborated that by shifting towards family-based care for vulnerable children, the reforms were placing the children’s best interests at the forefront.
Speaking during the official launch of the Nakuru County Children Advisory and Care Reform Committee, Khaemba indicated that about 50 percent of the homes in Nakuru are concentrated in Gilgil and Naivasha sub-counties which host 20 and 19 CCIs respectively, with Nakuru-East coming third with 11, while Rongai and Molo have 9 each.
Other CCIs in the devolved unit’s Sub-Counties are located in Nakuru West (7) and Nakuru North (2)
Subukia and Njoro Sub-Counties have one each while Kuresoi North and Kuresoi South host none.
All the CCIs host 2,971 OVC with males totaling for 1567, while the number of females currently stands at 1404.
He emphasized the importance of the County Children Advisory and Care Reform Committee in developing county specific implementation plans, mobilizing local resources, sustaining advocacy for family-based care of children, monitoring compliance within and reporting to the Office of the Secretary for Children Services and other partners.
“Chapter 141 Laws of Kenya, Section 54 (2-3), provides for establishment and operationalization of County Children Advisory Committees composed of state and non-state actors in Children Services space. In addition, the Care Reform Strategy establishes a county level committee for the purpose of advising on implementation of the strategy for child care,” the coordinator explained.
He affirmed that the strategy had been designed to strengthen family ties, promote community development and reduce the burden on institutional care.
Mr Khaemba clarified that no CCI was targeted for closure and instead the residential care shall be transitioned to family care with the resources that are supporting each individual being redirected in a systematic manner to support the child while within the family or community setting.
According to Khaemba, once the transition is complete, donors and CCI’s are expected to redirect funds to welfare programmes that seek to support children from within their families and communities.
Mr Khaemba indicated that the transition has been split into three phases, namely, learning and decision-making, preparing the CCIs for the transition and implementing the transition.
“To holistically, systematically and sustainably transition 2816 children to either biological families or alternative family options or supported independent living, it will cost about Sh86,071,000.00. In addition, it will cost about Kshs 36,613,500.00 to carry out other care reform activities that are outside the case management process plan, according to the county roadmap,” the official revealed.
UK based Lumos foundation is providing technical guidance, support, and training to facilitate the transition of children in Nakuru from institutional care to family-based care with a focus on prevention of separation, family strengthening, and alternative care options.
The foundation whose approach incorporates elements such as policy and legislation, workforce development and community participation to ensure the strategy’s effective implementation also aims to ensure that all children live in safe and supportive family and community settings.
It also focuses on preventing separation of children from their families by addressing poverty and lack of access to basic services, and by strengthening family-based care options like kinship care, foster care, and adoption.
Mr Khaemba said Board members of Charitable Children Institutions (CCIs) in Nakuru are being trained on how to embrace and implement the government’s directive on transitioning to child welfare programmes.
Phase one of the transition from CCI to family and community-based care, Mr Khaemba noted, focuses on aligning the CCI leaders to fully comprehend the rationale and benefits behind transitioning their model of care from institutional care to family- and community-based care.
“In phase two, the leaders of CCIs are required t
o develop strategies, plans, activities, and budgets to ensure a smooth and successful transition towards family and community-based care services,” he highlighted.
He remarked that by 2030, the CCIs will move to support the children while in family and community-based care. Mr Khaemba said the Ministry envisions a future where the CCIs will play a key role in supporting vulnerable children while in family and community-based care.
“In the training, we are bringing on board all stakeholders in the children’s sector, and we anticipate the complex transition from CCIs to child welfare programmes will be successfully done. The Children Act 2022, directs all children hosted by CCIs to be integrated and brought up in family-based care,” stated Mr Khaemba.
The official added “As we focus on transition, we also urge the financiers and supporters of CCIs to now have a different structure of supporting these children while at family and community-based system care.”
“The amount of money spent on a child in a CCI per month is sufficient to meet the monthly needs of a family of four,” said the official.
Mr Khaemba termed poverty, gender-based violence, and marriage breakage as some of the major factors which cause children to escape from their homes and live in the streets, thus finding themselves at children’s homes.
The care reform strategy which is being spearheaded by the National Council for Children’s Services (NCCS) emanates from the belief that all children belong to a family backed by overwhelming scientific evidence that children under institutional care suffer severe and sometimes irreversible developmental setbacks as opposed to those raised in families and communities.
“This approach can ultimately lead to a more sustainable and effective system of care and protection for vulnerable children and families,” he added.
According to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other studies done globally, at least eight out of ten of these children have biological and extended families and, with appropriate support, their families could look after them.
By Jane Ngugi
