How to Really Help Children Abroad

Casa Viva is an organization in Latin America that prioritizes family reunification over adoption. They have placed about 640 children with foster families, “60 percent of those went back to their biological family or another relative. About 35 percent were adopted.” In contrast to foster homes, orphanages have become thriving business which recruit western volunteers and charge them large fees. Casa Viva opposes this model because most kids have parents who are alive, but can’t afford to raise them.

Voluntourism, or the practice of western volunteers paying to do service in developing countries, seems like a moral, do-good activity. However, the practice has been proven to have consequences, including reducing the need for local labor and stunting development of children in orphanages. There has recently been progress in discouraging volunteers from working in orphanages - the volunteer efforts in institutions never benefit the children - but true progress might involve staying at home.

Hope Harbor, an emergency and transitional shelter in Grand Island, Nebraska, is renovating its facilities to include a playground for the shelter’s children. Funded by various grants, the new addition will provide children experiencing housing insecurity with an outlet to be creative and play during a time that can often be traumatic.

A soccer camp has given refugee children in the Washington region a home away from home. L.A.C.E.S. — Life And Change Experienced thru Sports — shares the fun of the sport and aims to build young people’s confidence and sense of community.

More than 50 percent of children from economically-disadvantaged families have at least one parent who works non-traditional schedule, which consists of hours outside of the 9am to 5pm. However, subsidized child care often does not apply to the few childcare facilities that do cater to families with nontraditional schedules. Over-regulation of child care, which makes it illegal for parents to leave children for more than 12 hours, also forces parents into unregulated options which don't qualify for federal subsidies. Expanding access to after-hours childcare is key to upward mobility.

When the coronavirus pandemic shut down school buildings and led to many people working from home in New York City, a city child care program was launched to give children a place to go while they were learning from home. However, the program failed to accommodate children with disabilities who required the assistance of a paraprofessional. After realizing the gap in care, the city is now working to increase access.

80 percent of overnight camps across the country have shuttered down due to pandemic. Camps that reopened had to change how they operate, by using a range of practices from apps to field guides, some have been able to safely reopen.

Though Ohio has traditionally relied on volunteers to be guardians to elder folks who don't have support of family or loved ones, the court system looks to partnerships with external organizations to give at-risk seniors the support they need. The state has a long way to go, but the collective action between government entities, private ventures and nonprofit organizations is closing the gap for seniors without solid guardianship.

New York City's child welfare agency is trying once again to combat its "reputation for unjustly targeting low-income families of color" by piloting child care centers that are set up to help families feel respected and prepared to succeed. Although the impact of these programs is not yet clear, the approach is informed by past failures to deal with the systemic oppression that the agency has perpetuated.

Students who have experienced trauma, most common in high-poverty areas, are more likely to benefit from counseling and support rather than punishment. However, most large U.S. school districts with high poverty rates and a majority Black and Latino residents hire more school police officers than counselors. This exacerbates rather than resolves discipline issues and creates lifelong repercussions for students.