AFRiCA
Botswana 🇧🇼
Organisation: UNICEF Botswana and the UK government.
🟦 Background: UNICEF asked FCDO to provide a speaker as Botswana was looking towards how family care can be promoted in its country.
🟨 Their goal: To promote family care and how it can be provided in an integrated child protection and safeguarding system.
🟩 Main Services: Advocacy and Awareness about family care.
🟦 Summary of SFAC work: Presentation on family care to around 100 people from the government and NGO’s interested in this work.
🟩 Outcome: Presentation completed
🗝️ Impact: Botswana is discussing long-term care reforms.
📅 Years Active: 2023
Egypt 🇪🇬
Organisation: Life Vision
🟦 Background: The majority of children in Egypt requiring alternative care are placed in children’s homes. Life Vision aimed to change this by providing an alternative.
🟨 Their goal: To create a guardianship system of care.
🟩 Main Services:
- Consultancy and Training online on the guardianship system (long-term foster care)
- Consultancy and training on case management systems for foster care.
🟦 Summary of SFAC work: SFAC provided online workshops to two members of staff to create the framework for recruiting, assessing and monitoring carers as well as the case management systems that could be used to care and protect the children and carers.
🟩 Outcome: Life Vision have a guardianship programme in action.
🗝️ Impact: Children in Egypt now have a family care option for long-term care rather than a life in a children’s home/orphanage.
‘SFAC played a significant role in helping us establish our case management system. Their support was invaluable in building our team’s confidence, particularly in executing case management for vulnerable groups like orphans. One of the most impactful takeaways was developing our forms system, which was shaped by SFAC’s training and insights—especially understanding the purpose behind each question. Today, we continue to use these forms (adapted to our context but retaining SFAC’s core framework) in our work at Life Vision for Development which helps us assess carers and care for children. I truly appreciate SFAC’s ongoing support and your thoughtfulness in staying connected’
📅 Years Active: 2023
Eswatini 🇸🇿
Organisation: Bulembu Ministries
🟦 Background: Bulembu have over 300 children in their children’s home village, but are keen on reducing this and supporting children to remain with families in their communities.
🟨 Their goal: To be supported in their work to review children’s placements and ensure as many children as possible can safely return to family care.
🟩 Main Services:
- Training and Consultancy on case management for family reunification (returning children to parents)
- Therapeutic Care Training (Protective Behaviours)
- Review of their case management system.
🟦 Summary of SFAC work:
SFAC provided online workshops to 8 of their staff and protective behaviours training to 4 of those staff.
The workshops were on how to safely assess families under the ‘know the child, know the family, know the community’ SFAC model. SFAC also reviewed the case management systems Bulembu have and recommended changes and amendments to improve practice. Bulembu also completed the protective behaviours programme to better help manage, understand and support young people and families during the transition from children’s home to family.
🟩 Outcome:
Bulembu is now in the process of returning children to families in their community and reviewing their future services. They are implementing protective behaviours into their preparation work with children and families prior to moves and improving their case management systems.
🗝️ Impact:
SFAC’s work has helped them create their framework to ensure safe returns, with it already identifying that the risks were too high in one such case. They are currently redesigning their case management systems and ensuring more preparation is provided to children and families moving from the children’s home to family.
📅 Years Active: 2024 onwards
Ghana 🇬🇭
Organisation: Bethany Ghana
🟦 Background: Bethany Ghana had created a foster care programme but could not place children in the programme as the judiciary were not placing children there, as unsure why it was better than children’s homes. Bethany Ghana closed in 2025 due to the loss of their main donor.
🟨 Their goal: To place children in their foster care programme.
🟩 Main Services: Advocacy and Awareness, Legal Sector
🟦 Summary of SFAC work: SFAC provided a series of workshops to judicial agencies in Ghana on family care and why family care is preferable to children’s homes, introduced the continuum of services model and impact of care model, and looked at best interest decision making in court proceedings. The workshops included 34 judges and lawyers.
🟩 Outcome: Workshops presented.
🗝️ Impact:
Bethany Ghana were able to place children in foster care a year later as the judiciary recognised foster care as a legitimate option.
📅 Years Active: 2019
Kenya 🇰🇪
Organisation: Kenya Children’s Transformation Programme (now Safe International)
🟦 Background: KCP provided a children’s home and had built a children’s village for over 100 children but identified that this was not the best model and wanted to redesign towards family care services. Safe International is the new name given to the UK side of the organisation.
🟨 Their goal: To transition from a children’s home organisation to one providing foster care and community services.
🟩 Main Services: Advocacy and Awareness, Legal Sector
🟦 Summary of SFAC work:
- SFAC provided consultancy using our continuum of services model to help KCP look at what future options they had if they changed from a children’s home model to community services and family care programmes.
- SFAC also helped review their pilot one-family foster care programme with case advice.
- SFAC now provides ongoing advice to KCP’s work with other children’s home providers considering changing to deliver family care or community services.
- SFAC has provided consultancy to 2 staff and ongoing advice to its team of 3 working on supporting other organisations’ change practice.
🟩 Outcome: KCP and Safe International have worked to provide an alternate programme of community services and pilot a very small foster care service. SFAC provides ongoing advice that assists KCP and Safe International in developing their transitioning support services.
🗝️ Impact:
KCP is in the process of developing various community programmes, some of which are based directly on the consultancy with SFAC, whilst others derive from our continuum of services model. SFAC also provided support to KCP to keep one child with their foster carer and advised on how KCP could lobby the government for this outcome.
‘SFAC has had a significant and lasting impact on KCP and Safe International. Their practical and relational approach made complex processes achievable and the services we developed with their input remain core to our work today. They gave us the structure and the start as we continue to add. Whilst not always the loudest voice in the sector, SFAC’s influence is deep and meaningful, something we’re truly grateful for as their wisdom and experience guiding us to good practice.’
–Kelly Strong
📅 Years Active: 2022 onwards
Organisation: Shelter Yetu
🟦 Background: Shelter Yetu provides a short-term children’s home programme for children who have been living on the streets. They wanted to review their standards of care and improve these, whilst considering developing alternative foster care services if appropriate in the future.
🟨 Their goal: To improve the quality of care in their children’s home.
🟩 Main Services:
- Review on standards of practice.
- Consultancy work on case management services
- Training on case management (care planning and reunification)
🟦 Summary of SFAC work:
SFAC completed a review of their standards of practice, including a desk review of case management systems and policies, an in person review and interview of staff, children and families. This led to a number of recommendations and further training and consultancy advice provided to support Shelter Yetu to improve standards of care.
The training was provided to 11 Shelter Yetu staff.
🟩 Outcome: Shelter Yetu are in the process of redeveloping their case management system, have implemented a key-worker scheme improving the ratio of staff to children, and other changes are due.
🗝️ Impact: Long-term, the standards of care will improve. In the short term, there is a greater opportunity to provide children with one-on-one and individualised care.
📅 Years Active: 2024 onwards.
Organisation: The Salvation Army Kenya
🟦 Background: The Salvation Army Kenya East was aware of government policy changes and therefore needed to consider their children’s home services.
🟨 Their goal: To reflect on their services for children and consider how they can develop their future care of children.
🟩 Main Services:
- Advocacy and awareness about children’s homes and alternative care.
- Consultancy on their children’s homes and alternative options.
🟩 Outcome: SFAC completed the workshops and consultation on their future options, which has been presented for consideration.
🗝️ Impact:
📅 Years Active: 2023 onwards
Organisation: Weza Care Solutions
🟦 Background: Weza is developing a case management app for its partner orgs to support their case work with children and families.
🟨 Their goal: To develop a case management mobile application.
🟩 Main Services: Consultancy on case management (care planning and assessment)
🟩 Outcome: SFAC has provided advice on best practice in case management systems.
🗝️ Impact: The app has been designed around SFAC advice in terms of assessment processes.
📅 Years Active: 2023 onwards
Lesotho 🇱🇸
Organisation: Sepheo
🟦 Background: Sepheo developed a programme for children living on the streets to access schooling and be supported to return into parental or extended family care.
🟨 Their goal: To be supported in their work with children living on the streets and being supported back to their families.
🟩 Main Services:
- Therapeutic Care workshops (Protective Behaviours)
- Case Consultancy.
🟦 Summary of SFAC work: SFAC began by providing various PBs and case consultancies at the beginning of Sepheo’s work in 2018; following this, a further workshop to a more expanded group of professionals took place online in 2021 and online case consultations have continued since. SFAC has delivered training to around 28 staff.
🟩 Outcome: Therapeutic care and case consultancies have supported staff to understand and manage children’s emotional needs and build their support services around the children.
🗝️ Impact: Improved care for the children Sepheo works with and a more skilled workforce.
📅 Years Active: 2018 onwards.
Organisation: Trust for Africa
🟦 Background: Trust for Africa were moving into work in Lesotho to support organisations move from children’s homes to family care services.
🟨 Their goal: To understand how people feel when changing their services, and how to best support children moving from children’s homes to family care.
🟩 Main Services: Protective Behaviours Training
🟩 Outcome: Staff completed the training and were more equipped to support organisations and children. The protective behaviours workshops were delivered to 8 staff.
🗝️ Impact:
‘My team and I took the Protective Behaviours course with Caitlin Lance Hope in 2021. It’s hard to quantify how useful it has been because it created a paradigm shift. The PBs principles and framework now serve as a mental filter. I run situations, conversations, and scenarios through the themes and strategies, sometimes without even realizing that I’m doing it. PB’s are not “one more thing to do,” it’s a paradigm shift with practical tools that actually make a difference in helping children feel safe and empowered.’
📅 Years Active: 2021.
Morocco 🇲🇦
Organisation: Fape and Morocco Children’s Trust
🟦 Background: The Morocco Children’s Trust International UK charity wanted to support Fape (a Moroccan NGO) to create the first foster care programme in their region. At that point, children in alternative care were in children’s homes. Fape had no children’s homes, but were working with a number of vulnerable children in need of alternative care. There was no formal legislation for foster care or children’s protection.
🟨 Their goal: To create the first foster care programme in Morocco.
🟩 Main Services:
- UK exchange Visit
- Foster Care Training and Consultancy
- Therapeutic Care (Protective Behaviours)
- Case Consultancy
🟦 Summary of SFAC work: SFAC provided Fape with workshops on how to provide foster care and develop an effective case management structure.
SFAC also supported Fape with therapeutic care to help carers manage children’s needs and their own feelings, thoughts and emotions. This training was provided to both staff and foster carers to help Fape learn how to develop it themselves.
🟩 Outcome: Fape has created a foster care programme providing support to over 10 children in the last three years.
🗝️ Impact: Foster care is now possible in the area and the government are taking a keen interest in scaling this nationally.
Sierra Leone 🇸🇱
Organisation: Helping Children Worldwide and Child Reintegration Centre
🟦 Background:
CRC (the Sierra Leone organisation) formally had a large orphanage funded by HCW (the USA organisation). However, the director of the orphanage, a former child resident, reviewed if this form of care was appropriate. Together, they decided to close the orphanage after research confirmed that children’s development is best served in families.
Their observations of the children’s emotional and behavioural responses to a settled staff team, no visitors and greater 1:1 keyworker attention during the Ebola lockdowns confirmed their view. CRC, therefore, closed its orphanage and moved towards community services and a desire to establish a foster care service and community-based family support services.
🟨 Their goal: To create a foster care programme in Sierra Leone and create family support services.
🟩 Main Services:
- Foster Care Training and Consultancy
- Consultancy on the continuum of services
- Training and mentoring in Protective behaviours
🟦 Summary of SFAC work:
SFAC provided training on foster care, explaining what it is and what is needed to deliver it safely and successfully. Following this workshop, practising how was created before moving into consultancy, creating the case management systems, programmes and structures needed to deliver the programme.
In addition, work was completed on how CRC could deliver an effective family support service using their resources, skills, experience and knowledge of community needs.
Finally, the staff have also begun training in Protective Behaviours to assist the community and foster care service delivery.
🟩 Outcome: CRC is currently developing the framework and structures to deliver a foster care service and reviewing their family support services to create a sustainable service.
🗝️ Impact: CRC will be able to deliver foster care and fulfill their transition from children’s homes to family care.
‘SFAC has helped us understand what foster care is, how relevant it is with our culture, different ways we can provide it that align with our context – rural and remote, city and connected. We know now how important it is children and carers feel safe as well as be safe through the protective behaviours programme and gradually we are putting together the pillars of the programme for foster care to be something we formally provide and do well.’
–George, CRC Care Manager
📅 Years Active: 2022 onwards
Organisation: Princess Promise
🟦 Background: Princess Promise currently run a small children’s home for under 5’s with a goal of returning children to biological family (reunification or kinship care). However, they want to explore developing a foster care programme as an alternative.
🟨 Their goal: To create a foster care service.
🟩 Main Services: Foster care training
🟦 Summary of SFAC work: SFAC has provided workshops and consultancy to Princess Promise to understand what a foster care project looks like and how to deliver a safe and effective programme.
🟩 Outcome: Positive feedback on the value of the training and Princess Promise are currently working on their processes for foster care.
🗝️ Impact: Princess Promise is reviewing and developing a framework for foster care.
Read more of our work in Sierra Leone.
South Africa 🇿🇦
Organisation: The Salvation Army South Africa
🟨 Their goal: To complete a review of the standards of practice in children’s homes in South Africa.
🟩 Main Services: Review of standards of practice.
🟩 Outcome: Recommendations made to improve standards, strengths to work on, areas to improve and reflections on the future use of such facilities.
🗝️ Impact: Immediate changes were made as a result and further discussions are being held in terms of the long-term future of the children’s home provision in the territory.
‘The review helped us realise some safeguarding risks and take immediate actions to rectify including fire safety, electrical safety but also changing the sleeping arrangements. This latter change made a huge difference in the welfare of our children-the review was very practical in its recommendations and had an immediate impact.’
📅 Years Active: 2017-18
Uganda 🇺🇬
Organisation: Retrak
🟦 Background: Retrak was providing care and protection to young people who had been living on the streets through shelters and a reunification programme. However, some children could not safely go home. Retrak wanted to avoid these young people ending up in a children’s home setting, which would likely lead to further drug and alcohol problems.
🟨 Their goal: To create the first foster care programme in Uganda for children (teenage years) living on the streets.
🟩 Main Services: Foster care training and Consultancy
🟦 Summary of SFAC work: SFAC provided training and consultancy services to Retrak over five years to establish a foster care programme.
🟩 Outcome: Retrak created and provided foster care for young people for over 10 years before the organisation closed and amalgamated with another organisation and changed their focus of work.
🗝️ Impact: For several years, Retrak created a foster care programme for young people from the streets, preventing them from living in children’s homes. It was seen as a leading example in Uganda and globally,
📅 Years Active: 2007-2016
Organisation: Calm Africa
🟦 Background: CALM AFRICA was a small NGO in Uganda, north of Kampala and in the south of the country. It sought to promote children’s rights, with one key aim being the promotion of family care. They wanted to pioneer foster care in Uganda.
🟨 Their goal: To develop a foster care service.
🟩 Main Services:
- Awareness and Advocacy
- Training and Consultancy on Foster Care and Child-Headed Households.
🟦 Summary of SFAC work: SFAC provided a number of workshops and online consultations over many years to support CALM develop two programmes: one a foster care service and two a adapted programme from foster care but instead of children moving into another person’s home the children would remain in their house where it was assessed to be safe (for example a mature 14 year old was living there) and assessed and monitored adults would visit them regularly to assist. This enabled the children to retain their home and land.
🟩 Outcome: SFAC developed two progammes that showcased foster care was possible in areas of high poverty, within a small organisation and with child-headed households.
🗝️ Impact: CALM provided care to a number of children and prevented others from losing their home and land. Over time one of the staff, Joseph Luganda, became a leading advocate for foster care in the country. The foster care programme became an example used by the Ugandan government, and CALM were advisors to the ministry of gender on foster care. Joseph is now one of SFAC’s staff!
📅 Years Active: 2011-2020.
Organisation: Child’s i Foundation
🟦 Background: Child’s i had created a foster care for under 5’s, but their UK-based trustee questioned the model and contacted SFAC for support. SFAC completed workshops and training over five years and during that time, Child’s i changed focus to family care before becoming the training and advocacy organisation they now are as they questioned their model and approach.
🟨 Their goal: To move from a children’s home to family care.
🟩 Main Services:
- Awareness and Advocacy
- Training and Consultancy on foster care and domestic adoption.
🟦 Summary of SFAC work: SFAC provided several workshops and online consultations over many years to support Child’s i. Initially, the work centred on moving the model and we trained them in a small-scale foster care service using their residential carers to become the first foster carers. Child’s i also adapted the panel system of assessing, reviewing and determining suitability of foster carers into domestic adoption with the creation of the adoption panels and SFAC provided training in best practice for adoption and foster care assessments.
🟩 Outcome: Workshops delivered and over time, Child’s i model changed and adapted to becoming a leading advocate for family care in Uganda and the region.
🗝️ Impact: Child’s i is now a leading advocate for family care and no longer provides a children’s home. It now provides and promotes the use of foster care, adoption and other community services to prevent children living in children’s homes, including a large scale project in Tororo with Hope and Homes and further projects planned with other organisations.
📅 Years Active: 2010-2015