Catholic Care for Children International (CCCI) is committed to bringing changes in the way religious take care of children who need care and protection. CCCI aims to foster the Catholic Care for Children Movement (CCC) led by women religious  to ensure children grow up in safe and loving families.

CCCI organized two series of webinars on Care Beyond Institutionalization (Part one and two) for religious over the world, in four languages; English, Spanish, Italian and French.

The first webinar was held on 29th November 2021; to support the participants to understand why we need to change from providing institutional care to family-based care for children who need care and protection. Ms. Sohani Fernando from Sri Lanka, Sr. Jean Quinn, (DW) from Ireland and Sr. Bibiana M Ngundo, (LSOSF) from Kenya shared their expertise based on the three pillars of the CCC movement:

• Catholic faith, especially the biblical mandates to care for those in need and Catholic social teaching which emphasize the dignity of each person, a preferential option for the poor, and the right of each person to participate fully in family and community
• Social sciences that are clear about the importance of nurturing family bonds for wholistic, healthy development across life span, and the risks associated with separation from family care, especially in institutional settings
• The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child that spells out the child’s right to a family, and the guidelines for alternative care of children who are separated from their families.    

The second part of the webinar was targeted to educate and inspire participants on the approaches to best practices towards transitioning residential care, held on 25th January 2022. Dr.  Janestic TWIKIRIZE from Uganda, Sr. Euphrasia Masika (DST) from Uganda, Sr. Delvin Mukhwana (DHM) from Kenya helped participants to understand what it is meant by continuum of care and care reform and how the sisters in Uganda and Kenya started care reform and what changes they brought in child care ministry of their countries.

455 participants had registered for both webinars from 53 countries, however 162 of them participated. After each webinar, an online evaluation form was sent to all participants to get their feedbacks.  It was amazing to know that both the webinars had contributed to inform, inspire, and motivate participants for care reform. Some of the comments received from participants were:

“I was impressed by the data on the negative effects of institutionalization beginning from 6months. I have the impression that Catholic involvement with institutionalization is still prevalent in some countries and am concerned about the conditions the children in those places experience”.

“It was a great encouragement to step into the care reform with much conviction”.

Click here to watch the recordings of both webinars