The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
BHUBANESWAR, JULY 7, 2021
Country’s largest childcare NGO SOS Children’s Villages of India (SOSCVI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with District Child Protection Unit, Sundargarh for designing and implementing Kinship Care Programme for 50 children, who have lost parental care due to COVID-19, in and around the district.
As a technical partner, SOSCVI will help the District Child Protection Unit of Sundargarh in designing the Kinship Care Programme. And, as an implementing agency, the NGO will impart the caregivers (foster parents from extended biological families or the next of kin) with parenting and child safeguarding skills necessary for them to provide quality care while upholding rights of the children.
SOS Children’s Villages of India’s Kinship Care Progarmme facilitates long term care to children till they become self-reliant.
The MoU was signed by Sundargarh Collector Nikhil Pawan Kalyan in presence of Sribanta Jena, Child Protection Officer, Sundargarh and Pravati Dei, Assistant Village Director-Incharge SOS Children’s Village-Rourkela.
Upon the successful completion of the programme in Sundargarh District, this partnership with SOSCVI will be extended to take up similar programmes in other districts.
“We are highly pleased with the tremendous work of SOS Children’s Village Rourkela. Having a partner with a lot of expertise gives us the confidence that the Sundargarh Kinship Care Programme will meet all criteria of success. We are committed to continuing our association with SOSCVI to fulfill the rights of children in the State,” said District Magistrate Nikhil Pawan Kalyan.
As per the agreement, Sundargarh district administration will identify children who need kinship care and will come up with a list of potential caregivers. SOSCVI will contribute to the selection of caregivers, and map the capacity building needs of caregivers, train them, and place the children with them. The NGO will also provide a mentor to every child and the family taking care of the child. It will facilitate in the school admission of the children and arrange for supplementary educational support. The caregivers will also get follow-up training twice a year. SOSCVI will assess and monitor the overall progress made by the programme once in 4 months, and suggest course corrections if needed.
The MoU also envisages setting up of a monitoring committee comprising District Child Protection Officer, District Education Officer, District Social Welfare Officer, and an SOSCVI representative, to review the progress against predetermined key performance indicators and document the experiences.
Commenting about the partnership, Sumanta Kar, Secretary General, SOS Children’s Villages of India, said, “It is a great privilege and an opportunity to serve the children of Odisha by reaching out to them with a rights-based Kinship Care solution. We thank the District Administration of Sundargarh for choosing to partner with us for the programme. We look forward to sharing our knowledge, expertise, and best practices and make the Kinship Care Programme a great success.”
“For over five decades SOS Children’s Villages of India has continued to provide children without parental care or at the risk of losing it, a value chain of quality care services that goes beyond childcare alone, to ensuring comprehensive child development. Our long-term customized care interventions such as, Family Like Care (FLC), Family Strengthening Programme (FSP), Kinship Care, Short Stay Homes, Foster Care, Youth Skilling, Emergency Care and Special Needs Child Care are aimed at transforming lives and developing children under our care into self-reliant and contributing members of society. We empower vulnerable families in communities to become financially independent, thereby enabling them to create safe and nurturing spaces for children under their care,” he said. Today, over 6,500 children live in more than 440 family homes in 32 SOS Children’s Villages in 22 states/UTs from Srinagar to Kochi and Bhuj to Shillong, lovingly cared for and nurtured by nearly 600 SOS mothers and aunts. ‘We are directly touching the lives of around 28,500 children every year through our range of care services,” Kar concluded.
