Close to 1,000 children homes will soon cease to exist following the latest directive by the government that explores new methods of care for this vulnerable group.
The government, through the National Council for Children Service, has introduced child care reforms that seek to introduce family and community based care at the expense of children's homes.
For years, Kenya’s child protection system has relied heavily on residential institutional care commonly known as children homes. However, the country now wants to shift from institutional care to integrating abandoned children with local communities and their families, similar to the foster care system in the West.
In a communique, Chief Executive Officer of the National Council for Children Services Adanoor Mohammed has called on all stakeholders in the children welfare space to embrace the new shift.
He said the move will help them to re-align their operations by repurposing their residential facilities and resources towards supporting the care of children with families and communities.
“Extensive research and international best practices have shown that intuitional care has long-term negative effects on children whereas family and community-based care lead to significantly better outcomes,” Mr Mohammed says in the letter.
The communique was addressed to County Commissioners, regional children coordinators, regional social development coordinators, county children officers, county social development officers, charitable children’s institution managers and donors in the children sector.
New policy with global agenda
Kenya, in alignment with the international, regional and national legal framework for childcare and protection, has now developed a National Care Reform Strategy (2022-2032) which sets the path for transition of children from children's homes to family and community-based care.
The strategy has pillars including prevention of separation and family strengthening, alternative care options such as kinship care, foster care, guardianship and adoption.
Latest government records show there are 902 charitable children’s institutions housing approximately 44,070 children and 30 statutory children institutions with 1.443 children.
The government last year committed to implementing the global agenda of doing away with children's homes during the Global Ministerial Conference of 2024 on Children.
The State committed to strengthen families to provide safe, nurturing care and transition 70 percent of children in institutional care to family and community based care by 2027. It also promised to scale up support programmes to enhance the capacity of families to care for children.
The founder of a children's home in Thika, who did not want to be named, told the Nation that the move is good but that it needs more time to be fully implemented.
He said the new family and community-based programme needs proper planning and a well thought-out strategy.
“Let's not rush the move and in the process gamble with the lives of children,” he said.
“These are developed countries that have the resources to support the families. Here in Kenya, many families are today facing severe economic hardship and they may not be able to cater for additional children,” he added.
The government had in 2023 announced plans to abolish all children’s homes and orphanages that are privately owned.
Then Labour and Social Protection Cabinet Secretary Florence Bore said government-owned homes under the Child Welfare Society of Kenya will be allowed to operate.
“The reason why we are closing them is because we have been given directions under the children’s Act that the private homes should be closed. They have also been routes for child trafficking, so the government wants us to retain the institutions that we have under the child welfare society of Kenya,” she stated at the time.
