Finishing the second round of our tour in Crete with the SOS Children’s Villages, the objectives are breaking down in front of us. There are well meaning principles of getting ‘all’ children out of institutions, but these are fraught with difficulties and risks – notwithstanding the parallel development of alternative care (kinship, fostering and adoption), which require planning, investment and support systems in place.
Talking to some inspiring residential caregivers, there is a lot more we need to do: improve child-centred environments and practices, enhance nurturing and quality of care, equip caregivers, open care homes to society, bring services in, exhaust opportunities for children’s reintegration, and improve criteria and pathways to future admissions when these cannot be avoided.