About Family Care Model
Introduction
Family Care is a holistic approach to supporting and strengthening families in various aspects of life to meet their social, economic, and psychological needs.
In 2019, United Kenya Rising adopted the Family Care (FC) Model that enabled us shift our operations from residential-based care to Family and Community Based Care. In the model we changed the focus from supporting one child from a family to supporting a family as a whole.
Months later, the government of Kenya through the National Council of Children Services (NCCS) introduced care reforms (Child Welfare Program through 2019 Care Reforms). According to NCCS, Care reform is a change process in the systems and mechanisms of providing services to children who are separated from their families or those that are at risk of separation from their families.
Care reforms have to do with promoting family and community care for children instead of having children in institutions or residential care, which is not family based.
Further NCCS says research has shown that children who are brought up in institutions take long to develop mentally and intellectually.
Family Care enabled us to take a broader facet and take care of children as they bonded and grew up in a family setting. It gave us an opportunity to even serve families better and ensure their social, and economic welfare has been well taken care of.
FC has seen a rise in the quality of life in the families we serve. The impact has been tremendous as we have strived to ensure that almost all the needs of the families are met and the families live in a decent home with dignity, with a meaningful source of livelihood and that they are food-secure; all important components for the growth of any family.
At UKR, we are organized into Education, Social Work, Education, and Public Health Departments for easy and effective delivery of services to the families we serve. Administration, Media, and Accounts Departments ensure that others have the support they need. The departments work closely toward the realization of our goals and set objectives.
Our staff has collectively played a key role in this journey. They have been conducting home and school visits to monitor the progress of the families and children we serve.
UKR has been a champion in the implementation of Care Reforms through its Family Care Model. We have received recognition from NCCS as the best institution in western Kenya in the implementation of care reforms. We have also been nominated for awards thanks to the good work we have done.