When it comes to child care and protection, placing children in families is just the beginning. True impact requires equipping, training, and commitment. This is a story of how a partnership between SFAC and Children In Families (CIF) transformed foster care in Cambodia.
A Shared Concern for Better Child Care and Protection
Around 18 years ago, Mick Pease, SFAC’s founder, was told about the urgent need for family care in Cambodia. At the time, children’s homes (aka orphanages) were the norm, and there were no formal foster care options. Cathleen Jones was in the early stages of establishing CIF. In her own words:
“We had to do more than just place children in families, we needed equipping, so we brought Mick Pease out.” – Cathleen Jones, CIF Founder.
With a shared concern for the well-being of children, SFAC and CIF began working together to establish Cambodia’s first formal foster care programme.
Equipping Foster Carers and Professional Child Carers
Over the course of seven years, Mick travelled to Cambodia six times, training staff to assess foster carers and train families who were willing to foster children. But placing children in families required more than just good intentions; it demanded knowledge, skills, and a strong support system. SFAC assisted by providing training to CIF in:
🔵 Foster Care
🟡 Comprehensive Family Assessments
🟢 Child Protection
🔵 Supporting Carers
Beyond training, SFAC also funded two social workers for three years to assist CIF in setting up their foster care programme. (SFAC no longer funds social workers in this way.) This ensured children received the best possible care and that the programme was built on strong, sustainable foundations.
SFAC’s model is to help organisations develop the core knowledge and skills they need to deliver effective and safe assessments and support systems so children can thrive. We did this with CIF who then adapted our core training to the Cambodian culture and context.
Expanding Beyond Foster Care
CIF has continued to grow and adapt, expanding beyond foster care to include:
- Emergency Care – Providing immediate, short-term care for children in crisis.
- Kinship Care – Supporting relatives to care for children within their extended family.
- Programmes for Children with Disabilities and Chronic Illness – Ensuring that all children, regardless of their needs, have a loving home.
SFAC’s Recognition and CIF’s Continued Success
CIF’s work has been celebrated in the book Where They Belong by Erin Foley. 👏🏾
Amazingly, it includes a chapter dedicated to SFAC, which we are very proud of. 🥳
The book highlights the complexities of protecting and caring for children. It features insights from Mick Pease and Dan Hope, SFAC CEO, on the importance of placing children in a safe, loving environment where they gain a sense of belonging and can thrive.
Last year, Mick reunited with some CIF team leaders at the World Without Orphans conference in Thailand. Delighted to see him again, they assured Mick that the foster care programme is still going strong, and its reach has expanded, ensuring that more children grow up in loving families rather than institutions. In 2024 alone, CIF supported 123 children. Their work never stops, proving the importance of working together.
Good Practice For More Children
At SFAC, we believe the best training and consultation support is never a one-size-fits-all approach. That’s why our programmes are tailored specifically to each organisation’s unique needs.
It was a privilege to work with CIF as they developed Cambodia’s first foster care programme. Often highlighted internationally, their programmes provide a good example of how children who cannot live with their own families can safely live in foster families in their local community.
CIF is one of many examples where SFAC works with an organisation on a programme that then gets international recognition. As a result of their hard work, CIF now helps other organisations to develop foster care programmes in their local context.
Once again, we see the ripple effect of our work at SFAC – equipping and supporting one organisation to develop good practice often results in that organisation helping others in their region to do similar. Ultimately, more and more children are given the chance to grow up in a safe, loving family environment.
And that’s why we do what we do!
We can’t continue to do such work without your support. It is through your donations that we’re able to work with organisations across the world to give more children a better chance to thrive. Donate to SFAC now.
