CAN YOU HELP?!

The following projects are currently in need of funding.

If you’d like to change the lives of many children in Morocco, Uganda or Iraq-Kurdistan,

click on the photos or text below to find out just how much your donations can achieve.

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Morocco – Fape

Fape is one of the three organisations in Morocco running a child fostering service with government consent. The programme was was set up with SFAC’s assistance through a combination of in person and online training on various aspects of foster care and providing therapeutic care, Protective Behaviours training, and ongoing case consultations.

Fape have been asked to develop a foster care framework and legislation program that will offer a safe and nurturing environment for a greater number of children in Morocco.

The Problem

Over 600,000 children in Morocco are being cared for in children’s homes. Many of them could be cared for in families but at the moment less than 100 are in foster care. Fape is promoting foster care as an alternative to children’s homes and demonstrating the potential of foster care through their own programme.

Fape has asked SFAC to:

• Review their current foster care programme to identify what is working well and what needs to be improved. This is to inform guidance they are developing for other organisations in Morocco to use. 

• Advise and support them in their co-creation with the government on foster care legislation and the good practice guidance for roll out of foster care nationally. 

How We’re Helping:

With our experienced and trained social work staff, we will assist Fape through:

• Reviewing their foster care programme – We will produce a report of strengths and areas for improvement (risks/weaknesses). 

• Training to improve any areas of practice needed. 

• Advising them from social work, psychology and legal practice to support the development of effective foster care legislation and foster care guidance for national rollout. 

• Protective Behaviours (PBs) training for their staff (a course that equips staff and carers in understanding a child’s emotions, thoughts, feelings and behaviours and strategies to enable a child to gain control enabling them to keep and feel safe in their environment). We will do this by supporting and enabling one member of staff to become a fully qualified PBs trainer. 

What your donations can do:

Fape is a small organisation with few resources meaning your fundraising of:

£2,000

will enable us to train a member of Fape’s team to become a fully qualified Protective Behaviours trainer so they can train others in Morocco. 

£5,000

covers flights, accommodation and one week of our time for 2 trainers in Morocco to complete the foster care review and provide in person training on areas identified for their good practice guidance.

£20,000

will enable SFAC to provide legal training workshops for judges, lawyers, social workers, foster carers, and psychologists in Morocco and host UK exchange visits to develop a deeper understanding of the guidance and legislation needed for good practice. This will enable a higher likelihood of national rollout and implementation.

Impact 

• To enable Fape to have confidence in their practice and improve their programme. 
• To support the creation of effective foster care legislation. 

• Expand foster care in Morocco to reduce the number of children living in children’s homes so more children can thrive in families.
• To create a system that provides safe and appropriate foster care for children who cannot live in their own families. 
• To create a system that enables children to thrive in foster care. 

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Iraq-Kurdistan: Step_Iraq 

Step_Iraq has been working jointly with the Iraq-Kurdish government in developing, piloting and implementing a foster care programme. SFAC has supported Step_Iraq in setting up the programme and this year (2024) completed a review of their case management systems. 

What is the need

Step_Iraq has been asked by the government to assist in rolling out a programme in two further areas. 

They have requested SFAC to assist in:

• Reviewing and improving practice by providing experienced peer mentoring and advice to the foster care workers. 
• Providing advice and support in creating a national training programme for foster care social workers.
• Training judges and government officials in why foster care is a preferable option for children needing alternative care.

How we are helping

SFAC will provide training and mentoring online through our experienced social work trainers. 

SFAC will provide protective behaviours training to Step_Iraq staff with the aim that two Step_Iraq staff in the long-term become fully qualified trainers. 

How you can help

Step_Iraq has minimal funding for the training, mentoring and reviewing of its foster care programme. The programme is still a pilot and the government funding is restricted to staffing, office costs and similar. 

£500 a month or £6000 a year will enable SFAC to provide mentoring and training on an ongoing basis to Step_Iraq.  

Impact 

Successfully completing this project means:

• Step_Iraq will become more confident in their practice. 
• Step_Iraq will produce a national training programme for foster care social workers to enable good practice to be implemented. 
• Foster care will be more embedded in the country as a safe and effective alternative to children’s homes (aka orphanages).
• More children will live in families than in children’s homes. 

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Uganda – VCDF

VCDF (Village Community Development Fund) is a small community organisation in western Uganda, an area of relatively high levels of poverty and minimal services sometimes disrupted by incidents of civil war from the neighbouring country Democratic Republic of Congo. 

SFAC has been supporting VCDF in implementing a kinship care programme and training on how to support kinship carers. VCDF is also interested in a community based foster care programme. 

The problem

VCDF is a small organisation with no significant funds.

They want to receive training and mentoring to further enhance and review their kinship care programme and develop a foster care programme. 

How we are helping

SFAC can provide mentoring and training through our Uganda based trainer Joseph Luganda. This will include in person workshops and training including advice on effective case management systems, assessment and training of carers, and how to support carers with minimal resources. 

We will also provide the staff with protective behaviours training. 

How you can support

Since VCDF has no significant funding, SFAC needs to provide all support for free. Therefore, your donation of:

£2500

enables SFAC to provide two weeks of training twice a year in Uganda by Joseph Luganda covering his travel, accommodation and time. 

£650

covers the cost of two VCDF volunteers to attend Protective Behaviours online and receive regular online support to implement their new PBs knowledge and skills in their work with children and families. 

Impact 

Supporting this project means:

• VCDF will establish safe and appropriate foster care and kinship care services in a remote and poor area of Uganda where professional support and training is scarce. 

• Children in their care will be safer as there will be more assessment, monitoring and support. 

• The chances of children being separated from their community and being placed in children’s homes will be low. (Most children’s homes are in the cities and are poorly run)