Alternative care

As a child, you need someone who stands by you and believes in you, no matter what. SOS Children’s Villages is here for those children who are growing up without the care and support they need. Our quality care puts their individual needs and best interests first and foremost, and provides a nurturing and stable [family] environment. With strong and healthy relationships, each child and young person can grow up with the trust and sense of belonging that is essential for them to become their strongest selves.

We believe that, whenever possible, children should grow up with their biological families. Despite the best efforts of authorities and SOS family strengthening, family breakdown is sometimes unavoidable.

At such times, children need suitable alternative care until their family's circumstances improve enough for them to return home. Children who no longer have a living parent require long-term quality alternative care to support them in developing into independent adults.

We promote and are guided by the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care for Children to which we made key contributions in the development process. In line with the guidelines, we draw on our wealth of experience to provide and support a range of alternative care settings, because different children, different cultures, and different situations call for different care options.

Inter-country adoption

SOS Children’s Villages operates in the spirit of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and encourages governments and partners to implement its principles. Accordingly, we work to ensure that every child is granted the right to grow up in a supportive, positive and loving environment.

Decisions related to children’s care must always have the best interests of each individual child at the centre. Every effort should be made to keep families together, and, in cases where separation is necessary, to enable family reunification.

When a child cannot be cared for by the parents, the State is responsible to assess what other options are suitable for the care of the child, including care in the extended family, foster care and other such forms of family-based or family-like alternative care, as well as adoption. Inter-country adoption, which involves the permanent transfer of a child from his or her country of origin to another country, can be an option for some children without parental care when other possible solutions in the country of origin have failed.

Nonetheless, SOS Children’s Villages acknowledges the complexity of inter-country adoption, and the potential dangers for misuse and illicit practice.

Therefore, SOS Children’s Villages believes that priority should be given to alternative care options in the child's country of origin (as stated in Article 21 of the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child) such as domestic adoption, foster care, community-based care or family-based care.

Should inter-country adoption be considered, the well-established internationally recognised treaties and conventions serve as guidelines for best practice. The most notable of these is the 1993 Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation Regarding Inter-country Adoption (otherwise known as The Hague Convention).

SOS Children’s Villages strongly urges that if and when inter-country adoptions are deemed necessary, such adoptions occur between states that have ratified the Hague Convention.  Private adoptions through non-accredited agencies should never be allowed, as they involve demonstrably greater risks of illicit practice. 

Finally, SOS Children’s Villages recognises that adoption adds an extra layer of complexity to a child’s life, particularly in the case of inter-country adoptions, whereby children are uprooted from their countries and communities of origin.  SOS Children’s Villages advocates for comprehensive post-adoption support for everyone involved in the adoption, particularly the children.  Such services must include access to mental health providers, family and child counselling, adoptive family community organisations, and support groups, so as to facilitate a child’s integration into his or her adoptive family.

Family care for every child

Every child deserves to grow up in a loving home. SOS Children's Villages has provided quality alternative care in a family environment for almost 70 years. We always put the needs, individual development and best interest of each child at the centre of our work.

Types of alternative care we support

In line with the guidelines, we draw on our wealth of experience to provide and support a range of alternative care settings, because different children, different cultures, and different situations call for different care options.

Promoting standards of care

We promote and ensure quality alternative care. We work with governments, care professionals and other partners to help ensure that children's rights are fulfilled and every child has the best, most suitable care for their individual situation and needs.

Leaving Care project

Through the ‘Leaving Care’ project we aim to train care professionals in how to apply a child rights-based approach in their work with young people leaving care and work to strengthen support networks for young care leavers. 

Together

This project aims to strengthen children’s rights in the responses to crisis situations by empowering children and young people to participate meaningfully in public decision-making.

 

Safe Places, Thriving Children

We work with partners to provide training to care professionals and child protection organisations to help ensure that children and young adults affected by trauma receive the necessary support.

Applying Safe Behaviours

Through this project, SOS Children’s Villages aims to enable children, young people and care professionals to prevent and respond to peer violence amongst children and young people.

Training care professionals

The European Commission awarded SOS Children’s Villages a grant to help care professionals in eight countries build their capacity to apply a child rights-based approach to their daily work with children.

Quality4Children Standards