With access to health and social care, it is hard to imagine making the decision to place your child in an orphanage or institution. But for many families, there is no choice. 

 

At Their Future Today, we have seen that extreme poverty is the main reason children are placed in orphanages.

 

Circumstances such as war or natural disaster, discrimination or disability exacerbate the issue and force desperately poor parents to seek help. Without support, their only option is to put their child in an orphanage.

 

Orphanages take children out of poor families with the promise of food, education or healthcare that their parents can’t access – or feel they are unable to give.

 

When you are struggling to feed your family, the burden of having to travel to access the right healthcare or education for your child seems impossible. With a lack of local infrastructure and support, it often is.

 

Sadly, the reality is that even in orphanages, children can be neglected and exposed to serious abuse and harm. They are often traumatised by their experiences. 

 

This all means that many children end up institutionalized,  and emotionally damaged for life.

 

But this shocking global problem has an affordable solution.

 

With support, most families could care for their children.

And children without families can be looked after in foster or adoptive families, or in small group homes.