Orphanage home managers schooled

Department of Social Development (DSD) has held a meeting with managers of residential care homes in Accra, to have an overview of the Care Reform Initiatives (CRI) to enable them operate as required.

The theme for the event: “The best place for a child is the family,” was to discourage the permanent stay of children in residential homes without the company of biological parents or families.

The CRI ensures that children’s homes operating in the country have adequate resources to sustain their activities as credible out-of- home care and support establishments.

This is the framework that sets out the DSD to monitor the operations of children’s homes.

Mr John Alexander Kon, Deputy Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, said the care of children matters to all since it influences development capacities as individuals and the society.

He said children are best taken care of in families and this has been reinforced in the Children’s Act 1998(Act 560) Section 5, which states that no person shall be denied a child right to live with parents and family and grow up in a caring and peaceful environment unless it is proven in court.

Mr Kon noted that child development specialists have recognised that residential institutions consistently fail to meet children’s developmental needs for attachment, acculturation and social integration.

He said managers of homes should be aware that the children need to reunite with their family members because they fare better in families than in institutions.

“Ghana needs a future with children who value the essence of family togetherness so that they will continue to cherish supporting one another.”

He urged the media to also ensure that orphanages that come to them for publicity and support are collaborating with the DSD and meet the required standard.

Mr Iddrisu Abdallah, Child Protection Specialist, urged home managers to intensify foster care so that children have the opportunity to stay with their parents.

He said those operating a residential facility must always collaborate with the Social Welfare Department, adding “because without them your faithful gestures would turn into an illegal activity”.

He added that government is not condemning institutional care in its entirety but rather wants the right thing to be done for the safety of children.