We are pleased to announce that Care for Children have signed a new three year agreement with Thailand's Ministry of Social Development and Human Security. This means our Thailand team will be able to continue and grow the wonderful work they have been doing over the past three years.

Following the success of the Thai Government delegation to the UK, the Care for Children team were invited to a meeting with UNICEF, Thammasat University, and the Department of Children and Youth, in Bangkok for the release of a report on the state of alternative care in Thailand. The report concludes that Thailand is over-reliant on institutional care for children deprived of a family environment, and that there are 50,000 children in some form of residential care in the country. In the meeting the government confirmed that institutional care should only be used as a last resort. The timing couldn’t have been better regarding the UK Study visit, as all but one of the the VIP guests representing the government at the meeting were the delegates we took to the UK! There is a growing sense of momentum to develop family-based care initiatives, and we believe Care For Children is right at the front of it.

Following this meeting we signed a new three-year project agreement with the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security (represented by the Department of Children and Youth).

The signing ceremony, held at our offices, was the culmination of two days of meetings that signalled the beginning of the National Foster Care Project, and the first official meeting and training event with the four new project sites (total of 5). We had a fantastic time with three representatives from each of our new project sites – the orphanage Director and two staff responsible for each respective foster care project. We very much felt there was a close, family atmosphere that included a lot fun and passion and everyone involved was very excited about the programme ahead.