[CivilSoc] Kidsave International searching for Dutch partner

[Moderator]

Kidsave International Searching for Dutch Partner
Kidsave believes that every child deserves a family.  We have been working
since 1999 to help move orphaned and abandoned children into permanent
families.  Our approach, known as the Secure Futures Program, integrates
several successful interventions into one market with the goal of
demonstrating how communities can move orphans into families, and ultimately
into productive lives.
Our initial focus is in Russia, where social and economic factors have led
to a high proportion of orphaned and abandoned children, and thus a painful
depletion of human productivity.  One in three former orphans in Russia is
homeless; one in five commits a crime; and one in ten commits suicide.
Kidsave's approach is to build capacity among local organizations that can
manage programs under the auspices of regional governments supportive of
deinstitutionalization.  Our goal is to identify  "best practices" for
ending harmful institutionalization of children, initiate successful
demonstration projects and then advocate to convince governments around the
world to change their policies that lead to the harmful "warehousing" of
orphans in institutions.
We launched our first comprehensive demonstration project in the Smolensk
region of Russia in October of 2001.  We are working in partnership with the
Smolensk Regional Committee of Education, and are seeking additional local
non-governmental partners.  To address the situation there, the Kidsave
Secure Futures Program is identifying interventions known to move children
into permanent families, managing public education to change attitudes and
engage people, advocating for change with governments, and looking at ways
to prevent the flow of children into state care.  We are currently gathering
baseline data, recruiting families to serve as mentors or adoptive parents,
and building a team of social workers to assist and advocate for the
placement of specific children.  At the same time, we are developing an
aggressive media campaign to change the way Russians think about orphans and
adoption.  And we are working with local social service agencies to develop
and improve programs that will ultimately reduce the number of children
being abandoned or orphaned, through the development of microenterprises and
small businesses.
Kidsave is searching for a Dutch non-profit organization with similar goals
that is working in Russia or willing to expand services to Russia for a
joint application grant.
Please respond to Eric M. Batsie, Director at ebatsie@rol.ru.
For more information on Kidsave please visit our website www.kidsave.org
Eric M. Batsie
Director, Representative Office
Kidsave International
ul.  Pravdi #21/1 office #47
Moscow, Russia 125040
(095) 257-11-71 (tel/fax)
8-916-519-5854 (mobile)
ebatsie@rol.ru
www.kidsave.org
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