1. Working Guideline of
Family Strengthening Programme
“Prevention of child abandonment: Family and community development” as the second service line of
SOS Children’s Village International in our strategic plan is a highlighting milestone for further
development for our organization. The vision behind SOS Children’s Village work is that every child
belongs to family and grows with love, respect and security. Abandoned children and broken families
are a huge worldwide problem-suffers from severe deprivation of basic human needs and absolute
poverty which has persuaded SOS organization to develop family strengthening programmer to help
prevent the abandonment of children. Prevention is of course better than cure, which is why the
prevention of abandonment programs by helping families at risk to be in a strong enough position to
raise their children and care for them. The aim of this program is to take action before abandoning
happens, through working with these vulnerable children, their families and community to build a
sustainable and lusting solution to the problems faced by orphans and vulnerable children. The
commitment of SOS Children’s Village is to reach a great number of orphans and vulnerable children
and with this; to join hands in the global partnership towards the achievement of the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs)
We live in a world where many children have been deprived of their right to a caring family environment.
Millions of children have lost their parents and the care of their biological family, and many more are at
risk of falling into this situation. All too often, these children have nowhere to find the protection, care
and support required for their healthy development. We enable children who are at risk of losing the
care of their family to grow within a caring family environment. We work directly with families and
communities to empower them to effectively protect and care for their children, in cooperation with local
authorities and other service providers.
Family strengthening programmes aim to prevent children from losing the care of their family. We
empower families, to strengthen their capacity to protect and care for their children, and strengthen
safety nets for vulnerable children and their families within the community. Wehave played an important
role regarding MDGs. Now we take active action for implementing Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs).
Five SDGs relate directlyto SOS Children’s Villages, and we form a central part of our work.
Goal 1 – No poverty
Achieving a world where poverty is a thing of the past is the main aim of the SDGs. Central to this goal
is ensuring that no child grows up in poverty. As the number one reason for family breakdown and child
abandonment in Africa, Asia and Latin America is poverty, this goal is central to the work of SOS
Children’s Villages. We are passionate about helping poor families and communities break the cycle of
poverty through capacity and resilience building, education and vocational training as part of our family
strengthening programmes.
Goal 4 – Quality education
It is tremendously important to ensure that every child and young person has access to quality education
regardless of their background – not just for the individual, but also for the society around them.
Currently, 59 million children of primary-school age (typically between five and 11 years of age) are out
of school [1]. We must fight to address this.
Every child and young person receiving support from SOS Children’s Villages has access to quality
education – from nursery schools right up to support with university applications.
Goal 8 – Decent work and economic growth

2. In 2014, almost 74 million young people between the ages of 15 and 24 were looking for work [2], and
the global youth unemployment rate reached 13% – almost three times the rate for adults [3]. Every
young person should have the opportunity for decent work and to be able to support them to have an
independent life with dignity.
SOS Children’s Villages supports young people without parental care to develop the skills and attitudes
they need to be employable, independent adults, for example through technical schools or partnerships
with companies such as Deutsche Post DHL. We also help parents from vulnerable families to access
vocational training, giving them the opportunity to earn enough to keep their family together and give
their children a brighter future.
Goal 10 – Reduced inequalities
This goal is motivated by the knowledge that no-one, including children, should suffer from
discrimination, or be denied equal access to opportunities on the basis of race, gender, religion,
disability, cultural or family background. 66 million girls across the world do not attend school, which
limits their opportunities from a young age [4].
SOS Children’s Villages advocates for laws and practices that ensure equal opportunities, social
inclusion and non-discrimination for children and young people who have lost their parents, and those
from poor or marginalized households.
Goal 16 – Peace and justice
Through this goal, we can ensure that no child is a victim of violence, abuse, exploitation or neglect.
15% of the children and young people in our family based care programmes were referred to SOS
Children’s Villages because they experienced someform of physical abuse (physical, sexual, emotional
or neglect) [5].
The Sustainable Development Goals are implementing from January 2016. Together, we can work to
make tangible progress in reaching these goals and making the world a fairer and safer place for
children.
Family Strengthening Programmes are targeted primarily at socially and economically disadvantaged
families in a crisis situation that could led to the break up family. The programs are to be designed to
meet the specific needs by providing necessary basic support, financial assistance, child care service,
development of skills and knowledge to ensure their livelihood. This program also offers the caregivers
counseling services, vocational training, home management skills and support on income generation,
help better manage their income and develop individual capacity and initiative so that they could uplift
their household and family maintenance. The aim is to promote and facilitate of become self-reliant and
strong enough to deal with their realities.
A child’s natural family usually the best place for him/her to grow. Our approach is to work with families
and communities to support them to improve their ability to protect and care for their children, so that
their children are able to grow within a care family environment.
Extent of FSP:
The extent to which a person, group or socio-economic situation is likely to be affected by Hazard
(related to their capacity to anticipate it, cope with it, resist it & recover from its impact).
 Its Dynamin means not static
 Vulnerability is more than just poverty
 Vulnerability is not natural
 Vulnerability is complex
 It comprises of Economic, cultural, Institutional, Political, Environmental/Demographic,
and even psychological factors.

3.  It is may also be due to existing power structure
 Underlying factors contribute to vulnerability are less immediately visible.
 For Example- one need to consider not just the fact that people live in flimsy houses in
hazardous locations, but why they are there… which could be the product of following one or
few forces-
• Poverty
• Population growth
• Displacement due to economic growth, river erosion, war etc.
• Migration to Town/cities
• Legal/Political issues such as lack of land rights
• Discrimination
• Government Macro Economics and other factors
• Other political features such as failure of Government/ Civil Society Organization to
protect citizen
(FSP workshop 2015)
Key risk factors to child includes:
Poverty: 60% of children in Africa live in poverty. 570 million children worldwide live in extreme
poverty.7 SOSChildren’s Villages data shows that 63% of children and families who joined SOS Family
Strengthening programmes in 2014 were facing serious economic problems, suchas having insufficient
or irregular income (40%) or no income at all (20%).
Poor health: Our data shows that one of the main risk factors that cause a child or young person to
lose parental care is parents’ health status. More than 30% of children in SOS families lost parental
care due to the poor health of their carer (disability or severe illness). HIV/AIDS alone is responsible for
almost 20 million children being orphaned, of whom 15 million live in Sub-Saharan Africa.8
Socio-cultural factors: These include migration, single parenthood, family breakdown, divorce and
remarriage, teenage pregnancy, gender inequalities and ethnic discrimination. Children of parents who
have separated, divorced or remarried are often placed in alternative care or encouraged to leave the
family home.9 Discrimination and exclusion on the basis of ethnicity, race, gender or disability are also
driving children into alternative care.
Violence: One of the main reasons many children end up in alternative care is violence in their family,
including psychological, physical or sexual violence, or neglect. Our data shows that 73% of children
in SOS families in Venezuela had prior experiences of physical or psychological violence. In Eastern
Europe, the same experience is reported by 88% of children in SOS families in Croatia, 75% of children
in Belarus, and 55% of children in Lithuania.
Political and economic factors: Armed conflict and natural disasters contribute to displacement, death
of parents, family separation and children forced to become child soldiers are all factors increasing the
risk of children losing parental care.
Working guideline for FSP:
Selection Criteria
ALL out efforts are to taken up to identify the real target families and children who are in the
most vulnerable circumstances: top priority should be given to
Families where Including

4.  Children are living with a single
parent
 Parent is unmarried, widowed,
divorced, separated or abandoned
 Children are living with a ‘de facto’
single parent
 One parent is physically unable to
provide childcare e.g. due to illness,
disability, or in prison
 Children have lost their parents  Children have lost their mother, father
or both parents
 Children are living in an orphan
household
 Household sheltering orphans, where
caregiver is a grandparent, aunt,
uncle, sibling or other relatives
 Children whose parents have a life
threatening illness
 Parent is living with HIV/AIDS or
another life threatening illness
 Children whose parent is living with
a new partner or re- marries
 Children are not accepted by the new
partner
 There are many children (definition
of “many “ depends on context)
 Families are struggling to care for that
number of children
 The parents and children are
discriminated against due to their
ethnicity.
 Members of an ethnic minority group
who are discredited against within
society
FSP working paper 2007
1. Orphans or vulnerable children who face a significant risk point of coming into abandoned
situation.
2. Families who living below poverty line.
3. Families who deprived of basic human needs.
4. Family head suffering from illness, physically handicapped.
5. Mothers with children in crisis stricken, victim of social circumstance.
6. Facing challenges caused by climate changes.
Working Procedure:
A. A base line survey to be conducted within the working area to find out the more target group
(e.g. how many orphans and vulnerable children are there, income of the family, size of the
household, full particulars of children and caregivers, source of support for these children, etc.)
This involves in depth assessment of the situation – why they are in that situation, what their
needs and priorities are, how these can best addressed and with what resources. Based on the
assessmenta clear comprehensive action plans are drawn up and this initial needs assessment
is the basis for taking up final decision about the implementation of programs and this is the only
way to ensure that services rendered are relevant and effective.
B. A uniform application for family strengthening programme should be followed.
C. An individual file for each beneficiary family to be maintained from the very beginning which
contain as follows:
a. Application form duly filed in
b. Assessment form
c. Case history note with action profile detailing present situation, available family resources,
skills, interest capability, proposal for possible areas for socio-economic support. etc.
d. Local ward commissioner’s certificate.

5. D. Beneficiary families must be selected accordingly to the defined target group criteria; support
and work with them for a limited specific period, according to the pre-defined self-reliance
targets.
E. Monthly follow up visit to the beneficiary families to be done and a short report to recorded in
the respective file. A half-yearly evaluation report to be undertaken on each family to assess the
progress and effectiveness of the servicerendered. The above works to be done by field workers
and in-charges Social Centre.
F. It is to be ensured that support reaches to the children in the effective way. Financial support to
be provided through the mother of the child/any dependable caregiver who is available always
to take care of the child.
G. To identify the priority areas of the family where immediate support are needed that build their
capacity to protect and care of the children. Monitoring and working together very closely with
families that they are able to improve their ability to cope with challenges in life. Emphasis on
capacity building aiming at to enhance self-reliance.
H. Mobilize community based response to provide immediate and long-term support to vulnerable
families.
I. To build up strong community partnership with likeminded individuals, ward commissioner,
teacher, religious leaders who will help our programs into practice and contributes to the
achievement of our mission.
J. To build-up active partnership approach and coordination with the local services providers in
order to ensure that the children and their families have access to required services. This is the
only way to ensure the best overall impact in the community.
K. Priority on the selection of families consisting of small number; maximum of 3- Children to be
selected from one family considering the extreme deplorable situation.
L. This benefit will continues for maximum of 5- years for one family-than one new family will be
incorporated in this program.
M. Program must be documented. Every program must have its written document for further use.
N. Primary beneficiaries are the children of selected families targeted by specific services (e.g.
educational, health, nutrition, day-care etc.) and the secondary beneficiaries are the adult
members of selected families targeted by the specific services (e.g. counselling, health,
education, family planning and skill training support for income generating cottage works etc.)
Working Area:
 The main concept of this program will be created self-reliant outlook, not relief oriented and
dependency always. If the family is non-active, no support from the family in any way-the
financial support to be stopped.
 FSP service will be family oriented not child oriented. Family Strengthening Programme will
select families and in the same time identify the resources (e.g. human resource and material

6. resources), opportunities to link these families with these resources and opportunities so that
these families are able to utilize its own inherent capability to enlighten them.
 Children are supported to develop the capacity to access information, assert their rights and
participate in relevant decision-making processes (including programme development). This
involves participatory skills development and rights trainings for children. A safe environment
is created, where children can fully express their views.
 Programme services are directed towards families with children under-18 years of age, who
fall within the target group. Services are made available to the family as a whole, including all
of the children and care-givers within the family. While children at risk of losing the care of
their family are our target group, we also work with their care-givers, as they are empowered
to develop their capacity to protect and care for their children.
 Empowerment of women is essential to ensure adequate care and protection of children. By
becoming empowered, female care-givers take control over their own lives and have a voice
that allows them to overcome inequality in the family, at work and in the community.
 School going children will be a bridge to connect family and FSP. FSP will work with the family
and its indirect siblings and other capable members to strength this family. In these cases FSP
can help elder brothers or sisters or parents where they are able to take necessary training to
strength their families.
 We support care-givers to increase their knowledge and improve their practical skills, so that
they are able to improve the quality of child care, addressing the physical, emotional,
intellectual, social and spiritual development of the children.
 We seek and enter formal partnership agreements with implementation partners, anchoring
the programme within the community. Such partners can be community-based organisations
or structures, self-help groups, local NGOs or local authorities.
 Focus on care and prevention: improve social protection systems for children and young
people without parental care or families at risk.
 Focus on coaching for formal education and career development and offer parents skills
trainings in these areas.
 Focus on key elements of prevention of family break-down including strengthening parents’
ability to guide child development, managing their households, coaching children on education
and career opportunities and to empower girls and women to lead change in their families and
communities (goals 2030).
 These key elements are delivered via two models of family strengthening
a. Direct family empowerment: parental skills capacity building to strengthen families and
child development support.
b. Community empowerment for family empowerment: support of
community/organizations (and local authorities) to strengthen families.
 Individual skill development programs for mothers/ caregivers through our facilities/ other
available local service providers GO and NGO organizations.

7.  We may arrange need base training/ income generating training for caregivers/ beneficiary
mothers. If possible provide job to them through the link of various companies.
 Periodical dissemination and awareness programs on the life skill development for the target
group mothers.
 Children’s club should form in every FSP cluster for safeguarding children from hazardous
situation creating of its own socio cultural environment.
 Child friendly environment to be created for their greater interest of being social assets of
containing society.
Budget:
Budget per beneficiary is BDT. 1000.00 taka per month of which 500.00 is for education and 500.00 is
for food for the respective child.
We join hands with individuals, families, communities, local authorities and other partners to build a
society where all children can enjoy a caring family environment. To do so, we follow a developmental
approach which goes beyond the provision of essential services, but recognises the potential of
children, their families and communities to lead their own self-reliant development. In our family
strengthening work, we empower families and communities to protect and care for their children, using
a step-by-step family development planning process. In both areas of our work (FBC and FSP), we are
able to bring our wealth of knowledge, skills and experience in the care and support of vulnerable
children within a family environment, to make a lasting positive impact in the lives of many children
around the world.