Seeking Collaborators to Contribute their ‘Voices of Experience’
Do you, or have you ever worked in a children’s home? Do you feel you have observed a positive outcome? If so, we need you!
We are seeking collaborators to contribute with their ‘Voices of experience’ for our Working Group: Rights for Children living in Children’s Homes. The 10 Rights were drafted with infants and young children in mind, yet according to us, the realization of these points or rights could also improve the quality of life of older (school-aged) children living in institutions.
If you would like to collaborate, please contact [email protected].
Our goal is to publish a book based on The Ten Essential Rights of Infants and Young Children living in Children’s Homes, as part of our Working Group RCCH of the World Forum Foundation, and include ‘voices of experience’ from international collaborators. Main authors and editors: Anna Tardos (Hungary) and Elsa Chahin (Mexico).
Our big idea for change is to improve the outcomes for children reared in residential group care around the world. We base our goals on our knowledge that children can be reared in residential group care in ways that result in positive results – children who grow up to be healthy, productive citizens – indistinguishable from a cross section of the general population in the world.
Our mission is to support institutions to be successful in caring for young and school-age children in group settings by providing them with information about best practices for children’s homes and group care; information that is based on experience and research related to long-term beneficial outcomes.
The Rights of Infants and Young Children Living In Children’s Homes©
All children living in institutions have the right to a complete, full-value childhood all through their stay. In order to achieve this we declare the following rights essential.
- All children living in institutions have the right to a healthy life in all of its aspects: the right to nutritious food, appropriate clothing, clean environment, and to profit from open air. They have the right to physical well-being and health.
- All children have the right to develop an individual, personal, loving and supporting relationship with the adults who take care of them; who know them and take their individual, physical and emotional needs into consideration.
- All children have the right to be treated as individuals when their physical needs are being satisfied and not to be hurried during the moments of care.
- All children should be protected from all types of aggression, open or hidden, verbal or physical, and have the right to experience the acceptance and respect every human being is entitled to.
- All children have the right to continuity and stability in their personal relationships, physical environment and life circumstances, and to a predictable organization of events in their everyday lives.
- All children should be able to satisfy their natural need for activity, to have the possibility to move and play freely, discover their surroundings and develop their capacities.
- All children have the right to be able to create a positive image of themselves.
- All children have the right to get help for their development, respecting their individual pace.
- All children have the right to get support to stay in contact with their families.
- All children should be helped in finding a final, reassuring solution to live in a loving family.
Rights submitted by Anna Tardos and the team of experts at the Pikler Institute in Budapest, Hungary.