Helping Children Grow Up In Loving Families

Back in April we shared a story about a child in our foster care program being adopted by his foster family. Up until recently, Cambodia did not have clearcut policies and procedures for domestic adoption. While many of our foster families wanted to make their foster children permanent, legal members of their families, there was no clear pathway for making that happen.

Children In Families (CIF) understands the importance of children having a permanent family connection, both from a legal standpoint, and in order to give these children a greater sense of security and identity. For this reason, we have helped to lead the way in advocating for a clear legal means for children to be adopted. To date, CIF has facilitated more than 50 domestic adoptions by foster families. Fourteen-year-old Soben* is one of our most recent adoption cases.

Soben is studying in grade 8 at the junior high school, located about 2 km from his home. He rides bicycle to school every day and enjoys his school time with friends. The government referred him to CIF as an infant after his mother died during his delivery. Relatives were raising him for the first couple of months with support from our FOR-1 program (kinship care), but due to his health issues, they found his care overwhelming and requested that he be placed into foster care. CIF staff and local authorities made extensive efforts to encourage the family, assuring them of ongoing support, but to no avail. So, we at CIF and the relevant government authorities made a joint decision to place Soben into a foster family at age 2 1/2 months. 

“Although we had two sons of our own already, we were happy when CIF approached us about placing Soben into our family. We decided to foster him because we wanted to help this vulnerable child to have family like others. We committed from the beginning to doing the best we could for Soben just as we did with our own two sons,” said Soban's foster mother.  

Throughout the fourteen years that Soben remained in foster care, we provided case management support in close collaboration with the relevant local authorities. His case worker visited him at least once per month to monitor his growth and development, as well as to train and coach the foster parents on a variety of topics, including child protection and positive parenting. 

The family also received financial support to cover Soben's physical needs. During that time, CIF approached Soben's biological family again to explore the possibility of reunification, however the family was adamant that they were not interested. With permanency through reunification no longer an option, Soben's foster parents were asked to consider making Soben a permanent member of their family. They were delighted to do so! 

After guiding the family through the adoption process, we have continued to provide post-adoption monitoring in cooperation with the government authorities. This is to comply with government guidelines and ensures a smooth transition. CIF is currently involved in helping to facilitate several other adoption cases. 

In Soben's own words, “I am studying grade 8 with Khmer and English as my favorite subjects. In the future, I want to work in the private company the same as my two brothers. I love my parents, my brothers and my grandparents. They love and treat me as their own, they encourage me to study hard for a good future." 

Thank you for partnering with us to ensure that vulnerable children have the opportunity to experience all that being in a loving, supportive family can provide. 

* Note: Child's name has been changed to protect his privacy.