Shade for Children is building Blossom Cottage, a small group home in Western Ukraine designed to provide safety, stability, and love to 10 children with special needs in the Ukrainian Orphan Care System. In a country where thousands of children still grow up in large, impersonal institutions, Blossom Cottage offers something different - a family-style home where children receive the individual care, attention, and dignity they deserve.
One of the worlds most recent studies regarding orphan care concluded 1) Institutionalization is harmful across multiple domains of child development, 2) Moving to family-based care can help repair some of the harm done by institutionalization, and 3) Timing is critical, the longer children spend in institutional care, the greater the likelihood of negative impact and the smaller the chance of recovery.
The Ukrainian government is promoting the creation of Small Group Homes (with 8-10 children) as part of a global shift away from institutionalization to family-based care. Shade for Children will provide nurturing environment with better care and attention while advocating for permanent solutions like adoption or family reunification for the children.
Small Group Homes represent a step toward dismantling the broken, soviet-era orphanage system in Ukraine. Additionally, studies show that family-based care is more cost effective than bloated, bureaucratic institutions. Shade for Children's goal is to see 50% of the children in our custody adopted or returned to family each year. We can break unhealthy cycles, and reduce societal cost.
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