One Family, Together Again

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One Family program at NPH Peru has two beneficiary families. The work team tells how the program started and how it works today.

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17 Dec 2021

NPH Peru’s One Family program began in 2018 to restore the child’s right to live in a family. The work started with the analysis of families with the potential to be beneficiaries of the program. Subsequently, the staff began to make home visits to establish an approach and learn more about their environment and family reality. At the end of these visits, the One Family committee drew up a list of families who were candidates to join the program.

The work team consists of a psychologist, Edith Juana Calixto Mallqui, and a social worker, Eddy Amazon Martínez Ramírez. They work in constant coordination with our national director Rafael Arce and Family Services and Psychology coordinator Rosario Chirinos.

They conform program’s committee and are in charge of determining whether a family can benefit from the program. “First, the psychologist and I visit the families to get to know them and establish a first approach. We also get to know what the community environment is like and obtain information about the family’s interest in taking responsibility for the child’s care,” describes Eddy Martínez.

“If the first diagnoses of the visits are favorable, a series of psychological evaluations are made to the family members, as well as a socio-economic evaluation. Based on the results of these evaluations and the expressed interest of the families to assume responsibility for the care of the child, we proceed to guide the family regarding the application, documentation, and legal procedures to be carried out before the corresponding Family Court to request family reintegration”, informs Rosario Chirinos.

The children’s opinion regarding a possible return to their family is also very important, as well as the preparation of the family through parenting schools to strengthen their parenting skills, which are conducted by the program’s psychologist.

If the family’s application is approved by the Family Court, the family and child are invited to be part of the program. If they accept the conditions of the program, such as follow-up visits, monitoring of the use of funds, and participation in parenting skills training, they are considered as beneficiaries.

NPH Peru currently serves a population of children and youth from different regions of Peru, such as Cajamarca, Ica, Huánuco, and Lima. The One Family Program has so far two beneficiary families.

The first beneficiaries are two siblings, Marjorie is 13-year-old, and her brother Max is 9-year-old. They left Casa Santa Rosa in December 2020 to go live with their aunt and uncle in Chincha, a city 80 km from San Vicente de Cañete. The other beneficiary is 7-years-old Marcelino, who left NPH Peru in August of this year to reintegrate with his mother’s family in the city of Nazca, 300 km away.

Marcelino’s mother is grateful to have him back in her life: “Having Marcelino with me again is a joy that I have been waiting for a long time. He is everything to me; he is the little friend that I will always accompany and take care of, providing him with the home and love he needs. I am enormously grateful for the support you give him. The support that NPH provides is not for me, is entirely for him because he always deserves the best.”

“The program supports beneficiary families through a monthly economic subsidy. It covers basic food, education, clothing, and health needs. Also, through the psychology and social work team, we provide follow-up and professional assistance to the family to maintain responsible care of the children,” says our national director, Rafael Arce.

This professional assistance is constant throughout the entire family reintegration process, both before and after the child is reintegrated with their family. “We currently provide parenting school sessions twice a month virtually. We try to strengthen the families’ parenting skills and improve their ties with the children to ensure adequate and responsible care,” describes psychologist Edith Calixto.

After family reintegration, our team continues providing guidance and counseling to families on parenting issues, parenting skills, and family responsibilities. Workshops may be held with the whole family on a specific topic or aspect that needs to be worked on or strengthened.

As part of the monitoring of beneficiary families, the team also makes calls or visits to the schools where the children study to request information from teachers about school performance, school attendance, development, and completion of homework, among other aspects.

“As the follow-up visits go by, we notice that each member of the beneficiary families is improving their relationship with the children. They show more empathy; this fact helps a lot in the children’s process of adaptation in their family space,” describes the psychologist.

“The children are also becoming less shy and are positively incorporating into their new lifestyle as a family. Our first beneficiary Marjorie has improved in her interpersonal relationships and now has an easier time interacting with her family and people around her,” says Eddy Martinez. 

The One Family program has been in operation for a relatively short time at NPH Peru. However, witnessing the excitement of both parents and children to live as a family again encourages each member of the NPH Peru family to continue developing this initiative to restore the child’s right to live in a family.

The One Family program was established in December 2020 at NPH Peru, thus ensuring every child’s right to live with their family. Support us to continue joining our children with their families. Make an impact. Make a donation.

*Names changed to protect child’s privacy.