Family Reunification
A Fundamental Right for Institutionalized Children
by Carmen Solis, Coordinator of Holistic Care and Social Worker
Family is very important to God; in fact, the idea came from Him. God could have created us to live in isolation, but He didn't! We need each other not only for the procreation of the human being but also to support, build, and bless the place where God has placed us. When writing this, the scripture Psalms 68:6 NKJV (our mission) comes to mind: “God sets the solitary in families.” Knowing that many children have had to be separated from their families by different circumstances, we all have the call to take action to return to the original model of God.
At Family Life Missions, we believe that reunification means more than simply supporting children to return to live with their biological families. It means doing actions to ensure that the families we work with have, at least, the minimum resources they need to live together. And this is before, during, and after the official legal procedures have been carried out by DINAF (Honduras Children Services). After the family reunification is carried out, with the FLM team in charge of holistic care, we ensure that the families have timely comprehensive follow-up with spiritual, social, psychological, physical and educational services. It is gratifying to know that in doing so, we help reduce the risk of families falling back into vulnerable situations.
Among the important actions that we as a Holistic Care team perform during follow-up visits are: detailed observations and interviews, collection of relevant information, assessment of individual family needs, and development of plans that address specific concerns. We follow God in what He is doing. For example, one of the specific cases that I want to share is that of the Galvez family, which, according to the evaluations and follow-ups, we were able to identify the need and desire for the construction of their own home. This was a requirement for Jorge and Josue to have the opportunity to be reunited with their family after staying for 10 years institutionalized in the Children Home Por Los Niños. As a team, we supported the family through the initiative “Building Dreams”, part of the FLM Family Preservation Program. Thanks to the support of generous donors, today the family has a decent home of its own. The children were able to be reunited! It is beautiful to hear Josue's words on his return to his family: "Finally my dream came true," as well as his older brother's words: "God has blessed us by being able to be together as a family."
This reintegration was possible through productive, regular visits to the family. They make us aware of everything that is happening in the family environment and allows us to give proper follow-up and quality attention to the families we serve.
We enjoy serving and providing quality care to families! We certainly see the family as the foundation for children to develop fully. Join us and pray together that families can stay together and return to God's original model!