Safe Relatives for Survivors
Written by Ashlee Heiligman
One of GCA’s partners, Austin Ridge Bible Church, also partners with International Justice Mission (IJM) in the Philippines to fight Online Sexual Abuse & Exploitation of Children (OSAEC). Two years ago, GCA was asked to consult on a pilot project that both ARBC and IJM were investigating together.
At the time, IJM’s aftercare partners were running out of beds for child survivors and building more shelters seemed to be the only option. As a church dedicated to raising up foster families and supporting family reunifications both locally and abroad, Austin Ridge wondered if the Filipino church could be trained and mobilized to raise up and empower safe families for survivors instead.
IJM has already been leading the collaboration to improve outcomes for survivors for many years. In that effort, they have seen incredible fruit from their partnerships with local churches so they felt confident that the church could be a big part of the solution.
After a thorough assessment with many of the key stakeholders to understand the existing dynamics and barriers, GCA ultimately recommended a two phase approach to address both immediate and long term needs.
First, in order to avoid making the same mistakes which have led to an overwhelmed foster care system in the U.S., we recommended an important first step prior to expanding foster care:
The hiring of a Family Engagement Specialist.
Within IJM, this role will focus on finding and engaging safe family members immediately after rescue by incorporating several trauma-informed interventions and an evidence-based approach called Family Finding developed by Kevin Campbell. The FES will also explore safe family members and fictive kin for any youth who are lingering in long term shelters without permanent family connections.
While policies in the Philippines prioritize biological family members for kinship care of survivors, in practice the primary case workers have very little time to explore a child’s safe relatives given large and complex case loads. Often children have healthy emotional connections with safe relatives yet those relationships are never explored due to the demands of casework.
We see this same dynamic in the U.S. ~ With an increased awareness of a child’s need for identity and belonging, coupled with a nationwide shortage of foster families, U.S. states are beginning to reprioritize biological family members. Many organizations are finally implementing family finding and engagement and in many cases, it makes all the difference for a child’s future.
I was first introduced to this approach six years ago through my work with C.A.S.A. of Travis County who operates one of the most progressive child advocate programs in the state of Texas. Early Family Engagement is prioritized for every case they handle.
Once the FES position was approved by IJM and funding secured, we interviewed candidates and ultimately the perfect practitioner was selected. I then travelled to Manila, Philippines to onboard this new Family Engagement Specialist.
Since many members of the aftercare team and key partners were also eager to learn more about family engagement, 15 practitioners joined in on the training throughout the week. After presenting 16 hours of content, the team gained clarity and vision for how family engagement can improve outcomes for survivors.
As a brand new approach, I was unsure of how it might be perceived by experts on the ground. Thankfully, it was warmly welcomed as filling a major gap that has existed for a very long time.
One key partner even called this new role “revolutionary” for the Philippines, which truly is our prayer for survivors of OSAEC.
Together we are defining a clear path forward as we work towards implementation. At GCA, we are excited to continue supporting and cheering on this new initiative to ensure more child survivors experience the love of a safe family throughout their healing process.
Phase Two has been designed for children who do not have safe relatives. Click here to learn more about our strategy to improve recruitment and preparation of safe foster families through local church partnerships.