The provision of foster care to orphaned children in Kibera slums in Kenya

Abstract

Globally,more than 13 million children under 15years of age have lost one or both parents. In Kenya,there are approximately 1.78 million orphans. In a situation where 56.1% of the foster care providers live below the poverty line, there is evidence that they do not have adequate and reliable income which can provide the needs of the orphaned children on a regular and sustainable basis. Under such circumstances, the quality of provision of basic needs can be of secondary importance. This study is about the provision of foster care to orphaned children in Kibera slums in Nairobi, Kenya. The aim of the study is to strengthen the capacity of foster families to protect and care for orphaned children. The study attempted to realize the following objectives: It assessed the quality of foster care with regard to the provision of food, clothing, shelter, education and healthcare to orphaned children. The investigator further sought to determine the sources of social support, currently available to foster care providers. The researcher also attempted to identify the problems faced by foster-care providers in the provision of social, economic and psychological needs of orphaned children. Finally, the study sought to establish the extent to which orphaned children felt that their needs were adequately met through foster care. The investigator adopted Systems Theory and Role Theory to explain the provision of foster care and ExchangeTheory to explore strategies for improving foster care. The study was conducted both as a quantitative cross-sectional survey and qualitative study. The Snowball Sampling Technique was used to identify a Sample Size of 82 respondents. Focus Group Discussions were conducted with 37 orphaned children. A total of 18 key informants were interviewed. In data collection, both quantitative and qualitative methods were used with the objective of obtaining accurate information and capturing variability. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze and present data. Among the major findings of the study is the absence of records of orphaned children in the division of Kibera, and in the Provincial Office. This study revealed an average of 2.2 orphaned children per foster care provider, which is an increase from 1.9 in 2004 to 2.2 in 2005. The Mean number of orphaned children under foster care was 2.2 per foster care provider,with a Range of 4.0, a Median of2.0, a Mode of 3, and a Standard Deviation of 1.3. Nearly 10% of the respondents provided foster care to at least 5 orphaned children. Consequently,the quality of foster care with regard to the provision of food, clothing, shelter, education and health care is poor and the quantity is inadequate. Evidence of poor quality care include the provision of one meal per day or none at all, inadequate and poor quality clothing and crowded shelter. Indeed, twenty two percent of the orphaned children had dropped out of school. Other characteristics of poor quality care include poor sanitary conditions, failure to take orphaned children for immunization, and unhealthy environmental conditions. The result is poor health status exhibited in high morbidity and mortality rates among the orphaned children. The majority of the foster care providers (72.5%) reiterated that they experienced greatest problems in the provision of education for the orphaned children. Food ranked second in the order of unmet needs at 46.3%. The third problem was healthcare at 27.5%. Shelter ranked fourth with 20% while clothing was fifth with 17.5%. This situation is aggravated by the fact that only four percent of the respondents received social support in form of Government bursaries. Psychologically, the majority of the orphaned children expressed lack of satisfaction with the care they received, characterized by lack of preparation for foster care, child abuse, desertion, child neglect and child labour with consequences of misery, absenteeism from school, poor academic performance and moving into the streets. The fact that 56.1% of the respondents were forced by circumstances to provide foster care also exposed orphaned children to the risk of child labour and neglect. The investigator recommended that there is need to review and revise the law on foster care to incorporate direct support by the Government in terms of the provision of the basic needs of orphaned children. The inauguration of a National Fund for the care of orphaned children in the Government of Kenya will be a move in a positive direction. Besides this, a certain percentage of the Constituency Development Fund should be allocated specifically for the education of orphaned children, so that students who qualify for secondary, tertiary and university education can access further education. Finally,the registration of the birth of children and of orphaned children should be reinforced at all levels of Government, to enable the Government and other stakeholders to protect and plan for the provision of the needs of orphaned children effectively. The Children's Department has the responsibility of establishing a system of monitoring children who are orphaned, evaluating the type of care given and addressing the problems facing them periodically. With increased information, orphaned children can be placed with willing foster care providers.