Pulse of Community: Children’s Home consolidates recommendations

A team from the home, including Fatima Al Kaabi, Head of Case Section, Khadija Al Zaabi, Head of Boarding and Residential Section, and Alya Al Suwaidi, Psychological Specialist, outlined their responsibilities and the services offered. Participants emerged with a set of recommendations aimed at enhancing and facilitating these services.

Key suggestions included organising and expediting appointments for children registered at the home in hospitals, especially in emergencies; providing therapeutic psychological sessions for residents; conducting workshops and training courses for staff, including caregivers, psychologists, social workers, and health educators, on child care practices and handling children with various health and psychological conditions, guided by expert specialists in child care.

Further recommendations included simplifying procedures for issuing official documents—preferably electronically or at a single location—for children eligible to receive them, involving the relevant authorities. They also recommended workshops on mental health and proper nutrition for residents, and linking the Case Management System with the institution’s system to facilitate access to residents’ files and reports.

Rehabilitating children without care

The Children’s Social Care Home is among the first homes in the UAE dedicated to children without social care, providing support until they are placed with foster families or their family circumstances improve.

It caters to children of unknown parentage, children with a known mother only, and children affected by family breakdown or domestic violence, rehabilitating them to address the impact of abuse or neglect.

The department aims to foster a community enjoying well-being, safety, family stability, and social inclusion, in line with best social practices and sustainable development goals.

It also provides therapeutic, preventive, and developmental social services in areas of protection, care, and rehabilitation for individuals, families, and groups with special social circumstances, studying social issues to find solutions and support decision-making, contributing to the sustainable development of Sharjah’s community.

Ensuring rights

The home oversees all matters concerning children without social care, making appropriate decisions regarding their care, securing their rights, and legally representing them. It supports their self-fulfilment through programmes and recreational activities, provides protection, manages their finances, and facilitates reintegration into their biological families if possible or arranges foster families. Currently, the home accommodates children aged from one month to 18 years. Residents receive care from social and psychological specialists, supervisors, caregivers, nurses, and administrative staff, ensuring operations run according to planned programmes.

Integration

The home also manages the affairs of adolescents, integrating young people of unknown parentage who have reached 18 into society through various enabling measures such as employment, marriage, continuing education, and independent living support. Additionally, it ensures the right to family integration in foster families for children of unknown parentage, carefully selecting suitable families and monitoring the safety and well-being of placements through specialised teams.