Lumos Colombia
One of the countries Lumos works in is Colombia, where children growing up without parental care are predominantly placed in orphanages and large institutions. However, there is now a growing number of foster carers across the country. In 2020, the Martin James Foundation, in collaboration with colleagues from our affiliate Key Assets Canada, worked in partnership with Lumos to train social workers in Colombia so that this growth in foster care continues. Our training supported colleagues in the Michin Foundation in Bogota with their efforts to reintegrate children from orphanages into families. The training focused on ways to recruit, assess and support foster carers. The partnership built capacity amongst civil society groups and supported efforts to implement family-based care whilst ensuring the care is high quality and safeguarding children.