Community-Based Pregnancy Counseling

and Referral Services

The KBF’s Community-Based Pregnancy Counseling Services was developed to respond to the need for enlightenment of pregnant teens and women who are lost, fearful and hesitant to disclose to their families about their condition.  Most of these pregnant women are not prepared and equipped to handle their present situation.  It is important that they are helped to have appropriate options to address their current situation.

Foster Care Service

KBF’s Foster Care Service provides temporary substitute family care for children-newborn to two years old-when their birth families cannot take care of them, either temporarily or permanently.

For this purpose, KBF maintains a roster of licensed foster families who are committed to providing a nurturing home environment for the children in their care while awaiting return to their birth families or adoption.

Rationale for the Service

The biological family is responsible for providing family life for a child. For this reason, the family is to be protected and preserved whenever possible. Certain circumstances, however-such as a broken home, unwed motherhood, abandonment, serious illness or extreme poverty-may prevent a family from fulfilling its primary function of caring for the child. Thus, substitute parental care becomes necessary. The child is temporarily cared for by others, until his or her biological family is ready to provide a stable and secure home once again or until permanent placement with a new family is done through adoption.

Independent Living and Educational Assistance Service

KBF’S Independent Living and Educational Assistance (ILEA) Service provides board and lodging in a group home, as well as tuition and related school expenses for a limited number of young people in their mid- to late-teens. The goal is to equip these young scholars with the academic credentials and employable skills to enable them to become independent, self-reliant and productive adults.

Rationale of the Service

Thousands of homeless children who were abandoned, neglected, orphaned or surrendered by their families are staying in government institutions, in private child-caring agencies, or in licensed foster homes all over the country. Unfortunately, only a small number are reunited with their birth families or are eventually adopted. Those who stay on until they are no longer qualified to remain in an institution or with a foster family have to be prepared to support themselves as adults.

It is in this context that KBF responded through the establishment of the ILEA Service. With education as its main component, it seeks to enable these young people to complete high school or college, and then find gainful employment to support themselves and their future families.

Philosophical Basis

KBF believes that, in the absence of a permanent family to love, care for, guide and prepare them for adult life, children should be empowered to care for themselves. If given the proper opportunities, they can become independent, self-reliant, God-fearing citizens who can contribute to nation building.

Legal Basis

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), Article 26 – states that every person has the right to education; and education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 29 – provides that the education of the child shall be directed to the development of the child’s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential; and the preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society.

Presidential Decree 603, Article 3 – states that every child has the right to an education commensurate with his abilities and to the development of his skills for the improvement of his capacity for service to himself and to his fellowmen.

OBJECTIVES OF THE SERVICE

KBF’s ILEA Service aims to:

a) Support the scholars’ completion of secondary, vocational and, in special cases, college education;

b) Provide a group home as a venue for them to learn life skills and experience a family environment;

c) Enable the scholars to “heal” from their past, regain self-worth and confidence, and develop the responsibility
and discipline to live an independent life as adults;

d) Strengthen their capacity to trust and relate to/interact with others;

e) Inculcate in the scholars love of God, family and country and respect for the environment;

f) Assist them in finding employment opportunities upon completion of their schooling.

Eligible as ILEA Scholars:

The following are eligible for acceptance into KBF’s ILEA Service:

a) Homeless adolescents (generally 15 to 18 years old) who have not been adopted

b) Those who have been staying in institutions or with foster families, but have reached the age limit for such arrangement

c) Those who have no family to return to nor support them in their education

Components of the Service:

Educational Assistance – The ILEA Service covers tuition fees, school supplies, cost of school projects and activities, transportation, snack allowance, and other expenses related to schooling.

Group Home – Board and lodging is provided for the scholars while they are studying, where they are expected to learn basic home life skills and share in the household chores, such as budgeting, menu planning, marketing, buying groceries, cooking, cleaning, doing the laundry, etc. No houseparent is assigned to the group home, but a KBF social worker visits regularly.

Casework – Individual counseling is provided as part of the case management for each scholar to start life anew.

Groupwork – Individual counseling is provided as part of the case management for each scholar to start life anew.

Job Placement – Employment assistance is extended to the scholars after graduation through referrals, job inquiries and guidance in submitting job applications.

Follow-up and After Care – The social worker ensures that newly-employed scholars are adjusting well in their jobs, have decent living conditions, and have prospects for a comfortable and happy life.

Family and Community Outreach Program

I. Introduction

Kaisahang Buhay Foundation, Inc (KBF) commits to fulfilling and promoting the child’s rights to quality education. To do so, a child’s family has an essential role. KBF and HOLT international believe that families if organized and empowered, can be instruments for community development and nation-building and, more so, for the children to enjoy their rights. The family must receive assistance to realize and appreciate their potential and identify their needs and corresponding solutions or actions based on available resources.

KBF’s Family and Community Outreach Program (FCOP) uses social preparation, social mobilization, and volunteer resource development to organize the communities it serves. Such organizing is important to ensure collective participation and ownership of each project undertaken by the families and communities. Thus, the service encourages effective interaction among families and other social structures in the community to achieve its objectives.

II. Philosophy

• We believe that people can change and start where they are.
• We believe in cooperation and organized collective effort/action, not individualistic competition for nation-building.

III. Legal Basis

A.  1986 Philippine Constitution, “Roles and Rights of People’s Organizations” mandates that the government shall respect, support and promote the rights of People’s Organizations.

B.  Executive Order 548, “Minimum Basic Needs Approach in the Social Reform Agenda” encourages families to initiate and participate in community organizations to meet their primary requirements for survival.

C.  UNCRC – In 1989, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was approved by the United Nations (UN). In 1990, the Philippine Government 3rd AIPA CAUCUS REPORT 2 became the 31st state to ratify the Convention by virtue of Senate Resolution 109. After ratifying the UNCRC, the country, through the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC), formulated a children’s welfare policy framework embodied in the National Plan for Children, which until now is the basis of the continuing efforts undertaken by the Government to achieve the realization of the nation’s vision for the child protection and development.

 IV. Objectives of the Service

A.  It aims to empower disadvantaged families to care for & nurture their children.

B.  Improve the quality of life of disadvantaged families and communities through organizing, problem-solving, and decision-making.

V. Target Beneficiaries:

Family and Community Outreach Service (FCOP) expect to reach out to the most disadvantaged children and families whose income is below the poverty line, thus unable to meet their minimum basic needs or access essential social services/resources. The Schools Division Office (SDOs) and Non-Government Organization (NGO) are the main partners of the KBF in identifying the beneficiaries in their area.

VI.  FCOP Services

A.  Educational Assistance Service (EAS)

KBF established Educational Assistance Service (EAS) in May 2017. It provides supplementary material and financial support to children in selected elementary and high schools with a high rate of children at risk of dropping out and children who have dropped out to return to school and continue their studies.

EAS aims is to support initiatives and efforts of the government to reduce the number of elementary and high school children at risk of dropping out.

         B.  Supplemental Feeding Service (SFS)

KBF supports government efforts to address malnutrition, hunger, and food insecurity through its Supplementary Feeding Service (SFS), one of the family strengthening services under the Family and Community Outreach Program which aims to provide extra food beyond the regular meal ration at home to children 6 months to 5 years in low-income communities who are vulnerable to malnutrition, to prevent undernutrition and/or to rehabilitate children who are identified to be undernourished to a higher or normal nutritional status.

The overall goal of the Supplementary Feeding Service is to contribute to the reduction of the prevalence of undernourished children aged 6 months to 5 years old through the provision of supplementary meals for 120 feeding days to children who are undernourished or at risk of undernutrition.

          C.    Early Childhood Care and Development Service (ECCD)

The HB-CCD project is in keeping with KBF’s Family Strengthening focus with its intention to capacitate the parents to improve their caregiving practices to support the holistic development of children and reduce the likelihood of child abuse and neglect. Primarily, parents will be engaged to provide responsive caregiving and stimulating age-appropriate activities for their children through play and communication activities. It capitalizes on the benefits of direct parental involvement in developing their children, and the home, as a safe and non-threatening setting within which children and parents may learn and grow.

          D.     Parent Education Service (PES)

Parents play a vital role in the development of children and it is possible to help parents be more effective through education and training. Parent Education Service (PES) is the provision and expansion of knowledge and skills of parents and parent substitutes/caregivers on parenting to respond to parental duties and responsibilities in early childhood development, behavior management of younger and older children, and husband-wife.

Parent Education Service aims to enhance parenting practices and behaviors of families served under Family and Community Outreach Program services, such as developing and practicing positive discipline techniques, learning age-appropriate child development skills and milestones, promoting positive play and interaction between parents and children, to help them develop language skills, emotions, creativity, and social skills.

          E.       Community Outreach Service (COS)

Community outreach programs are a standard way for groups such as social service agencies, nonprofit groups, churches, or other religious groups to identify a certain specific need in their community and provide services to the people who need them. It is also to reach out to others or become involved in a community of effort. The act or practice of visiting and providing the services (of a charity or other organization) to people who might not otherwise have access to those services.

The Community Outreach Service (COS) aims to influence and collaborate with good people to give back and help the community grow substantially by caring, contributing, and supporting those individuals who are unable to sustain their basic needs.