Step Ahead

Children Belong in Families, Not Institutions

In Thailand, more than 135,000 children are growing up in residential care. Research suggests that up to 90% have at least one parent. In most cases, children are separated from their families not because they are orphans, but because their families face poverty, crisis, or lack of support.

But there is a better way.

When vulnerable families receive practical support, parenting guidance, and encouragement, children can remain safely at home—where they belong.

Many people have asked for this training in English, and we are excited to make it available to social workers, NGO staff, church and community leaders, and anyone passionate about strengthening families and preventing unnecessary separation.

During this interactive training, you will learn:
1. Practical tools to assess and support vulnerable families
2. Evidence-based strategies to prevent child-family separation
3. Trauma-informed approaches to family strengthening
4. Case management techniques and home visiting tools
5. Ways to build safer, healthier, and more nurturing homes for children

Whether you work in child protection, anti-trafficking, community development, or pastoral care, this training will equip you with practical skills you can immediately apply in your own context.

A child’s future should not be defined by displacement.

Yet today:
• 40% of refugee children are experiencing severe anxiety
• 60%+ are out of school

In our Step Ahead, Freedom for Families program, we meet these children every day—children carrying uncertainty, disrupted education, and emotional stress far beyond their years.

We walk alongside their families to bring stability, restore access to education, and create pathways forward.

Because every child deserves more than survival.

They deserve a future.

Source: Rights Beyond Borders (2025), Refugee Child Wellbeing Research

Recently, the Step Ahead team participated in a training on equity, equality, and justice—and it was a powerful reminder that how we serve matters just as much as what we do.

In under-resourced communities, families are not starting from the same place. Treating everyone the same (equality) is not enough. We must respond to the unique challenges each family faces (equity), while also working to address the deeper systems that create those challenges in the first place (justice).

This is at the heart of our work—walking alongside families, strengthening their capacity, and advocating for systems that allow every child to grow up in a safe and nurturing family.

Last week in Chiang Mai, Step Ahead gathered with partners to deliver a two-day workshop for church leaders on “Strengthening Families, Protecting Children, Honoring God’s Design.”

Together, we reflected on how the Church can play a vital role in keeping families together—ensuring poverty is never the reason a child is separated from their parents.

We are encouraged by church leaders who are stepping forward with new understanding and practical tools to care for vulnerable children by strengthening their families.

This past week, our “Three Chefs Team” consisting of Step Ahead Foundation, Care for Children, and Sahathai Foundation had the privilege of serving as trainers for Case Management (CM) at the local level in Khon Kaen Province, in partnership with the Khon Kaen Provincial Children and Family Shelter.

This training builds on our other sessions with 224 Local District leaders promoting child protection within families. This time, we saw a beautiful expansion — with returning leaders joining alongside multidisciplinary partners, including staff from One-Stop Crisis Centers (OSCCs) and teachers from local schools.

We had 92 participants (well above our target of 80!), and what stood out most was their commitment. They stayed engaged until the very end — active, thoughtful, and clearly carrying a deep heart for protecting children. As organizers and trainers, we couldn’t have asked for more.

During reflection time, participants shared powerful insights:

They appreciated learning theory through hands-on, practical application — gaining clarity on where to find information, how to seek support, and how to connect with key partners.

They now better understand the step-by-step processes for working with children and families, as well as the distinct roles of different agencies.

Many voiced the real challenges they face. There was strong agreement that multi-sector collaboration is essential. When any sector lacks awareness or urgency, children fall through the cracks.

Participants suggested regular (at least annual) coordination meetings to strengthen relationships and shared understanding.

At the same time, participants spoke honestly about system-level challenges.
While there are many people with genuine hearts to help children, the system itself can be difficult, influenced by hierarchy, limited resources, complex procedures, and delays that prevent timely response.

There is still a long road ahead.

But there is also hope — because there are people who care deeply and are willing to keep showing up.

Step Ahead was honored to be invited by the Department of Children and Youth and UNICEF to join a working session on strengthening Thailand’s child protection system. 🤝

Together, we worked through a national survey that will help shape future policy recommendations—grounded in real experiences, challenges, and opportunities across the system.

A strong child protection system brings together laws, policies, services, and community support to prevent and respond to violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation of children. It requires coordination across social welfare, justice, health, education, and community systems—so children and families receive timely, holistic support.

Our discussions focused on six key building blocks of a comprehensive child protection system:
🔹 Legal and Policy Framework
🔹 Governance and Coordination
🔹 Human and Financial Resources
🔹 Continuum of Services
🔹 Child and Community Participation
🔹 Data and Evidence

Grateful to be part of a shared effort to strengthen systems that ensure children can grow up in safe and nurturing families.

There is something beautiful about collective impact.

It begins when a small group of people gather around the same hope: children should grow up in safe, loving families.

Each organization brings something different:
experience, relationships, wisdom, courage.
No one carries the vision alone.

And something powerful begins to form.

At Alternative Care Thailand, we see what becomes possible when collaboration replaces competition, and people move forward together.

A small group.
A shared vision.
The steady work of building something better for children and families.

This is how real change begins.

Image: ACT Monthly Meeting February 2026

On International Women’s Day, we celebrate the women who are transforming child protection in Thailand.

Women who advocate for family-based care.

Women who strengthen families before separation happens.

Women working in communities, government, and organizations to ensure children grow up in safe, loving families.

Their leadership, compassion, and persistence are helping shift systems toward a future where every child belongs in a family.

At Step Ahead, we are honored to work alongside so many incredible women leading this change.

Happy International Women’s Day.

Image: Step Ahead staff completing a coaching workshop led by the wonderful Gade, equipping our team with practical skills to better walk alongside and support the families in our programs.

Today, on International Women’s Day, we honor the women who quietly hold families together.

Mothers who work tirelessly to care for their children.

Grandmothers who step in when families struggle.

Social workers who walk alongside families during their hardest moments.

Foster mothers who open their homes with courage and love.

Community volunteers who refuse to let families face hardship alone.

At Step Ahead, we see every day that when women are supported, families grow stronger and children are more likely to thrive in safe and loving homes.

Today, we celebrate the strength, resilience, and compassion of women everywhere.

Thank you for the countless ways you protect, nurture, and strengthen families.

Happy International Women’s Day.

Image: Shutterstock

Today, Step Ahead staff members Dr. Jonathan Fletcher and Kimberly Quinley were honored to meet with His Grace, The Most Reverend Francis Xavier Vira Arpondratana, Archbishop of Bangkok and President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Thailand. We discussed the importance of children growing up in families rather than institutions, and explored how His Grace might endorse the Global Charter on Children’s Care Reform.