Childcare training program extends UCDE's reach to orphanages in Central America

In the media, we hear disturbing stories about orphanages in other countries—institutions operating more like warehouses than homes for needy children. These are places where mental and physical stimulation are virtually nonexistent. Places where young children often spend 23 hours each day in a lonely crib.

According to Diane Harkins, the director of child development at The Center for Human Services at UC Davis Extension, many international orphanages meet the basic needs of safety, cleanliness and medical care of the children who live there. What they lack, however, is the means to provide adequate human contact that enables a child to thrive physically, cognitively, emotionally and socially.

Harkins recently teamed up with nonprofit organizations Whole Child International and the West-Ed Program for Infants/Toddler Caregivers to implement a caregiver training program in El Salvador. Harkins, a fluent Spanish speaker, serves as training coordinator for the project, which will train the caregivers of more than 200 children from birth to age five at two orphanages in San Salvador. To date, the pilot project has completed training the administrators of the two orphanages and will begin training the caregiver staff at these children's homes next spring.

As part of the administrator training, Harkins took a small group of nuns from the El Salvador orphanages to Budapest, Hungary, to observe and study at the Pikler Institute, a model program there.

"It was clear that the administrators (nuns) don't have an opportunity to meet with directors at other orphanages," Harkins explains. "They were very eager and excited to observe the model program and see the changes that they could implement at their own facilities."

The caregiver training program will take one year to complete and will consist of a bimonthly three-to five-day session with trainers, followed by a bimonthly technical assistance session on alternate months. For the technical assistance portion of the training, the trainers will observe and coach caregivers on their newly-acquired skills such as proper bathing of infants and facilitating developmentally-appropriate play.

This childcare training project has also been extended to Nicaragua, where training will begin at an orphanage in the fall. In addition, Harkins traveled this summer to Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa to assess several orphanages there and determine whether the childcare training program could be implemented in Africa.

"Our international involvement in training caregivers will help children around the world develop an emotional attachment to an adult caregiver, a necessary step for good mental health and development," Harkins adds.

For more information about the Whole Child International Pilot Project, contact Diane Harkins at The Center for Human Services at (530) 757-8643, or go to www.wholechild.org. For general information about training in child development, child welfare or other human services needs, contact The Center at (530) 757-8643 or visit the Web site at www.humanservices.ucdavis.edu.