Over the years, we have learned a powerful truth: the well-being of children facing disadvantages is closely tied to the strength, effectiveness, and resilience of the adults who work directly with these children.
Whether they are nannies, group home parents, teachers, or project managers, these individuals are often the primary source of emotional security and support for children who have experienced abandonment, trauma, and tumultuous family situations.
We believe that to truly support the children in care, we must first support the adults in their lives. It is essential to meet them where they are, to be culturally sensitive, and to engage and motivate them through strength building activities, rather than resorting to deficit-focused approaches.
Frontline caregivers often come with their own personal histories, beliefs, and unique challenges. Expecting them to adopt new ideas or methods without acknowledging their own realities may lead to passive resistance and frustration. Meanwhile, traditional training and support programs often take a deficit-focused approach. Experts come in, identify what caregivers are NOT doing well, and prescribe external solutions. While this is well-intentioned, it can leave caregivers with feelings of inadequacy, demoralization, and confusion.
Instead, we have adopted a strength-based and culturally sensitive model which begins with listening. We invite caregivers to share stories about their daily challenges, joys, fears, and needs. For example, in a training for teachers working in orphanages, the teachers mentioned that some children’s behavior issues and their lack of progress in learning were their biggest challenges at work. Knowing this allows us to tailor the training to their actual needs.
Seeing caregivers as capable and competent problem solvers and amplifying their strengths fosters motivation. For example, in trainings about how to engage with children through play, we started by asking: what kinds of play do you already use with the children in your care? What games did you play when you were little? The discussions brought smiles to everyone’s face. One caregiver shared that she remembered playing “selling piglets” as a child with her siblings, which involved a lot of pretending, playful physical contact, and laughter. She was encouraged to introduce this game to the children during her shift, and it became the most popular game at the time.
Working with caregivers from diverse cultural backgrounds means we need to be adaptable and drop the one-size-fits-all approach. In one of the orphanages, many caregivers were skeptical of formal training but possessed rich local knowledge. Rather than insisting on typical workshops, we used shared staff lunchtime (nap time for the children) as a teaching tool and capacity building opportunities to talk about how to interact with children and understand their behaviors. During this time, caregivers were more open to share their concerns and strategies, rather than quietly noting down information passed on to them as often seen in traditional professional development sessions.
Supporting adults who care for vulnerable children is not about forcing them to conform to a single mold. It is about recognizing their voices, amplifying their strengths, and walking alongside with them humility. When we meet caregivers where they are, we help create a more nurturing and stable environment for the children, and for the caregivers themselves too. This approach emphasizes that quality care begins not just with food and shelter, or training, but with human connections.
