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Despite our best efforts, sometimes children cannot remain with their birth families. When separated from birth families, children historically have been cared for in institutions, orphanages, boarding homes or shelters.
Children have the right to survive and be protected. The first six years of life, the formative years, are the most crucial stage of the child's growth and development. At BSSK we endeavor to give children the best stimulation, nutrition, medical care, warmth, love and emotional security. Here children are well cared for by a team of child development and social workers, caretakers, nurses, doctors, psychologists, teachers and volunteers.
Children are grouped and cared for according to their age.
BSSK's medical assistance and programs in residential care include :
- Immunizations as per a child’s age are administered.
- Primary medical investigations such as HIV, Australia Antigen, VDRL, Blood g group, Haemogram, Chest X-ray and other tests are administered as may be required.
- Infants who are under one month are given special care in our own ‘Neonatal Nursery’. The Neonatal Nursery accommodates 10 to 12 babies, with specially trained BSSK nurses in attendance. On completion of one month, the children are either shifted to foster family care or to another room.
- Child development workers give each child the appropriate emotional, motor and speech stimulation. A home like environment is created to encourage learning and normal growth, attachment and bonding.
- Each child's health is closely monitored.
- Constant paediatric care is available.
- The caretakers change, clean, bathe, feed, sing, talk and tell stories to the babies and
children.
- A clinical psychologist does the DQ/IQ testing of the children and keeps a close watch on each child's development.
- Dedicated volunteer services are very valuable.
- For the older children, school classes are conducted every morning by volunteers and
trained staff. Children learn the alphabets, numbers, nursery rhymes, reading ,writing,
painting.
- Our special needs children are given all the care and attention essential for them. When required, physiotherapy is given to these children. The children who are physically able and mentally alert attend a school for children with special needs.
- The entire child care team works under the guidance and expertise of a supervisor and the child care Programme Director.
Care in matters - big and small:
Every morning staff and children get together for prayers. The staff encourage children to
express themselves and facilitate appropriate behaviour. The Child Development Workers (CDW) also prepare the children for their adoption, to make the transitions easier. Every effort is made to build a bond of trust with the children. When older children come into care sometimes they are traumatized and they are given a lot of love and care to build feelings of trust in the child once more.
Festivals are celebrated with a lot of gaiety and enthusiasm. Most importantly every child's birthday is celebrated and documented for the children. Children are also taught dance, drama, music and art by the talented CDWs.
Picnics to places like the zoo, a garden and a stud farm are arranged for children from time to time. Children address the ayahs as ‘Aai’ - ‘mother’ the other staff members and volunteers as ‘tai’ - ‘sister’, helping to create an atmosphere of warmth and affection.
The Therapy Room:
 Children at BSSK are in the age group 0-6 yrs… which as we all know are the most formative years in the life of any human being. It is now a well-established fact that inputs during these years in the child’s life will have long lasting impact in their lives.
In order to mitigate the effects of the difficult circumstances from which our children get here and the later effects of institutionalization, we are always in search of ways and techniques - The therapy room is one such facility.
At the physical level, there are children who are in need of physiotherapy, others in need to speech therapy, and still others audio therapy. Children identified for such therapies will be provided with specialized inputs in these areas from therapists trained in these skills of therapy. Currently we have a physiotherapist and a speech therapist.
With regard to the psychosocial areas, behaviour problems of children are a frustrating experience for caregivers. Here at BSSK, for those children who are not in foster care…. the ratio is 1adult:4 children, besides the staff rotate and the child has several caregivers to deal with. It may appear that the child has options of several
adults however the individual inconsistencies in care giving often poses problems such as formation of insecure attachments, and recognition of situations in routine situations…some of these may need timely intervention…. John Bowlby’s work and Inge Bretherton’s and Ainsworths work illustrates the processes in formation of attachments and indicators of security.
Children as they get older get difficult to manage, since they are beginning to assert themselves as persons. Caregivers are usually comfortable with quiet ones…who do not express themselves, and label those who express themselves as being disruptive! We would be concerned about those children who are not expressive and are being labeled.
With some children there are experiences, that the child needs to deal with for instance abuse, feelings of abandonment, a fight with another child in the institution, or a transition from one level to another e.g. (from the age group 0-1yr; to 1-2yrs or to 3-6). There are experiences of children, wherein one of their friends/mates has “found” parents and they are in anticipation of finding a parent. These experience place several demands on young children. In order to make this into a “positive” growth experience for children we need to have an intervention.
For this purpose, the room will also be used for play therapy and for observing children at play. The structure of the room is such that the room is well lit and has a one way viewing glass. The walls of the room are lined and the floor carpeted with soft material that will protect the child from any injury should the child want to bang his/her head or decide to roll over. The structure is designed in such a way…. where we will be able to work with children more intensively, to help facilitate the process of development of children and to allow for a “catch up” in the process of growth and development. The equipment that’s used in the room varies with the kind of therapy.
With regard to “Play therapy”, its benefits are well outlined in Virginia Axline’s work and in Child life programs in hospitals. Each session, for example, with a 3 yr old child is for duration of 40 minutes. The room is prepared with material which the child is familiar with like for instance puppets with saris that the caregivers wear, dolls ….and other “expressive” play material such as crayons and clay or it could be a sand tray. The therapist sits at one end and does not interfere. The role of the therapist is to initiate play, observe, and evaluate what happens. The co-observer makes her observations from the viewing window. The child can terminate the session at any time.
The design of the session is such that allows the child to take the lead. Detailed observations are made of the play session, by the therapist and the observer. After the 3rd/4th session the therapist takes the child through a slightly structured play activity. We have been following up the case of a 4 year old child who has been with us since she was a few months old… the caregivers had labeled her as being disruptive and aggressive. After a series of 4-5 sessions over a period of 4 months the caregivers say that her disruptive behaviour has reduced.
Observing children at play tells us of situations where we may also need to restructure the care environment so as to not reinforce negative feelings. We hit upon an insight…which helped us restructure disciplining of children at BSSK…. during the normal course of the day caregivers often say to some children…. if you do not “behave as I tell you….you will not get your mummy daddy”…..we have put these interim insights into our caregiver training, so as to help caregivers use development fostering ways of disciplining. At the end, at BSSK we are trying our best to move from a welfare approach to a well being one.
‘Each child is loved and cared for as an individual in BSSK’
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