Are We Caring Enough for the Children of Lanka? Exploring the Emotional Well-Being of Children in Institutions in Sri Lanka

According to a recent research on the status on child-care institutions and children in Sri Lanka, there has been a rapid increase of child-care institutions from 1998 to 2013, and in 2013, there are 414 child-care institutions in Sri Lanka, providing care for 14, 179 children in such institutions. The causes for institutionalisation of children include abandonment, mothers who migrate for employment, abuse, living in an unsafe home environment, due to the prolong conflict situation following the tsunami disaster and poor economic status of the family. In addition to such factors, children are also referred to ‘remand’ homes and detention centres due to petty and/or major crimes committed by them and other situations of abuse. In Sri Lanka, there is a growing trend towards greater institutionalisation as a favourable option for parents and for child welfare officers, as it may be the most convenient option available for children in the absence of better alternative care options. Sri Lanka has not established a foster care scheme. The need for better logistics to improve the quality and coverage of supervision in such a scheme has further excluded this being made available as an option.

Although institutionalisation of children has both positives and negatives, within the context of the current child welfare system in Sri Lanka, institutions do have their own challenges and often resulting in causing poor quality care for children. The child welfare system in Sri Lanka does not clearly outline the procedures related to institutionalisation. Thus, children are referred into institutions without an adequate plan and procedure in place. Due to such challenges, children are vulnerable to become the victims. Children often feel that they have been institutionalised due to their own fault and are thus at risk of suffering from guilt and rejection. Due to the lack of quality care in many institutions, children also face health issues and are at higher risk of abuse. Such experiences contribute to both a short-and long-term effect on their emotional well-being. One such child-a 14-year-old girl describes her thoughts on institutionalisation as I like this home. But I want to go to my mother. I am a girl who has suffered a lot in life. If I want to be happy, I think I need to study well and make my mother's dreams come true. I feel really sad here. I don't have anyone. I don't want to be here and I want to go home.

Even if the best care services are provided, children yearn to belong to a family. If their yearnings are not fulfilled, it would in turn affect their emotional well-being. The United Nations convention on the Rights of a child (UNCRC) which Sri Lanka ratified in 1990 endorses the rights of children to be in a happy and secure environment.

This study explores external factors and relationships that affect the emotional well-being of institutionalised children. Information is gathered from existing studies, reports and case studies from LEADS work with children and expert interviews. In the consideration of the emotional well-being of children as a priority in building a healthy nation, the authors’ debates whether institutionalised childcare is the best option.

This article is written based on the experience of LEADS-a local non-governmental organisation in Sri Lanka working on child-protection-related issues the organisation provides aftercare services for survivors of abuse including children in institutions. The article is based on information gathered from 200 children in institutions, who received therapeutic and psychosocial services from the organisation in 2016 and using existing theories, studies and expert views.