An institution cannot give a child the love and nurturing care of a family. There is a better way.
Family settings can provide the consistent, loving relationships that nourish healthy development. Not only are institutions incapable of providing this, but they can also cause harm at a crucial stage of life. When a child experiences the severe and ongoing toxic stress that is so common in institutions, it can derail their development and can lead to lifelong social, physical and mental health problems.
Overwhelming evidence shows us a better way forward, and it is our mission to work with partners, children, and families to change the story.
Our approach
Prevention & reintegration
We are ensuring families have the support they need to care for their children as this plays a pivotal role in preventing unnecessary separation of children from their families and supports the reintegration of children following family separation.
Strengthening child protection & welfare systems
We partner with governments to achieve impact at scale in strengthening national child protection and child welfare systems, especially when seeking multi-sectoral, systems-level change.
Increasing care reform commitments
We do advocacy & awareness-raising with stakeholders at all levels and across sectors to shed light on challenges faced by marginalised groups, to increase international and national commitment towards care reform, and to ensure the necessary policies, processes and programmes are in place and adequate funding is allocated.
Amplifying engagement of impacted young people
We advocate for and enable high quality, meaningful participation of children, young people and families in the decision-making that affects them, and in the care reform process more widely including in the development of policies, practice and programming.
Behind our solutions
Decades of research underpins the work we do. See the evidence demonstrating how the use of institutions as a care solution can harm children in practice, and why family-centred care is the way forward.
The link between institutions and education
All children have the right to both grow up in a family, and to have a quality education that meets their needs. In recent years, however, Lumos’s work around the world has shown that sometimes, families are having to choose between these two rights for their children.
The link between institutions and human trafficking
This review examines the growing evidence of the links between the institutionalisation of children and human trafficking. It highlights how the relationship between the two compounds the harmful nature of both phenomena and offers insight into the global response needed.
The link between institutions and human trafficking in Europe
For many years, it has been known that traffickers directly target children in the care systems of many countries for recruitment into trafficking and that care leavers are at increased risk of exploitation. Despite this, laws and policies across Europe seldom connect the issues of child institutionalisation and child trafficking.
The link between institutions and harms
This research makes a compelling case for care reform. It makes clear that growing up in an institution can lead to harms across multiple aspects of child development, affecting physical growth, learning, attention and socio-emotional development.
The link between institutions and migrant, asylum-seeking and refugee children
Despite dedicated efforts and significant progress towards deinstitutionalisation across Europe in recent years, institutional care is too often the default response to unaccompanied migrant, asylum-seeking and refugee children.
The link between philanthropy and transforming care
Both larger and smaller private trusts and foundations have the opportunity to advance the lives of children. We provide recommendations on how they can build and strengthen the systems needed for children to thrive, by redirecting resources and pursuing alternatives that prioritise families and community-based support.
