Lumos Kenya supports milestone rollout of care reform in Eastern Region
04.03.2025
The journey towards care reform implementation across Kenya recently took a significant step forward with the rollout of care reform training in the Eastern region of Kenya.
This milestone was marked by a training event that brought together 24 state actors from 8 counties in the Eastern region, taking part in training to be champions of care reform in their respective counties. This rollout follows the scale-up of care reform implementation in Kenya on 30th July 2024 and marks the beginning of Phase 2 of the Care Reform Strategy for Children in Kenya (2022-2032).
Of the 24 event participants, 8 had never received prior training on care reform. 13 had received training, but of these, 9 still felt inadequately prepared to lead the implementation process in their respective counties. This highlighted the importance of the induction session in building capacity, confidence and competence.
While care reform has already been implemented in 15 counties across Kenya, the Eastern region required targeted training to expand coverage, strengthen local implementation, and equip state officers with the knowledge and skills to implement strategic care reform. This training will assist the delivery of the Care Reform Strategy, ensuring that no child is institutionalised unnecessarily and that alternative family-based care options are readily available for children who need it.
Participants attended the traning event to mark the rollout of care reform in the Eastern Region.
It is estimated that there are over 7600 children in 120 Charitable Children Institutions and 134 children in 3 Statutory Child Institutions in the Eastern region.
By the end of day one of training event, Loise Gikuhi, County Coordinator Meru County shared that learning from Embu’s model gave her the confidence to implement similar strategies, stating, “At first, care reform seemed overwhelming, but seeing Embu’s success stories reassured me that it’s possible.”
Anne Munyao from Meru County added, “Care reform is the way forward. Strengthened families will raise responsible children, and I am excited to drive this change in my county.”
Mr. Shem Nyakutu (second) pictured with attendants.
Mr. Shem Nyakutu, Secretary for Children’s Services at the Directorate of Children Services attended the event closing ceremony, where he thanked Lumos for its technical and financial support in championing care reform, particularly in Embu County, and commended the participants for their dedication.
…In the next seven years, all children should be cared for by their families and communities. So we are training these officers, and we want them to implement this care reform strategy, where children will be taken back to their families and communities to be cared for.
– Mr. Shem Nyakutu, Secretary for Children’s Services at the Directorate of Children Services.
Grace Mwangi, Lumos Kenya Country Director added:
We work alongside the government to support the effort that the government has already demonstrated in terms of developing policies, such as [the] national care reform strategy [and the] positive parenting programme.
