In 2019, Child Hope welcomed four new staff members! Each of our new hires joined the CHI Leadership Team in Haiti, and we are so excited for what they bring to our ministry. Last month they went out for lunch to celebrate the new year and begin looking ahead to 2020 and beyond.
The first is a counselor/psychologist who meets individually with the children and for group sessions (like our FIST sessions). Children develop trauma when they are separated from their families, which makes the counseling work so critical. She also meets with parents or families to complete mental health assessments before reunification.
We hired two social workers who have the hard job of family tracing. Family tracing is particularly difficult because often when children are placed in an orphanage, documentation is lacking. Social workers use intake documents to physically find family members and verify information. Found family members are asked about their desire to pursue reunification.
Our final new hire in 2019 was our current Future Hope manager. He has been helping the older children pursue internship opportunities and he hosts leadership training seminars which reinforce character development which will serve the youth in their careers and in life.