Whole Child International is a U.S.-based non-governmental organization (NGO) founded in 2004. Whole Child focuses on improving the quality of care for vulnerable children worldwide by working within childcare institutions (orphanages) and in limited-resource childcare centers where children often show the same unmet developmental needs and poor outcomes as those in orphanages. Whole Child's program is built as a countrywide collaboration, working together with a national government and a major local university to implement a unified strategy across a nation's childcare system.
Millions of vulnerable children around the world do not receive adequate care and suffer from a lack of stable, supportive relationships. This is particularly true for children in developing countries growing up in orphanages, those from low-income families who spend the majority of their day in early childcare centers and those being bounced around foster care. While the global community tackles some of the underlying issues facing these children, their immediate developmental and emotional needs are not being met, resulting in stunted development, high levels of criminality, and other adverse outcomes, reinforcing the cycle of poverty.
Whole Child International creates a nationwide program to establish high-quality care as a basic standard that is provided to all children, in any setting in which they receive that care. We work within the local child welfare system to build capacity within local universities, local government and caregiving staff. Together with existing stakeholders we make the changes necessary to build stable, family-like environments that enable proper child development — ensuring that all children can fulfill their promise as productive members of society.