Child Protection Services and Emergency Response

The January 12th earthquake in Port-au-Prince killed over 230,000 people and left hundreds of thousands more displaced. Over 480,000 people have moved from Port-au-Prince, leaving behind their communities and traditional support structures. Tens of thousands more have relocated within the city to spontaneous informal settlements. In this mass migration, families have been separated and children have been left orphaned. Many separated children have been, or are currently located in the regions hospitals and there is a large backlog of children that have yet to be identified or registered. Failing to follow up on these cases endangers children and threatens to permanently separate families.

Program Summary

Heartland Alliance currently has six teams of five Child Protection Officers (CPOs) systematically canvassing all of Haiti's hospitals to identify and register unaccompanied children. Where possible, Heartland Alliance's CPOs use the information gathered in the registration form to trace and reunite the separated children with their families. When a child is determined to be the sole surviving family member, Heartland Alliance works directly with the Haitian Government to find a safe interim care facility in which to place the child until long-term foster care is available.

In addition to the teams working on the family tracing and reunification process, Heartland Alliance has a number of emergency mobile response teams. These teams respond to emergency calls in Port-au-Prince, finding and helping high-risk children throughout the city.  Both programs were developed in coordination with the Government of Haiti, UNICEF, and a number of international organizations as part of a comprehensive system for the registration and tracing of separated children.

Activities

Heartland Alliance is working to support separated children by:

• Mapping and prioritizing health care facilities in and around Port-au-Prince;
• Identifying and registering separated children currently and formerly in health care facilities in and around Port-au-Prince;
• Tracing and reunifying separated children in cases where doing so is possible;
• Responding to emergency calls regarding separated children in dangerous situations.