Catalysts for Social Action (CSA) is an Indian NGO (non-governmental, social development organization) with a mission to create a brighter future for children in need of care and protection residing at Child Care Institutions (Orphanages).

Children in need of care and protection (CNCP) are either, abused, abandoned, orphan, exploited or children with parents unfit to take care of them. We would agree that “Family” is the most important connection in our life; one that nurtures us and provides unconditional love and support in good times and bad. Children at Child Care Homes, however, have no one to look out for them. CSA’s tag line is “A Family for Every Child” and it means that we must be there for them just the way their family would.

There are 9,500+ Child Care Institutions (CCI’s) in India with close to 370,000 children residing in these CCI’s.These CCI's suffer from different bottlenecks – lack of clean facilities, poor infrastructure, malnourishment, lack of basic healthcare & hygiene and poor education outcomes. Adolescent children have to exit from the CCI’s when they are 18 years old which poses a huge threat to the future of these children; they are not yet ready for independent living and a decent career.

OUR GOAL

To nurture children through a holistic child care program, develop & improve the standards of care of CCI's and prepare children for independent living outside the CCI that will enable a  bright future for these children and help them grow into happy and contributing members of society.

AREAS OF WORK

Our areas of work cover the major areas of weakness in the entire eco-system spanning Adoption, Child Care Institutions and Aftercare. We also believe in working along with the government to improve policies and their implementation and advocacy based on data and research. Within these areas, we have identified the gaps and work with existing institutions and stakeholders to fill these gaps and strengthen the systems and processes.

CSA works as a “catalyst” focusing on a holistic approach to child care and optimal rehabilitation outcomes.

Our Areas of Work are enlisted below -  

Health & Nutrition

Education & Child Development

Livelihood & Aftercare

Capacity Building & Advocacy

We are currently covering about 4600 children under institutional care

• Catalysts for Social Action is an Indian NGO (non-governmental, social development organization) with a mission to create a brighter future for children under institutional care.
• We start with the basics; move on to education and developmental support, thereby, looking at a holistic approach. We identify the major gaps areas in the entire ecosystem spanning Child Care Institute [CCI's] including Aftercare and Adoption. We work with existing institutes and stakeholders to fill the gaps we have identified and strengthen systems & processes.
• We aim to act as catalysts - leveraging existing child care institutions [CCI’s] and empowering them to improve child care outcomes. These CCI’s suffer from a variety of different bottlenecks that prevent them from providing family like care to Children in Need of Care and Protection (CNCP) category
• Conduct a comprehensive gap analysis using our CCI Evaluation tool at the start of the engagement with the CCI to identify key bottlenecks and target areas for our intervention 

The projects and interventions we run across 89 homes impacting 4600 children helps mitigates one of the key problem areas from health to education to better living facility to earning their livelihoods and being independent in urban/semi urban and rural regions. This effort is targeted towards a uniquely important population of children under institutional. These children have already lost out on crucial years in developing their overall capabilities Each of our programs has been developed keeping in mind these delayed milestones that majority of children at CCIs experience.

Currently there are over 370,000 children living in more than 9,500+ institutions in India. These children too have dreams, aspirations & talents which needs to be nurtured and developed at the right age and in a conducive environment, so that they can become independent and contributing members of the society & CSA is one of the few organizations working in this space since 2002.

Since there is no other organization that works in the institutional care space in the states, we are present in at depth, our project is unique and yielding results in improvement outcomes mainly keeping in view of overall development prospects for children in CCIs.

This project is seeking funding for a population that is underserved by majority of the large-scale intervention programs. This unique program of working with CNCP children who are under institutional care, if done well, will ensure children with no family support will be able to break the cycle of poverty & deprivation enabling future generations to live a life of dignity and hope.

The corporate house can benefit –

• Allowing employees to choose a cause close to their hearts.
• A great opportunity for community service.
• Provides volunteering opportunities
• Company /Employees can claim tax benefits (80G) for contributions