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Fundación CRAN is a non-profit institution founded in 1987 to protect and restore the rights of children 0 to 7 years old who have been subjected to abuse, violence or abandonment. CRAN achieves its mission through a multi-disciplinary approach that includes:

• Protection Program: Family violence intervention, mediation and temporary placement for children removed from their families
• Home for Mothers Program: psychological counseling, social services and care for at-risk expectant mothers
• Adoption Program: Facilitated adoption that connects children in need of families and parents looking to adopt

CRAN’s children’s shelter provides refuge for up to 90 children, all of whom have been removed from or abandoned by their families. With the help of CRAN’s intervention, 60% of these children eventually return to their biological families while 40% are adopted.

This year CRAN has launched an educational component to serve the children 2 ½ to 6 years old who live in the shelter and who previously had not had access to pre-school education. Older children in CRAN’s residential facilities attend the public schools in CRAN’s surrounding communities, but because Colombia’s government does not have the resources to provide early childhood education, CRAN’s youngest residents had not received formal instruction until kindergarten. Pre-school education is especially important for these youngsters; children who have been abused, especially those removed from their homes and living in institutional settings, often face extreme academic challenges. Emotional trauma, physical abuse and the disruptions to education caused by children’s removal from their homes can interfere with intellectual development and exacerbate learning issues.

To counteract the challenges that these children face, CRAN’s education program works to fulfill three primary objectives: Developing young children’s learning capabilities in an environment supportive of their emotional recovery; fostering positive social relationships with adults and other children; and providing the necessary remediation to reduce the probability of future school drop-outs.

Genesis Foundation is providing support for CRAN’s new educational initiative to ensure that children who have been victims of abuse have access to the education they need to progress in their lives.

For more information about this institution, or to make a direct contribution, please contact genesis@genesis-foundation.org.