Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to describe the challenges that former institutionalized children faced during re-integration and the coping strategies they used to cope with the challenge. To drown the necessary information qualitative research design was employed. Accordingly, 9 former institutionalized children in SOS children’s village and currently living in Jimma town and 7 staff of Jimma SOS working with children were recruited using snowball technique and included in the study. Key informant interview, individual in-depth interview and focus group discussion were tools utilized to collect the data. Thematic analysis was employed to analyze the qualitative data which was obtained through in-depth interview, key informant interview and group discussion. The results of the study showed that most of the former SOS Children’s Village did not face much challenges due to good trainings provided by the organization before they discharged from the village. On the other hand, some of the re-integrated children stated that their functioning in the community was not effective because of economic and psychological challenges. Some children were also not assertive, self-sufficient and optimist. Regarding programs, the concerned people were also not evaluating the reintegration programs regularly and make the necessary modifications. Inadequate hands on trainings, imposing of social stigma and role confusion, and lack of psycho-social support are among the mentioned challenges of some children
Therefore, the following suggestions were forwarded to alleviate the challenges faced during the reintegration with the community. First, self-confident, self-assertiveness and self-esteem of the children should be boosted so that they would able to exploit existing opportunities to be self-reliant economically.
