Holt International Children's Services

Around the world, Holt works alongside local partners to help strengthen families at risk of separation, care for orphaned and vulnerable children, and help children reunite with their families or join families through adoption either in their birth country or in the u.s. to develop, sustain and grow our International programs and Services, Holt teams collaborate with our partners to provide a variety of professional Services and build up the capacity of in-country staff. These Services include, for example, social work trainings to strengthen the skills of local social workers who support and counsel families, permanency planning for children on track for adoption, management and program development assistance, and nutrition and feeding trainings to empower parents and orphanage caregivers with the knowledge they need to provide better nutrition for the children in their care especially children with special medical or physical needs. In many countries, Holt also helps facilitate job skills training and donor-funded microloan programs to help struggling families earn a stable income and independently provide for their children. In 2023, through Holt's International programs and support, 34,466 children received the vital Services they needed to remain in the loving care of their birth families. Our child-centered orphan and vulnerable children care programs made it possible for 5,908 children to receive nurturing care in Holt foster families, group home or care centers. Another 28,675 children received educational support- many of them girls at risk of dropping out of school due to gender discrimination. Over 170,382 children received medical care, including lifesaving or life-changing surgeries. Through Holt's nutrition and health programs, 8,851 caregivers received nutrition and feeding training and 187,136 children received nutritional support to improve their overall health and wellbeing. And around the world in 2023, Holt provided over 2,229,616 meals provided to children and other individuals in Holt programs.

Holt's u.s.-based programs include International and domestic infant adoption Services to help children join loving, permanent families as well as lifelong post-adoption Services for youth and adult adoptees, adoptive families, birth parents and others whose lives have been touched by adoption. In 2023, Holt's adoption Services teams helped 241 children join adoptive families 149 of them through International adoption, 2 through domestic adoption in the u.s., and 90 through domestic in-country adoption in countries around the world. Holt's professional adoption Services include everything from advocacy for waiting children and counseling for prospective families to adoptive parent training, home study preparation, travel support and post-adoption reporting. Once home with their child, adoptive families may face challenges or need additional support as they navigate the complexity of parenting an adopted child often transracially. Throughout their lives, adoptees may also need help or support, such as when initiating a birth family search or providing proof of citizenship to obtain a passport. Holt's post-adoption team also holds adoptee camps every summer and offers an adult adoptee mentorship program for youth adoptees. In 2023, Holt's post-adoption team provided support and resources for 2,345 adoptees, adoptive families and birth families. In addition to adoption and post-adoption Services, our u.s. based Services include the work our child sponsorship team does to support Holt's more than 30,500 sponsors. Through monthly donations, Holt child sponsors help provide everything orphaned and vulnerable children need to thrive - from nourishing food, safe shelter and education to the nurturing care of a family or devoted caregiver. Holt's sponsorship teams in the u.s. and around the world work together to provide regular updates for sponsors about their sponsored child, as well as information about how their donations are helping to meet the needs of children in Holt's programs around the world.