Sheenu was admitted into the childcare institution (CCI) when she was 13 years old. Her father - a social activist - had no stable income to support her basic needs. Sheenu’’s extended family was also not very supportive which left her father with no choice but to leave her at the CCI. Her mother had separated from her father because of issues at home and took the youngest along.

After joining the CCI, she was enrolled in 9th class in an English medium private school. She was an average student in her studies. She was facing emotional distress because of this sudden change in her life and could not adjust with her classmates. She would not express her feelings to others like most other children of her age. Considering the alarming need, she was referred to the Mental health consultant for assessment and counseling by Miracle Foundation India (Miracle). She had to attend several sessions conducted by our resource person for a full recovery. The coaching support extended by Miracle helped her improve her learning, spoken English, and writing skills. Today, Sheenu is studying in the second year of a Multi Lab Technician (MLT) course. She is a brilliant student and is proactive in all her academic and co-curricular activities. In this pandemic situation as well she is attending practicals at the nearest Govt. hospital.

While she was excelling in academics, the thought of her mother and sister always clouded her - the institution could not even closely replace the love of her family. Miracle’s key role while working with CCIs is to empower them to explore the opportunities for re-integration/reunification of the child with their family while meeting their rights of education, mental health, nutrition, and other services. Over the years, we have re-unified thousands of children like Sheenu and we were going to guide the social worker to do the same now. The CCI social worker began the case management process for Sheenu. The thrive scale was applied to assess the condition of the family and identify the pockets where we would need to extend support. After a series of assessments and processes, Sheenu returned home to her mother and sister in November permanently. Miracle committed to extending support to set up a permanent livelihood for the mother briefly and support for Sheenu’s education till she settles down in a job. The CCI continuously follows up with the family and child and keeps a check on the quality of reintegration.

As the first-generation learner in the family, Sheenu wishes to work for the welfare of needy people and serve them, which she hopes to do so successfully for long after completing her MLT course.