Welcome to Ian Forber-Pratt's Website...

Over the past few weeks I've been slowly chipping away at the business plan. There are about 12 pages written with hours and days of work to go.

I have the basic premise and outline roughed out but will need feedback from those around me as much as possible.

Right now I am planning a 5 year approach to starting foster care in North India. This is just the beginnings of the action steps up to year 2. My hope is that the 'pre-planning' year is really a pre-planning-couple-months. Many of my ideas might be too ambitious, but I have to start somewhere right?

ACTION STEPS – 5 year project (including a planning year)

Pre year one goals (planning year):

Secure funding for year 1. (see estimated costs).
1 FTE (research, interviews with orphan children) (Udaipur native)
1 PTE (me) supervisor, project manager, while working for Seva Mandir to learn more about Indian culture.
Materials Cost (printing of information)
Budgets for meetings (providing meals, chai, venue costs)
Travel to meet with existing foster care providers

Contact existing foster care providers with business plan.

Find film company to make film for free.

Create awarness within local population of the need. Find a speaker or a child who has been an ‘child in need’.

Get student volunteers. Create a place for them to live while volunteering. They would be responsible for their own food and travel expenses. While there their lodging could be free. Find host families.

Create informational pamphlets and materials (including a video) to explain what foster care is and how it can benefit society
Pilot test the promotional materials.

Year 1 goals:

Apply for government licenses to secure housing for a group home with 4 boys and 4 girls.

Travel to meet with existing foster care providers.

Talk to Government officials about the validity of starting such a program
Hold informational trainings on foster care
Have two meetings per month, target different branches of government.
Drink a lot of Chai with a lot of different people. Network.

Talk to local people in Udaipur about the need for a system
Hold informational meetings
Hold focus groups to elicit feedback
Start to change the view of philanthropy
Focus on the family values in society and the need for family structure

Take survey of orphan children in Udaipur
Find out current needs
Origins of the children

Secure funding for year 2

(Work toward office space? Hire one more FTE?)
Year 2 goals:

Find prospective foster parents
Create a list of parents

Identify children to be placed in homes

Work out with government the ways parents will get paid.

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So I'm now working on the intro, solution statement and the return on investment statement to show prospective funders the benefits of foster care. I'll include what I have so far. I'd appreciate any feedback, questions and dialogue that anyone is willing to offer.

Foster Care in Udaipur will offer the community a triple bottom line:
1. Social Return on Investment

Udaipur is a vibrant city of roughly 500,000. Udaipur is a social melting pot of every class of Indian citizen.

This work can make a positive social impact in surround rural areas as well. The Indian culture is rich with family values. The joint family carries high social value to most Indians. Indians also often wish to be altruistic but have not been exposed to options. Philanthropy has traditionally been enacted through fiscal means. This is a opportunity for Udaipur residents and surrounding rural members to give back to their own community by helping children. The informational meetings will stress the importance of education within the family setting for children. It will pay particular importance to social and class problems that might arise when taking a children into a home.

As foster care becomes an established institution in Udaipur it will allow the city to gain in stature in India as a city that is on the forefront of child welfare initiatives. Further, as a test city for a model to be implemented in similar sized cities, it will be part of the catalyst for social change for orphan children and the landscape of varying options for philanthropy.

2. Financial Return on Investment:.
Small output to not have to pay for the trouble children might get into as adults
Productivity of culturally competent members of society

3. Community Return on Investment:
Foster care will also contribute more educated, well adjusted and healthy children to the working force in Udaipur. Since orphan children have little access to the informal education needed to be a successful contributing member of society, Udaipur foster families would be strengthening their community by helping children take an active role in their futures in Udaipur or aboard in India or in the world.