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

Hi all,

Thanks to those who are following the very beginnings of my journey to start Foster Care in Udaipur. My determination continues to grow as this plan develops.

A good friend, Mark Specht was kind enough to let me bounce ideas off of him this Saturday (July 17, 2010) about this business plan. A couple things came to light:

a) I need to be collaborating with a legal mind or organization in Udaipur who could speculate what regulations/ government 'hurdles' etc. I can anticipate.

b) I need a solid lit review that explains the history (in a concise manor) of Foster Care and why it exists. Then I need the most recent information possible on current Foster Care initiatives in India (this I have).

c) Create the frame-work for how my not-for-profit will manage all the case management, training and regulation of foster care while the government funds and sets guidelines.

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)

Hi everyone,

Per the request of some friends, I'm going to start documenting my journey to start a foster care system in North India.

Where do I start?

As a general goal, helping children in India has been a passion of mine for years. I tossed around ideas of starting an orphanage in India, starting a school and working with children is all different capacities in India. From 2007 to 2010 I traveled to India three times, each exposing myself to different aspects of child welfare. Concurrently, as life unfolded I found myself working in/ and passionate about foster care here in the United States. I finished my MSW and began to feel curious about what foster care looked like in India.