Iranian Welfare Organization Prioritizes Family-Centric Care with Financial and Housing Support
Tehran – The Iranian Welfare Organization is reinforcing its family-centric approach to caring for orphaned and vulnerable children, with senior officials detailing comprehensive support packages, including direct financial aid and housing provisions, to facilitate this national priority.
A Shift Towards Family Reintegration and Adoption
Farahnaz Mohammadi, a senior official with the Welfare Organization, emphasized that while the quality of care in children’s homes remains a focus, the primary strategy is to place children within a family environment. This is achieved through three key channels: reintegrating a child with their biological family, placing them with a relative’s family, or adoption by a non-relative family.
“Returning a child to their biological family, placing them with a relative’s family, and granting custody to non-relative families are our top priorities,” Mohammadi stated.
Comprehensive Support for Families
To enable this transition, the organization provides more than just specialized counseling and psychological services. Significant financial support is also extended to biological or relative-based foster families.
“This support is provided in the form of a monthly stipend of 5.5 million tomans,” Mohammadi explained. “This financial aid becomes even more critical when a child requires specific medical treatment.”
She also highlighted that a family’s economic stability, including sustainable employment, is a key factor considered during the custody application process, as it plays a vital role in family empowerment.
Special Focus on Children with Medical Needs
There has been notable success in placing children with special needs or disabilities. Mohammadi praised the public’s “valuable sense of social responsibility,” revealing that over the past five years, 800 children with special conditions have been placed with families.
Children under guardianship due to specific medical conditions are eligible for the same 5.5 million toman monthly stipend to assist with treatment and care costs, with additional medical subsidies available depending on the illness. For families who do not wish to receive a regular monthly pension but whose child needs specific treatment, the organization provides case-by-case financial support upon submission of medical invoices.
Parallel Housing Initiatives for Beneficiary Families
In a related effort to support vulnerable families, the Welfare Organization has been active in providing housing. Mohammad Nasiri, Director-General of the Tehran Province Welfare Organization, reported that in the city of Pishva, no eligible individuals with disabilities or female-headed households are waiting in a queue to receive welfare services.
“Over recent years, approximately 400 residential units have been allocated to beneficiaries,” Nasiri said in an interview. Most of these units have been assigned to residents of Pishva, Varamin, and similar areas, with families in other cities like Qarchak also receiving homes.
This initiative, carried out in cooperation with the Housing Foundation and other relevant institutions, aims to meet the specific needs of families, including those with multiple members with disabilities, without concentrating them in specific residential complexes.
Officials confirmed that all currently eligible families in Pishva are now covered by the organization’s services, marking significant progress in the nation’s social support framework.