Sierra Leone is faced with many critical situations regarding the well-being of children, especially those in completely deplorable conditions. The Needy Today believes that the overriding principle in child welfare policy is in the best interest of the child. The love, care, and protection that a child receives in their families are more intense than elsewhere. Children, while detached from their biological families, are nevertheless still in need of a permanent family in which to grow. If an extended family system is not available to them, the next priority becomes care by non-relatives in the form of foster care and adoption. In this case, adoption is one avenue that can allow a less fortunate child to settle into a second family with a structure that is also vitally needed for the child’s health and well-being. It is the belief of The Needy Today that institutional care should only be used as a last resort for extremely deprived children.
On this basis, the goal of The Needy Today is to work with the Sierra Leonean government, legal offices, embassies, NGOs, INGOs, missions, and agencies for the welfare of orphaned infants or children who are in immediate need of intensive living care and who need a long-term plan involving permanent placement in an adopted family for their best future. The Needy Today considers long-term institutional care a last resort and prefers to assist these infants and children through temporary, transitional care while at the same time developing a plan for a permanent and loving family environment in which they will grow and flourish, or place them in orphanages. Infants or children accepted into care are being placed in temporary foster homes and given the financial support necessary to provide all the necessary food, clothing, shelter, medical care, love, and nurture necessary to ensure their survival and growth. Efforts will be focused on promoting national and international adoption for those children who will be best helped through adoption.