The Children's Voice

Lumos

Formation	2005
Type	NGO/Charity
Purpose	Children/young people's welfare; health/education/social care; family support
Location	London, UK (head office)
Region served	Global
Founder and president	J.K. Rowling
Chief Executive	Georgette Mulheir
Main organ	Board of Trustees, chaired by Neil Blair
Website	wearelumos.org

Lumos is an international non-governmental charity (NGO) founded by British author J.K. Rowling which promotes an end to the institutionalisation of children worldwide.

Lumos is registered in England and Wales as charity number 1112575. Lumos gathered 80 years of research proving that it is essential for a child's normal development to have a family and to have sustained one-on-one loving care. There are an estimated eight million children that are currently institutionalized worldwide and 80% of them aren't orphans. Lumos is dedicated to transform the lives of those eight million of disadvantaged children who live in institutions and so-called orphanages around the world. Although low estimates indicate that anywhere between 2 and 8 million children are in institutional care, J.K. Rowling said in a conversation with Lauren Laverne that there are at least 8 million and that is only the children that were officially registered in the institutions. She also mentioned that children who are raised in institutions often suffer developmental delays, stunted growth, psychological trauma.

Lumos uses the phrase ‘so-called’ when referring to orphanages because the vast majority of children are not orphans but are in institutions because their parents face extreme poverty; when children have physical or intellectual disabilities and their parents cannot afford treatment; or because they are from a socially excluded group. When parents are not supported in the community, these factors often lead to the break-up of families. Parents who can’t afford to feed, clothe or send a child to school are given little choice. Poverty is recognized as the main driver of child institutionalization in most countries.

According to Lumos more than 80 years of research has shown that, despite the best intentions of many people who support and work in them, institutions harm the health and development of children. Separating children from their parents and placing them in large residential institutions deprives them of the love, care, and consistent caregiver engagement they need to grow, prosper, and to reach their full potential – physically, intellectually, and emotionally. Research suggests that children with intellectual disabilities can be particularly at risk of failing to thrive – to the extent of malnutrition and death – through a lack of sustained, specialist care and engagement. Life outcomes for institutionalized children are often poor. One study found that young adults raised in institutions are 6 times more likely to have been abused, 10 times more likely to be involved in prostitution, 40 times more likely to have a criminal record, and 500 times more likely to take their own lives than their peers. Lumos’ ambition is that by 2015, they will have ended institutionalization globally.