Catholic Relief Services (CRS) believes every child deserves to grow up in a safe, nurturing, and loving family. When families are equipped with the right skills and support, they can meet their children’s physical, emotional, and educational needs—and prevent abuse, neglect, and exploitation. CRS partners with local organizations, community leaders, and groups like child protection committees and women’s groups to raise awareness about children's rights, expand access to community-based services, and prevent and respond to child abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
To support strong families, we provide economic strengthening activities, to manage resources to ensure children have what they need to thrive—like food, healthcare, and schooling. In addition, CRS delivers parenting programs that improve caregiver well-being, enhance parent-child relationships, and change community norms around harmful practices.  In addition, home visits are used to reinforce positive parenting skills and to educate caregivers on the importance of birth registration and local laws pertaining to child abuse, neglect, violence, and exploitation.
We engage children and youth through rights education and support care leaver associations to help young people who have left residential care successfully transition to adulthood. We also provide case management to help families access a full range of services, from birth registration and legal assistance to education, healthcare, and income generation. This child-focused, family-centered approach strengthens resilience and ensures families are supported every step of the way.

Cultivating just and peaceful societies is a central part of CRS’ mission, and a priority goal area under our Vision 2030 strategic framework. As much of our work takes place in fragile and conflict-affected countries, we emphasize systematic and deliberate integration of social cohesion and justice approaches across all program sectors. This helps to ensure that we and our local partners consistently reinforce the healthy social relationships and just institutions that support sustainable peace while protectiThrough parenting programs, economic strengthening, and support for family reunification (when needed), CRS strengthens families’ ability to care for their children. Since 2020, CRS has helped over half a million children live in nurturing family environments. CRS has delivered tailored support to more than 1.5 million children and nearly 365,000 caregivers, helping families access health care, education, protection, and financial resources. Positive parenting programs have reached more than 170,000 caregivers, supporting them to improve parent-child relationships, communication, and coping skills. These programs are adapted to various contexts—including for children with functional limitations and families reuniting after separation.

CRS also supports community-based services—like savings groups and financial literacy—to reduce poverty and prevent separation, while its case management services ensure that vulnerable families receive comprehensive, individualized support. CRS has provided economic strengthening to over 30,000 caregivers and evidence-based Child Optimized Financial Education (COFE) to over 23,000 caregivers, helping them build savings and financial resilience so they can meet their children’s needs and reduce risks of exploitation and family separation. An impact evaluation of the COFE curriculum showed that participation in COFE plus Saving and Internal Lending communities (SILC) resulted in greater payment of children’s school expenses compared to SILC participation alone.
Beyond the household, CRS helps communities and governments create lasting systems that protect children. In partnership with local organizations, faith communities and authorities, CRS has trained thousands of community members, faith leaders, and social service workers to support child protection and family-based care. ng the most vulnerable.

CRS’ justice and peacebuilding programming strengthens relationships across diverse, often divided groups while also transforming relations between people and the state, market, and traditional authorities to uphold the dignity and wellbeing of each and every person. Working to change institutions while also improving relationships responds directly to the social injustices that often drive violent conflict. CRS and our partners work to prevent violence whenever possible; where violence has already erupted, we mitigate, resolve and transform conflict by strengthening local institutions and indigenous mechanisms for dialogue and reconciliation.

Explore the regions where CRS is transforming lives through your generosity. From Africa to Latin America, discover stories of hope and resilience across the globe.

With a team of Communications staff around the world, we can provide real-time updates during emergencies and on a wide variety of current issues and events facing the developing world and the international community.