Principles:
The Principles of the Farm of the Child are as follows:

• Our Faith : to provide a foundation in Jesus Christ, following the teachings and tenets of the Catholic faith and incorporating our belief in Christ into all aspects of Farm life.
• Our Family: to create a safe, secure, family-style Christian community with the Holy Family as our model. We work to meet the physical and emotional needs of our kids while adhering to the pillars of community, spirituality, service and simplicity.
• Our Education: to offer a formal education to our kids and those within the neighboring communities geared towards preparing them for independent living and shaping adults who are capable of contributing to their Honduran communities.
• Our Formation: to prepare our kids with complete character formation in the direction of creating morally-responsible and capable members of society.
• Our Health : to provide health care and health education primarily for all members of our community and then for those of the neighboring villages based on the resources available at a given time and in conjunction with local systems.
• Our Society : to fulfill our call to Christian stewardship by sharing with the community around us always in a spirit of self-giving, love, compassion and humility while, wherever possible, supporting/leveraging existing programs or local systems.

Goals:

1. To be legally responsible and care for a maximum of 50 children by the year 2007.
2. To have in place a system that prepares our children for spiritually and morally-responsible, independent adult lives.
3. To reintegrate children into a stable family environment whenever possible.
4. To foment an environment of friendship with the neighboring communities and assist in their development.

Strategies:
Goal #1 : To be legally responsible and care for a maximum of 50 children by the year 2007.

• Manage age and gender specific houses with 5-7 Farm kids/house at any one time, with rare exception.
• Conduct detailed investigations for any children accepted, especially for those over the age of 7, in order to deem if they are an appropriate case for communal life at the Farm. Acceptance of kids over the age of 10 is highly discouraged and should only be accepted in cases where a younger sibling meets Finca requirements and after conducting a detailed investigation.
• Obtain Honduran house couples and/or a single Honduran woman to lead the households, being sure to carefully screen them and provide continuing formation/training in relation to their role within the community.
• Recruit international volunteers and develop a system of training/formation, noting that specialized recruitment of older volunteers is necessary for adolescent homes in Trujillo.

Goal #2 : To have in place a system that prepares our children for spiritually and morally-responsible, independent adult lives.

• Provide faith formation through daily prayer, sacramental participation, and religious education.
• Maintain consistency and structure throughout daily lives via house responsibilities and activities outside of the home.
• Incorporate life skills education that focuses on development of character components appropriate for various life stages.
• Provide psychological consultation if necessary to help address experienced traumas.
• Structure vocational and educational opportunities that meet Honduran guidelines while living at the Finca site up through the completion of Ciclo Com??n or until the age of 15 (whichever comes first) based on the individual assessment of each child.
• Continue vocational, educational and character training off Farm site to address needs during adolescent life stage.
• Draw on resources/services in Trujillo for secondary education, beyond Ciclo Com??n, in conjunction with supplemental education provided within the Trujillo homes. (To be re-evaluated yearly.)
• Support Farm kids until the age of 18 or up through the completion of secondary education/formal vocational training (whichever comes last).
• Require all kids within the Adolescent Program (Phase II) and higher to maintain some level of employment with a focus on providing job skills for their post-Farm lives.
• Incrementally decrease the degree of support to the Farm - young adults during a transitional period into independence.
• Implement a service aspect to Farm life for each child focused on teaching the true call for all Catholics to be servants of Christ.

Goal #3: To reintegrate children into a stable family environment whenever possible.

• Encourage relationships with living family members when determined to be safe.
• Ensure that basic needs of nutrition, clothing, shelter, education and love are obtainable or what assistance may need to be provided before considering a scenario for egression.
• Work through local legal systems and conduct evaluations to monitor egression cases.
• Allow for safeguards and possibility of receiving child again into the Farm.

Goal #4 : To foment an environment of friendship with the neighboring communities and assist in their development.

• Seek opportunities to help the neighboring villages grow as a community.
• Provide education through Finca: existing facilities and assist in the growth of educational centers within the neighborhoods of Cunda and Cora Salta.
• Instruct neighbors on basic health and sanitary practices and procedures.
• Distribute relief funds appropriately for assistance with community-run projects and to support local educational and vocational efforts.
• Actively seek out opportunities to leverage Mitch funds for community support/relief.
• Invite neighbors to participate in the spiritual life at the Farm and offer opportunities for spiritual renewal and growth.