Orphans , children ( 0 – 17 years ) orphaned due to all causes , 2005 , estimate 25,000 Haitians and expatriate childcare professionals are careful to make it clear that Haitian orphanages and children 's homes are not orphanages in the North American sense , but instead shelters for vulnerable children , often housing children whose parent ( s ) are poor as well as those who are abandoned , neglected or abused by family guardians . Neither the number of children or the number of institutions is officially known , but Chambre de L'Enfance Necessiteusse Haitienne ( CENH ) indicated that it has received requests for assistance from nearly 200 orphanages from around the country for more than 200,000 children . Although not all are orphans , many are vulnerable or originate in vulnerable families that " hoped to increase their children 's opportunities by sending them to orphanages . " Catholic Relief Services provides assistance to 120 orphanages with 9,000 children in the Ouest , Sud , Sud-Est and Grand ' Anse , but these include only orphanages that meet their criteria . They estimate receiving ten requests per week for assistance from additional orphanages and children 's homes , but some of these are repeat requests . " In 2007 , UNICEF estimated there were 380,000 orphans in Haiti , which has a population of just over 9 million , according to the '' CIA World Factbook '' . However , since the January 2010 earthquake , the number of orphans has skyrocketed , and the living conditions for orphans have seriously deteriorated . Official numbers are hard to find due to the general state of chaos in the country
January 2010 earthquake
2010 Haiti earthquake
Orphanage