The Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation, with technical support from UNICEF, launched a study on attitudes towards residential care in Cambodia to understand prevailing attitudes and to generate evidence for policy development and advocacy. Cambodia has seen a dramatic increase in residential care facilities, but also a growing realization that a comprehensive social protection system is needed, with important provisions for family and child welfare services. As residential care is perceived as one of the few services available to vulnerable families, the norms and attitudes that drive families, communities and donors to support residential care will help to inform key messages and plan appropriate community-based services. UNICEF is supporting the government to develop new models of alternative care, family support and other protection and social welfare services, while strengthening effective implementation of government policies on alternative care, and increased enforcement of monitoring and reporting mechanisms.
