Emergency Care Arrangements

The priority for unaccompanied children in an emergency is to reunite them with their parents, family members, or relatives as quickly as possible, in order to provide them with care and protection. Where this is not immediately possible, children will require emergency care until reunification is possible via documentation and tracing activities.

Emergency care should cater to the child’s basic shelter, security, food and health needs, on a level that is comparable to the local community in order to avoid encouraging further family separations. Children should be kept fully informed of efforts to locate family, and any interim care plans. All agencies offering care must follow and international standards, and coordinate with the local authority.

The preferred care will usually be with temporary caretakers from the community, rather than in institutions, since this provides continuity and greater protection. Children associated with armed forces may require interim care, if immediate family reunification is not possible and in their best interests. Spontaneous care situations, such as kinship, foster care, and child headed households should be screened, monitored and supported to ensure children are protected and their basic needs and rights are being met. In some cases an alternative placement may be necessary. Where family members cannot be located, a longer term care plan should be formulated, however adoption must only be considered after all tracing and reunification activities have been exhausted over a substantial period of time.

Support programs should include all affected children, and should not target or isolate separated children. They should strengthen the community’s natural coping methods and support structures, and will therefore include community and child participation in decision making processes. All placements must be fully documented to facilitate tracing and reunification activities. Reunification should be the immediate goal for all children, unless this is not in their best interests.

The documents in this section relate to emergency care guidelines and examples from around the world.

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Country Care Review: USA

Better Care Network , 24 Jan 2013

This country care review includes the care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child as part of its examination of the United States of America’ second periodic report under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, as well as other care-related concluding observations, ratification dates, and links to the Universal Periodic Review and Hague Intercountry Adoption Country Profile.

Il Decalogo di Save the Children per il Supporto ai Bambini nelle Emergenze

Save the Children Italy, 2013

This is Save the Children's decalogue for child support in emergencies.

Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action

The Global Protection Cluster , 01 Dec 2012

The Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action were formulated in 2011-2012 by the Child Protection Working Group (CPWG), an inter-agency working group composed of child protection practitioners, academics, and policy makers working to support child protection work in humanitarian settings.

The Chronic Urban Emergency in Rift Valley Kenya: Report From Profiling Children Connected to the Streets in Rift Valley Province

Save the Children UK and UNICEF, 01 Aug 2012

Research was conducted in five Rift Valley towns in Kenya in 2011 to understand the link between emergencies and the perceived increase of children joining the streets. Findings show that emergencies such as Post Election Violence and drought have caused children to join the streets. By far the biggest reason for children joining the streets was food insecurity. The authors advocate for an urgent, large-scale response to place children currently connected to the streets in durable situations in tandem with a multi-sectorial development approach to tackle and address the root of the crisis.

Inter-Agency Child Protection Information Management System

IRC, Save the Children, and UNICEF, 01 Jul 2012

Promotes and provides inter-agency information management tools for a coordinated approach to child protection particularly in regards to separated children, children associated with armed groups and forces and other especially vulnerable children.

Better Care Network, 06 Jun 2012

The People’s Republic of China issued its third and fourth combined report on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in June 2012. This extract of the report focuses on sections relevant to children's care and in particular those addressing Family Environment and Alternative Care

Namibia: Standards for Foster Care Services

Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, Government of Republic of Namibia, 01 Jun 2012

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare (MGECW) of Namibia released the 2012 Foster Care Standards and Guidelines which are aimed to guide social workers and other service providers in recruiting, assessing, training, matching, supporting, supervising and monitoring foster care services. The Foster Care Guidelines assist in translating the Standards into day-to-day practices. These Standards and Guidelines with accompanying training manuals were prepared to strengthen supported family-based care for vulnerable and marginalized children.

Too Little, Too Late: Child Protection Funding in Emergencies

Global Protection Cluster , 08 Jul 2011

Report underscoring the need to examine protection in its entirety and ensure that all dimensions of the protection response are adequately supported

Practical Guide for Developing Child Friendly Spaces

UNICEF, 01 Feb 2011

Guidance for development and programming of child friendly spaces in emergencies.

Advocacy Package: IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings

Inter-Agency Standing Committee Reference Group, 2011

This Advocacy Package explains what the IASC guidelines are and how they are to be used, highlights the key campaigning activities, key messages for communities, donors, UN Agencies and Non-Governmental organisations, clarifies terminology and provide ideas for country level implementation.