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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Responding to Unaccompanied Minors in Scotland: Policy and Local Authority Perspectives

Paul Rigby, Maria Fotopoulou, Ashley Rogers, Andriana Manta - University of Stirling, 01 Oct 2018

The present research sought to explore the capacity, experience and understanding of local authorities to provide a support system that can best ensure the wellbeing of children, as it has been suggested that outside of the large urban authorities there is limited experience of working with separated children.

Impact of Emergency Shelter Utilization and Kinship Involvement on Children’s Behavioral Outcomes

Lauren A. Hindt, Grace Jhe Bai, Brynn M. Huguenel, Anne K. Fuller, Scott C. Leon - Child Maltreatment, 09 Sep 2018

The present longitudinal study explored the impact of initial emergency shelter placement on long-term externalizing behavior (i.e., aggression, delinquency) and internalizing symptom (i.e., anxiety, depression) trajectories, and whether kinship involvement moderated the effect of shelter placement on behavioral outcomes.

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Urgent: Recommendations for Improving Interim Care for Separated Children

The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action and Better Care Network, 23 Aug 2018

The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action and Better Care Network are calling for the prompt reunification of separated children with their families and to provide interim care in accordance with the UN Guidelines for Alternative Care of Children.

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Hannah Has a New Job

The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action, 27 Jul 2018

This short video was designed for newly hired child protection in humanitarian action (CPHA) staff, as well as child protection staff who want to learn more about working in emergency settings - and the CPMS in particular.

Norwegian child welfare workers' perceptions of emergency placements

Anita Skårstad Storhaug, Bente Heggem Kojan & Grethe Fjellvikås - Child & Family Social Work, 20 Jul 2018

This study explores Norwegian child welfare workers' perceptions of long‐term cases resulting in emergency placements.

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Trust and the Triggers of Trauma. Exploring experiences of the trust between Eritrean unaccompanied minors and their caregivers in The Netherlands

Prof. Dr. Mirjam van Reisen, Taha Al-Qasim, Carlotta Zanzottera, Rick Schoenmaeckers - Tilburg University, EEPA, Nidos, 01 May 2018

This report focuses on trust relations of Eritrean minors who arrived without the company of their parents to The Netherlands and the people who are taking care of them.

Cohousing and Case Management for Unaccompanied Young Adult Refugees in Antwerp (CURANT)

Stiene Ravn, Rut Van Caudenberg, David Corradi, Noel Clycq & Christiane Timmerman - CeMIS, Universiteit Antwerpen, 01 May 2018

This working paper is based on findings discussed in the project report CURANT: a first evaluation report (Ravn et al., 2018), which focuses on the first impressions and experiences of the young refugees and their local buddies, who entered the project during its first year of implementation.

A Qualitative Study Exploring the Transition of Aged-Out Unaccompanied Minors (UAMs) from Foster Care into Direct Provision (DP)

Denise Healy - CARL, 24 Apr 2018

This is a small-scale study examining the experiences of Aged-Out Unaccompanied Minors (UAMs) who transition from foster care into Direct Provision (DP) in Ireland.

Manual on Foster Care for Unaccompanied and Separated Children

UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 01 Apr 2018

This Manual sets the minimum standards and policies for the protection and care of unaccompanied and separated children (UASC) within a foster care arrangement in Malaysia.

A critical analysis of the creation of separated care structures for unaccompanied refugee minors

Ilse Derluyn - Children and Youth Services Review, 30 Mar 2018

Based on an analysis of the evolutions in the way the care structures for unaccompanied minors were set up in Belgium, the authors of this article critically reflect on the underlying rationales that justify the particularities of these structures, hereby also reflecting about the implications of these rationales for professionals and researchers.

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