Preventing Separation

Children are highly vulnerable to separation from their parents in conflict, displacement or disasters. Families may flee for their safety and lose loved ones in the chaos, parents may leave their children or send them away for their own safety or in the belief they will be better cared for by others. Children may lose their parents to disease, injury or death, while others may be abducted by armed forces, or trafficked.

Relevant authorities and organizations should provide coordinated action to reduce separation and endeavour to keep children as close to their parents, relatives and community as possible. When the possibility of separation can be anticipated, such as when an attack is possible or a movement of a population is anticipated or planned, community education should be undertaken. Families should be alerted to the risks of separation and encouraged to take precautions. Such precautions may include ensuring their child has undergone birth registration, teaching children their full names and addresses, encouraging children to wear name tags at all times, agreeing on a meeting place in case of separation, and making sure children are accompanied by a known adult whenever possible. This is particularly important when there are high risks of sexual violence, abduction and trafficking. In circumstances where the evacuation of a population is necessary, family groups should be moved together. Children should not be evacuated on their own.

Agencies should endeavour to avoid unnecessary separation by ensuring that households have adequate basic provisions. All services such as food aid, health services, and emergency care should be reviewed to ensure they do not encourage the separation or abandonment of children.

This section includes information on the causes of separation, how to assess a situation, and guidance on community messages and practices to reduce the incidence of children becoming separated.

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Preventing Family Separation During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Uganda

UNICEF, Changing the Way We Care, Child's i Foundation, 31 Jan 2023

This case study tracks the impact of family support services to a Ugandan mother and her family during the COVID-19 pandemic in an effort to prevent family separation.

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Keeping Care in the Family: Strategies for Preventing Child-Family Separation

ESARO Regional Learning Platform, 26 Jan 2023

This UNICEF ESARO webinar discussed strategies for building strong families and communities and preventing child-family separation in the region.

Cost Utility of Supporting Family-Based Care to Prevent HIV and Deaths Among Orphaned and Separated Children in East Africa: A Markov Model–Based Simulation

Marta Wilson-Barthes, Paula Braitstein, Allison DeLong, David Ayuku, Edwin Sang, Lukoye Atwoli, Omar Galárraga, 22 Dec 2022

This analysis estimated the cost-effectiveness of family-based care environments for preventing HIV and death among orphaned and separated children in sub-Saharan Africa.

Cost Utility of Supporting Family-Based Care to Prevent HIV and Deaths Among Orphaned and Separated Children in East Africa: A Markov Model–Based Simulation

Marta Wilson-Barthes, Paula Braitstein, Allison DeLong, David Ayuku, Omar Galárraga, Lukoye Atwoli, Edwin Sang, , 22 Dec 2022

Strengthening family-based care is a key policy response to the more than 15 million orphaned and separated children who have lost 1 or both parents in sub-Saharan Africa. This analysis estimated the cost-effectiveness of family-based care environments for preventing HIV and death in this population.

Cost Utility of Supporting Family-Based Care to Prevent HIV and Deaths among Orphaned and Separated Children in East Africa: A Markov Model–Based Simulation

What is Prevention?

The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action, 06 Dec 2022

This video by the Alliance for for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action details the three levels of prevention in child protection in humanitarian action.

Fortalecimiento Familiar y Comunitario para la Prevención de la Separación Familiar Innecesaria

Changing the Way We Care, 01 Dec 2022

Este documento se basa en la experiencia de Cambiando la Forma en Que Cuidamos (o sus siglas en inglés, CTWWC) Guatemala en procesos de fortalecimiento familiar y comunitario en un área específica de intervención.

“If I Wasn’t Poor, I Wouldn’t Be Unfit”: The Family Separation Crisis in the US Child Welfare System

Human Rights Watch, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), 17 Nov 2022

This Human Rights Watch report examines removals of children and termination of parental rights by state child welfare systems in the U.S., focusing primarily on four states: California, New York, Oklahoma, and West Virginia.

A Call for Catholics’ Support

Changing the Way We Care, 15 Oct 2022

In this video, Changing the Way We Care (CTWWC) speaks to Catholic audiences in the U.S. and around the world who have supported children in residential care facilities – sometimes referred to as “orphanages” - about the importance of supporting children to stay with their families or be reintegrated from residential care into family care.

Children Without Parental Care

Nurullah Çalış, 30 Sep 2022

This study aims to provide an overview of the world's children who lack parental care in the light of the theoretical background and the latest research.

Youth at the Intersection of Parental Incarceration and Foster Care: Examining Prevalence, Disparities, and Mental Health

Luke Muentner, Katie J. Stone, Laurel Davis, Rebecca Shlafer, 28 Sep 2022

This U.S.-based study details the prevalence of youth at the intersection of parental incarceration and foster care, their demographic characteristics, and heterogeneity in their mental health.