Children Affected by Poverty and Social Exclusion

Around the world, poverty and social exclusion are driving factors behind the placement of children into alternative care. Families give up their children because they are too poor to care for them, or they feel that it is the best way to help them to access basic services such as education and health care. Discrimination and cultural taboos mean that girls, children with disabilities, ethnic minorities, children with HIV/AIDS and children born out of wedlock, make up a disproportionate number of children abandoned into alternative care.

Poor-quality alternative care leads to a vicious cycle of poverty and inequality. With limited family-based alternative care options in many countries, children often end up in institutional care. Already marginalized by poverty or stigmatization, they risk becoming further excluded from society, as they grow up separated from their families and communities. In the worst cases, inadequate or unsafe care standards expose them to neglect, violence and abuse. When they eventually leave institutional care, young adults may then struggle to reintegrate into their communities and face high rates of homelessness, unemployment, chronic poverty, depression and even suicide.

Greater political and financial commitment is needed to tackle the poverty and social exclusion that drives families to give up their children. This includes wide-ranging measures to combat poverty, discrimination and stigmatization, to change attitudes towards single parenthood and disability, and to adopt social policies promoting family empowerment and parenting skills. Greater priority must also be given to developing good-quality family-based care options, such as foster care and adoption, for the girls and boys who need alternative families.

The documents in this section examine the relationship between poverty, social exclusion and placement of children in alternative care.

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What You Can Do About Alternative Care in South Asia: An Advocacy Kit

UNICEF, 08 Jan 2008

Provides insight into the situation of children outside parental care in South Asia, gaps in legislation, capacity, and services, with reference to national and international legal instruments.

Journeys of Faith: A Resource Guide for Orphan Care Ministries Helping Children in Africa and Beyond

Faith to Action Initiative , 2008

This resource is designed to be used as a guide for those in the Faith community working with orphaned children.

FIELD Brief #3, Economic Strengthening for Vulnerable Children. Principles of Program Design & Technical Recommendations for Effective Interventions

Save the Children, 2008

A brief illustration of ten economic strengthening tools that can be adapted to address child vulnerability due to HIV/AIDS, conflict, natural disaster, extreme poverty, or other contexts.

Experiencing Vulnerability in South Africa: The Interaction of Multiple Stressors

Casale, M; Drimie, S; Gillepsie, S, 2008

Research study aimed at understanding the meaning of vulnerability and it's impact on parent's future planning for children in the context of poverty in Malawi and South Africa

Dreams and Disappointments; Migration and Families in the Context of HIV and AIDS

Joint Learning Initiative on Children Affected by AIDS: Learning Group on Families, 2008

This review explores the short- and long-term implications of migration for families in the context of HIV and AIDS, focusing mainly on sub-Saharan Africa.

Evaluation of a Community-Based Orphan Care Program in Uganda

Jini L. Roby & Stacey A. Shaw, 2008

Examines the outcomes of family strengthening model in Uganda.

Assessment of Capacity to Manage Alternative Care in Zambia - DRAFT

Andrew Dunn, 14 Dec 2007

Country level evaluation of contributing factors to the establishment of an alternative care system.

Cultural considerations in out-of-home care

Nicholas Richardson, Dr Leah Bromfield and Dr Alexandra Osborn - Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2007

The aims of this paper are to: summarise what we know from Australian research about cultural considerations for children and young people in care; assess the quality of the evidence base; and identify future research needs.

Evaluating the Impact of Brazil's Bolsa Familia Program

Fábio Veras Soares, Rafael Perez Ribas, Rafael Guerreiro Osório, 2007

Evaluates targeting and human capital impacts of Brazil's Bolsa Familia Program in comparison with Mexico's Oportunidades, and Chile's Chile Solidario.

Psychosocial Care and Support for Young Children and Infants in the Time of HIV and AIDS: A Resource for Programming

REPSSI, 2007

Clear programme guidance on psychosocial support, with a special focus on infants and young children. Excellent explanation of psychosocial support models.