Temporary or Interim Care

Interim care refers to care arranged for children on a short-term, temporary basis. It can involve placement with relatives, foster carers or in residential care facilities such as interim care centres, shelters or drop-in centres, and generally involves a temporary solution for children who are in need of immediate care and protection, while longer-term care is identified.

Interim care may be required in situations where children’s safety and wellbeing is at risk and they need immediate care and protection. For example, while removal of a child from family care should be a last resort, girls and boys may be placed in temporary care when there is evidence that they are suffering significant harm including exploitation, abuse or neglect. Interim care options may also be suitable for trafficked children, child migrants or children living on the streets.

In humanitarian emergencies, where there may be large numbers of separated children, interim care options such as emergency centres, informal fostering, kinship and residential facilities provide immediate shelter and protection for children while efforts are made to reunite them with their families. Children may also be placed in interim care in situations where a personal emergency or a crisis results in a need for their temporary care. Planned ‘respite care’ can be provided to relieve struggling parents for a few days– such as those experiencing difficulties caring for a child with disability or other special needs.

Interim care placements should adhere to minimum standards that ensure children’s wellbeing and provide them with immediate care and protection. This includes safe accommodation, food, education, access to basic services and continued contact with families and communities where appropriate. Suitable support should also be provided to children with special needs, such as disabilities, psychosocial distress, illnesses and pregnancies.

Interim care options should be carefully monitored, with children’s care plan reviewed every 12 weeks (three months) to ensure that a longer-term care solution is identified for them. This should involve reintegrating children with their family where it is in their best interests, or placing them within a family-type care setting in the community. Reviews should consider the appropriateness of children’s existing placement, and take into account their personal development, changing needs and developments in their family environment.

The documents in this section provide information on interim care solutions for children, including guidelines for responding to their care and protection needs.

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Translations in Kinscripts: Child Circulation among Ghanaians Abroad

Cati Coe - Affective Circuits: African Migrations to Europe and the Pursuit of Social…, 2016

This chapter discusses the practice of child circulation in Ghana.

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Short-Term Foster Care Results of a survey among short-term foster carers carried out by Lumos

Lumos, 01 Oct 2015

This study from Lumos provides an analysis of a survey administered to temporary foster carers in June 2015 in seven regions of the Czech Republic to address negative perceptions of foster carers and to determine whether public criticisms were founded.

Continuidad en el Cuidado de Huérfanos y Niños Vulnerables

Faith to Action Initiative, 01 Aug 2015

Esta guía es la tercera publicación en una serie producida por the Faith to Action Initiative (Iniciativa de Fe en Acción) para proporcionar a las iglesias, a las organizaciones basadas en la fe, e individuos de fe con información para ayudar a guiar la “mejor práctica”. La guía proporciona una visión general de una gama de opciones de cuidado alternativo para los niños que han sido separados del cuidado parental.

The Place of Foster Care in the Continuum of Care Choices: A Review of the Evidence for Policymakers

Ghazal Keshavarzian, Family for Every Child , 2015

This report from Family for Every Child explores rising concerns about the expansion of foster care services in low and middle income countries, it begins to fill the gap in understanding, and aims to assist in both states’ and NGOs’ decisions on whether to invest in foster care, and in the kinds of supportive services needed to make foster care safe and effective.

Guidelines for the Alternative Family Care of Children in Kenya

Government of the Republic of Kenya and UNICEF, 01 Oct 2014

The initial goal of the development of these guidelines was to seek to regulate Guardianship and Foster Care of children in Kenya.

Guidelines for partner operators on volunteering directly with vulnerable children

Responsibletravel.com, 01 Oct 2013

Responsibletravel.com, a travel company operating from the UK since 2001 has issued Guidelines for partner operators for volunteering directly with vulnerable children, including in the context of orphanage volunteering.

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Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children - Arabic

UN General Assembly A/RES/64/142, 24 Feb 2010

The Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children were endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly on 20th November 2009, in connection with the 20th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This momentous day marked a culmination of years of discussions and negotiations led by the Government of Brazil, in partnership with Group of Friends and civil society.

Les lignes directrices relatives à la protection de remplacement pour les enfants

L'Assemblée Générale des Nations Unies A/RES/64/142, 24 Feb 2010

Les lignes directrices pour la prise en charge alternative des enfants ont été endorsées par l'Assemblée Générale des Nations Unies, dans le sillage de la commémoration du 20e anniversaire de la Convention des Nations Unies relative aux droits de l’enfant.