Ending Child Institutionalization

The detrimental effects of institutionalization on a child’s well-being are widely documented. Family based care alternatives such as kinship or foster care, are much more effective in providing care and protection for a child, and are sustainable options until family reunification can take place. The use of residential care should be strictly limited to specific cases where it may be necessary to provide temporary, specialized, quality care in a small group setting organized around the rights and needs of the child in a setting as close as possible to a family, and for the shortest possible period of time. The objective of such placement should be to contribute actively to the child’s reintegration with his/her family or, where this is not possible or in the best interests of the child, to secure his/her safe, stable, and nurturing care in an alternative family setting or supported independent living as young people transition to adulthood. 

Displaying 551 - 560 of 661

Office of Social Welfare of Guatemala, Holt International and UNICEF,

Assesses the causes and realities of children living in institutions in Guatemala with recommendations for systemic reform.

Shihning Chou and Kevin Browne,

Explores causal relationship between increased international adoption and increase in institutional care of children in Europe.

Department of Social Welfare, Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment, Government of Ghana ,

These standards were drafted as part of a reform initiative programme in Ghana to ensure that institutional care is used as a last resort

IREX/ARO,

Update on all recent seminars and activities relevant to child welfare reform and deinstitutionalization in Russia

UNICEF,

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.

UNICEF Afghanistan,

Analysis of reunification and reintegration program of 400 children in orphanages

Keeping Children Safe Coalition,

The first tool in the Keeping Children Safe Toolkit which explains what the basic standards should be for all organisations across the world working with and for children directly and indirectly

Kevin Browne and Shihning Chou,

The study reported by Shihning Chou and Kevin Browne explored the link between institutional care for young children and international adoption, using a survey of 33 European countries. The evidence suggests that, rather than reduce the number of children in institutions, international adoption may contribute to the continuation of this harmful practice. A child rights-based approach to providing alternative care for children separated from their parents is proposed.

Helen Meintjes, Sue Moses, Lizette Berry, Ruth Mampane,

A report on residential care in South Africa in the context of AIDS and an under-resourced social welfare sector.

UNICEF,

Examines the work of UNICEF Sudan and its partners in addressing the issue of abandonment of babies, institutional care, and the process undertaken since 2003 to develop alternative family care programmes.