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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The Investing in Family Care for Moldova’s Future presents the case for investing in a more child-centered social welfare system in Moldova and provides specific estimates on the resources needed including an estimate of the resources requi

Migration Control Policy and Parent – Child Separation Among Migrant Families: Evidence from China

Yuanyuan Chen, Wei Fu, 29 Jul 2023

This paper investigates the effects of a migration control policy in mega cities after 2014 in China on parent–child separation.

Living Apart After Adoption or Guardianship: Perspectives of Adoptive Parents and Guardians

Nancy Rolock, Kevin White, Joan M. Blakey, Kerrie Ocasio, Amy Korsch-Williams, Chelsea Flanigan, Rong Bai, Monica Faulkner, Laura Marra, Rowena Fong, 01 Jul 2023

Using caregiver survey data, this study examined the following questions: (1) What is the prevalence of children or youth living apart (LA)? (2) What are the risk and protective factors at child and family levels that are associated with LA? (3) What is the nature of the relationships between family members among those who have experienced LA? This study re-purposed data from surveys of adoptive parents and guardians of children formerly in foster care in four U.S. states.

Prevention of Separation Learning Package

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This introductory learning module has been developed by the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action. The learning module is designed to strengthen participants' overall understanding of prevention related elements from the UASC Handbook and Toolkit and the ACE Toolkit.

Effects of the Removal of Arab Children from their Homes by Court Order: The mothers’ perspectives

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This article examines the effects of removing children to out-of-home settings both for reasons of child abuse and/or neglect and due to custody disputes on personal, familial and social aspects of the lives of Arab mothers in East Jerusalem.

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Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, CHIP President, discusses the measures in place to ensure that the many children that crossed the Polish/Ukraine border alone travelled with identity documents that would allow them to access child protection measures as they proceed on their journey.

Learnings: Promoting Positive Caregiving for Children at Risk of Separation or in the Process of Reintegration in Kenya

Changing the Way We Care (CTWWC), 01 May 2023

This CTWWC brief describes the family strengthening approach and the people who work with families and children. It shares reflections from facilitators of parenting sessions and the caregivers, themselves.

Gatekeeping as a Systematic Process: Preventing Child’s Separation

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This webinar was organized by India Alternative Care Network (IACN) in association with Miracle Foundation India, on April 28, 2023, with the objective to understand gatekeeping, it's components, tools, mechanisms, stakeholders and their role in gatekeeping and learning some promising practices at the primary and secondary levels of gatekeeping.

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This document makes the case for the importance of investing in family strengthening in countries across Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It has a particular focus on support for families so that any unnecessary separation of children from their families and placement in alternative care can be prevented.

Strengthening Families: Parents' Experiences at the Front End of the Child Welfare System

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