Child Care and Protection Policies

Child care and protection policies regulate the care of children, including the type of support and assistance to be offered, good practice guidelines for the implementation of services, standards for care, and adequate provisions for implementation. They relate to the care a child receives at and away from home.

States and all organisations with child care programmes should have child care policies which are in line with national legislation and international law, e.g. the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). In line with the CRC, emphasis should be placed on the child’s best interests, with support to families prioritised in order to prevent family separation. Good gatekeeping mechanisms are essential in ensuring families receive the services they need and are entitled to, and to guard against inappropriate placement into poor care arrangements.

Home-based care, day care, and other family support services are mechanisms for assisting families in providing for the child’s development and, when used appropriately, can prevent child separation. When a child is unable to remain at home, alternative forms of community based care should be prioritised, such as formal kinship care or foster care. The use of institutions should be highlighted as a last and temporary measure. All support and care provisions should outline the referral and admission process, the use of care plans, regular reviews, rehabilitation, and aftercare procedures.

Child protection legislation which recognises that abuse can be physical, emotional, sexual, or neglect, and may be carried out by parents, caretakers, children and other adults is required. All agencies working with children should have written child protection policies which respect the rights of the child. Policies should outline behaviours and actions which are unacceptable, provide standards for the appropriate care of children, and clear guidelines on what procedures to follow and by whom, including reporting mechanisms for suspected abuse to an assigned authority for investigation.

Child care and protection policies require resources and monitoring of standards to ensure their appropriate implementation. Adequate provision and training of child care and social work staff is required to deliver family support services and alternatives forms of child care. All staff working with children should be trained and supervised in providing appropriate care for children, identifying abuse, and responding appropriately.

The literature in this section contains country reports and examples of national and organisational child care and protection policies.

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Alternative Care in Laos: An Exploratory Study With Children and Caregivers

Monica Ruiz-Casares, 30 Sep 2013

This report summarizes the findings of a study on parental and alternative childcare in Luang Prabang and Xayabury provinces in Northern Lao People’s Democratic Republic.

Syria: Child Protection Assessment 2013

Child Protection Working Group (CPWG), 19 Sep 2013

This report just issued by the Child Protection Working Group presents the main findings of an interagency child protection assessment for Syria, covering the period February- May 2013. The report provides findings on key thematic areas: psychosocial wellbeing, physical violence, children associated with armed forces and armed groups, child marriage, sexual violence, child labour, separation from caregivers and access to basic services and information.

A Better Way to Protect ALL Children: The Theory and Practice of Child Protection Systems, Conference Report

UNICEF, UNHCR, Save the Children and World Vision, 15 Sep 2013

This report of a major conference held in New Delhi in November 2012 entitled “A Better Way to Protect ALL Children: The Theory and Practice of Child Protection Systems”, encapsulates the substantive content of the presentations and related discussion; provides an analysis and documents the journey; and suggest an agenda, or at least direction, for future work on Child Protection systems.

The Parenting Gap

Richard V. Reeves and Kimberly Howard, 08 Sep 2013

This paper by the Brookings Center on Children and Families examines the scope of parenting interventions in the US that directly address poor parenting, as research has found how much parenting matters.

Children's Views of Living with Informal Kinship Carers: Social Networks, Stigmas, and Attachment to Carers

Elaine Farmers, Julie Selwyn, and Sarah Meakings from the School of Policy Studies at University of Bristol, UK, 01 Sep 2013

This study funded by Big Lottery and undertaken in partnership between the University of Bristol and Buttle UK, a grant-giving charity for vulnerable children, aims to fill gaps in understanding about the experiences of children living with kins, and in particular how children in informal kinship care view their situation.

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Performance Audit Report of the Auditor General on the Regulation of Residential Homes for Children (Orphanages) by the Department of Social Welfare (DSW)

Ghana Audit Service, Republic of Ghana, 26 Aug 2013

This audit was conducted to determine whether the Department of Social Welfare in Ghana was sufficiently regulating the operations of Residential Homes for Children (orphanages) to ensure the care and protection of children living in institutions.

Project Monitoring Visit to Burundi: “Building a Caring Environment for Children in Burundi” and “New Generation”

USAID , 13 Aug 2013

This report provides a review of two projects: Building a Caring Environment for Children in Burundi (UNICEF), which addresses child care reform and New Generation (IRC) which addresses household economic strengthening and parenting skills.

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Country Care Review: Uzbekistan

Better Care Network, 12 Aug 2013

This Country Care Review includes the care-related concluding observations on the third and fourth periodic reports of Uzbekistan, adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child at its sixty-third session (27 May–14 June 2013), as well as other care-related concluding observations, ratification dates, and links to the Universal Periodic Review and Hague Intercountry Adoption Country Profile.

Report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children to the UN General Assembly 68th Session

Marta Santos Pais, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children , 05 Aug 2013

In her annual report to the UN General Assembly, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General highlights the results of an expert consultation on violence in early childhood. The consultation highlighted the urgency of supporting families and caregivers in their child-rearing responsibilities and securing a responsive national child protection system to strengthen families’ capacity to raise young children in safe environments and prevent child abandonment and placement in residential care.

Inter-Agency Statement on the 2014 United Nations General Assembly Resolution on the Rights of the Child

New York and Geneva Working Groups on Children Without parental Care, 24 Jul 2013

A coalition of over 40 international, regional and national NGOs and networks have issued a joint call to member States of the United Nations General Assembly (UN GA) to focus the 2014 Resolution on the Rights of the Child on strengthening family care and providing appropriate alternative care for children.