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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Foster Care and Adoption Policy in Lesotho

Ministry of Social Development, Government of Lesotho, 07 Aug 2012

A document containing the policy for foster care and adoption in Lesotho.

National Health Policy: ‘A Nation of Healthy and Productive People’

Republic of Zambia Ministry of Health, 01 Aug 2012

This document outlines an overarching National Health Policy for Zambia.

Strengthening Child Protection Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Working Paper

Rebecca Davis,Jim McCaffery, and Alessandro Conticini , 01 Aug 2012

This paper is a response to the increasing need for agreement on approaches and documented evidence of good practices consistent with system strengthening work. The purpose of the Inter-Agency Working Paper is to consolidate current thinking, examples and lessons learned about child protection system strengthening in sub-Saharan Africa and suggest a way forward.

Foster Care and Adoption Procedures and Practice Guidelines for Lesotho

Ministry of Social Development, Government of Lesotho, 01 Aug 2012

This document contains the Procedures and Practice Guidelines for Foster Care and Adoption in Lesotho.

Protecting Children in Malawi: A report on the major findings of the mapping and assessment of the National Child Protection System

Government of Malawi and UNICEF, 23 Jul 2012

This mapping and assessment report of Malawi’s Child Protection System offers key recommendations to strengthen the child protection system, including enforcing legislation, coordinating mechanisms, building capacity of the social service workforce, harmonization of child protection services, and strengthening accountability mechanisms.

Protecting Filipino Children from Abuse, Exploitation and Violence: A Comprehensive Program on Child Protection, 2012-2016 Building a Protective and Caring Environment for Children

Committee for the Special Protection of Children Department of Justice, 01 Jul 2012

This is a revision and update of the Comprehensive Program on Child Protection (CPCP). Now on its 3rd cycle covering the period 2012-2016, the CPCP provides the overall thrusts, directions, goals, strategies and interventions in the care and protection of Filipino children who are at risk, disadvantaged and vulnerable to various forms of abuse, neglect, violence and exploitation.

Better Care Network, 06 Jun 2012

The People’s Republic of China issued its third and fourth combined report on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in June 2012. This extract of the report focuses on sections relevant to children's care and in particular those addressing Family Environment and Alternative Care

Namibia: Standards for Foster Care Services

Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, Government of Republic of Namibia, 01 Jun 2012

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare (MGECW) of Namibia released the 2012 Foster Care Standards and Guidelines which are aimed to guide social workers and other service providers in recruiting, assessing, training, matching, supporting, supervising and monitoring foster care services. The Foster Care Guidelines assist in translating the Standards into day-to-day practices. These Standards and Guidelines with accompanying training manuals were prepared to strengthen supported family-based care for vulnerable and marginalized children.

Webinar on the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children (In FRENCH)

Better Care Network , 08 May 2012

On May 2, 2012, in preparation of the Family Strengthening and Alternative Care Conference for Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa in Dakar, Senegal, BCN and the regional planning committee convened experts and practitioners to present and discuss the efforts to implement the Guidelines for the Alternative Care in the region. Watch this video for presentations, country level experience from Togo, and discussions on the pressing issues facing implementation in the region.

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Investing in Malawi's National Child Protection System to support national social protection goals: The Business Case

UNICEF Malawi , 02 May 2012

The paper argues that investing in Malawi’s emerging national child protection system will support national social protection goals. The Government is bringing together its various responses to child protection and orphans and vulnerable children as the foundation on which to build the national child protection system, with the intention of delivering a coordinated, harmonised and systematic approach to protecting children from violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect.