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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Vulnerability & Child Protection in the Face of HIV: Report of the United Nations Technical Review Team on programming for children affected by HIV and AIDS in Malawi

UNICEF Malawi, 01 Nov 2011

This report reviews Malawi’s national response for children affected by HIV and AIDS. The report notes significant progress made in improving the lives of children affected by HIV and AIDS and offers key recommendations for further improvements to national policies and strategies.

The Nordic child care regime — History, development and challenges

Niels Ploug - Children and Youth Services Review, 14 Oct 2011

This paper presents the historical background for the development of child care in the Nordic countries, it presents some basic figures on child care take and take up of leave schemes as well as figures on child poverty in the Nordic countries.

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Parental leaves and early childhood education and care: From mapping the terrain to exploring the environment

Peter Moss - Children and Youth Services Review, 14 Oct 2011

Parental leave and early childhood education and care have gained a high profile in child and family policy fields, and both have been the subject of substantial cross-national mapping, describing and comparing their main features across a range of countries. This article provides overviews on parental leave and early childhood services in affluent countries, and reflections on this mapping.

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Introduction to special issue of Children and Youth Services Review on “Comparative Child and Family Policy”

Irwin Garfinkel & Jane Waldfogel - Children and Youth Services Review, 14 Oct 2011

The papers collected in this issue provide a contemporary perspective on comparative child and family policy, highlighting new developments and current challenges for research and policy.

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Recent reforms in childcare and family policies in France and Germany: What was at stake?

Jeanne Fagnani - Children and Youth Services Review, 14 Oct 2011

This paper highlights a number of recurrent issues that help to illuminate and explain the differences that persist between France and Germany in spite of recent reform efforts in child & family policies and evaluates the success of these policies and whether they have achieved their desired effects on mothers' employment patterns, especially those of qualified female workers.

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How do we measure and monitor the “state of our children”? Revisiting the topic in honor of Sheila B. Kamerman

Asher Ben-Arieh - Children and Youth Services Review, 14 Oct 2011

This study explores the development of “state of the child” reports between 2000 and 2010 in an effort to not only quantify the development but also to understand the shifts and changes in the field.

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A comparative study of child welfare systems: Abstract orientations and concrete results

Neil Gilbert - Children and Youth Services Review, 14 Oct 2011

A comparative analysis of child welfare systems in 10 countries identifies three broad functional orientations – child protection, family service and child development.

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Setting the scene: The mix of family policy objectives and packages across the OECD

Willem Adema - Children and Youth Services Review, 14 Oct 2011

Abstract

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Policy and Programing Resource Guide for Child Protection Systems Strengthening in Sub-Saharan Africa

Plan, Save the Children, TRG, UNICEF, World Vision , 13 Oct 2011

This Resource Guide aims to be a user-friendly and manageable document designed to provide an overview of the current system strengthening approaches, along with a series of resources and tools available to support systems strengthening in child protection.

Analysis of the Situation of Children in Residential Centres in Burundi

Government of Burundi, International Rescue Committee, UNICEF, 13 Oct 2011

The report of this study responds to the objectives of identifying all the residential centres for children in Burundi, including the number of children residing in them; analysing the situation of children living in the centres and developing recommendations for the next steps