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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The 1993 Intercountry Adoption Convention: from gift child to safer adoptions

Sai Ramani Garimella and Shivika Choudhary - The Elgar Companion to the Hague Conference on Private International Law, 08 Dec 2020

This Chapter elucidates the objectives, scope, and challenges in the implementation of the 1993 Intercountry Adoption Convention.

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The 17th Civil Society Organizations to the African Charter on the Welfare and Rights of the Child Forum (CSO Forum): Children Without Parental Care

Mtoto News, Civil Society Forum to the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of Children, 30 Nov 2020

This webinar, a side event of the Civil Society Organizations (CSO) Forum organized by the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, features a discussion of the challenges of alternative family and community-based care for children without parental care, with a particular focus on funding and coordination of services.

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Parenting for the State: An Ethnographic Analysis of Non-Profit Foster Care

Teresa Toguchi Swartz, 26 Nov 2020

Through careful ethnography and rich in-depth interviews at a non-profit foster care agency, this book takes a look behind the scenes of the U.S. foster care system.

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Child Welfare: Preparing Social Workers for Practice in the Field

Kathryn Krase, Tobi DeLong Hamilton, 24 Nov 2020

Child Welfare: Preparing Social Workers for Practice in the Field is a comprehensive text for child welfare courses taught from a social work perspective. This textbook provides a single source for all material necessary for a contextual child welfare course.

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Child Maltreatment in the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Proposed Global Framework on Research, Policy and Practice

Carmit Katz, Sidnei R. Priolo Filho, Jill Korbin, et al - Child Abuse & Neglect, 20 Nov 2020

The current paper aims to suggest a framework for risk and protective factors that need to be considered in child protection in its various domains of research, policy, and practice during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Webinar: Why and how does protecting children’s rights strengthen our democracies?

Eurochild, 20 Nov 2020

This webinar was part of Eurochild’s breakfast webinars to mark World Children’s Day 2020. This webinar looked at the intersection between children’s rights and democracy.

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Concluding Observations and Recommendations by the ACERWC on the Second Periodic Report of the Republic of Kenya, on the Status of the Implementation of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child

African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC), 01 Nov 2020

This document lays out the concluding observations and recommendations developed and adopted by the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC/the Committee), which considered the second periodic report of the Republic of Kenya during its 35th Ordinary Session.

Voluntary Accommodation of Infants, Children, and Young People in Scotland (Section 25): An initial exploration

Micky Anderson, Brandi Lee Lough Dennell, and Robert Porter - CELCIS, 01 Nov 2020

This report presents findings in relation to the purpose, frequency, and variation in the use of Section 25 orders in Scotland, which enable parents, supported by social workers, to voluntarily place their child to secure their safety, into the care of a local authority away from the parental home.

The intersection between the Child Protection and Youth Justice systems in South Australia

BetterStart Child Health and Development Research Group, The University of Adelaide, 01 Nov 2020

The purpose of this research was to examine the overlap between the Youth Justice (YJ) and the Child Protection (CP) systems in Australia, and profile selected characteristics of children and young people who have YJ and CP system involvement.

Te Kuku O Te Manawa: Moe ararā! Haumanutia ngā moemoeā a ngā tūpuna mō te oranga o ngā tamariki

Office of the Children’s Commissioner, 01 Nov 2020

The Children’s Commissioner of New Zealand undertook a thematic review of the policies, processes and practices of Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children relating to care and protection issues for pēpi Māori (Māori infants) aged 0-3 months. This second report comes to the clear conclusion that to keep pēpi in the care of their whānau, Māori must be recognised as best placed to care for their own.