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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Country Care Review: Tonga

Better Care Network, 02 Jul 2019

This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Community Based Child Protection in Humanitarian Action: Definitions and Terminology

The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action, 02 Jul 2019

This list of common Community Based Child Protection (CBCP) - related terms and their definitions - is intended to show the evolving definitions around CBCP. These definitions were collected through a systematic review of over 234 documents (both published and grey literature).

Redesigning the workplace to be family-friendly: What governments and businesses can do

UNICEF, 01 Jul 2019

This collection of resources from UNICEF includes a call to action, policy brief, and evidence briefs focused on investing in family-friendly policies in the workplace.

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Boundless Futures: Building a Youth - Focused Child Welfare System

2019 Class of Foster Youth Interns - Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, 01 Jul 2019

This report presents policy recommendations to improve the U.S. child welfare system, made by young adult interns who participated in the Foster Youth Internship Program® (FYI), "a highly esteemed congressional internship for young adults who have spent their formative years in U.S. foster care."

Facilitator’s Training Manual: Implementing the Guidelines for the Alternative Family Care of Children in Kenya (2014)

Department of Children's Services - Republic of Kenya, 01 Jul 2019

Kenya's Department of Children’s Services (DCS), and its care reform partners within government and civil society, developed this Facilitator’s Training Manual for training on implementing the Guidelines for the Alternative Family Care of Children with the intent to streamline and standardize alternative family care services in Kenya through standardized training. This comprehensive training package includes the training facilitator’s manual, PowerPoint presentations, handouts, case studies, and video clips.

Twenty first century contact: young people in care and their use of mobile communication devices and the Internet for contact

Jennifer Eyvonne Simpson - Edinburgh Research Archive, 01 Jul 2019

This thesis paper explores (1) how children in care in the UK are making use of mobile communication devices for contact with members of their familial and friendship networks; (2) to what extent devices like the smartphone, tablets and computers either improve or hinder communication; and (3) how contact using mobile communication devices and Internet is being managed by foster carers and social workers.

Country Care Review: Cabo Verde

Better Care Network, 27 Jun 2019

This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Trajectories of child protective services contact among Alaska Native/American Indian and non-Native children

Anna E. Austin, Nisha C. Gottfredson, Adam J. Zolotor, Carolyn T. Halpern, Stephen W. Marshall, Rebecca B. Naumann, Meghan E. Shanahan - Child Abuse & Neglect, 26 Jun 2019

This study aimed to identify longitudinal trajectory classes of child protective services (CPS) contact among Alaska Native/American Indian (AN/AI) and non-Native children and examine preconception and prenatal risk factors associated with identified classes.

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Country Care Review: Malta

Better Care Network , 26 Jun 2019

This country care review includes the care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Child protection inequalities in Aotearoa New Zealand: Social gradient and the ‘inverse intervention law’

Emily Keddell, Gabrielle Davie, Dave Barson - Children and Youth Services Review, 18 Jun 2019

This article reports on a study of the relationships between child protection system contact and small area-level deprivation in New Zealand. The study found that, compared to children living in the least deprived quintile of small areas, children in the most deprived quintile had, on average, 13 times the rate of substantiation, 18 times the rate of a family group conference, and 6 times their chance of placement in foster care. Findings suggest that action is needed to address the causes of deprivation, provide services that respond to families living in poverty, and undertake further research to examine the interactions between demand and supply of services across deprivation levels.

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