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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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.

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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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.

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.

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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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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Advancing Protection and Care for Children in Adversity 2019-2023: A U.S. Government Strategy for International Assistance

USAID, US Department of Health and Human Services, US Department of Labor, US Department of State, PEPFAR, Peace Corps - United States Government, 17 Jun 2019

The goal of the Strategy is to ensure the U.S. Government’s investments for the most-vulnerable children and families around the world are comprehensive, coordinated, and effective in helping place partner countries on a Journey to Self-Reliance by which they can sustainably finance, manage, and deliver services that lead to stable, resilient, and prosperous families and communities.

Moving Children through Private International Law: Institutions and the Enactment of Ethics

Sonja van Wichelen - Law & Society Review, 06 Jun 2019

This article examines how the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co‐operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Adoption Convention) plays a central role in justifying the institution of legal adoption.

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How did kinship care emerge as a significant form of placement for children in care? A comparative study of the experience in Ireland and Scotland

Louise Hill, Robbie Gilligan, Graham Connelly - Children and Youth Services Review, 05 Jun 2019

This paper sets out to explore why formal kinship care has emerged in such a marked way in recent decades by investigating the emergence and development of formal kinship care in two neighboring jurisdictions in Europe where it now accounts for a substantial proportion of all care placements in Scotland and Ireland.

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