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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Achieving Broad-Scale Impacts for Social Programs

Ron Haskins, Kenneth A. Dodge, and Deborah Daro - The Future of Children, 29 May 2019

In this brief, Ron Haskins, Kenneth A. Dodge, and Deborah Daro call for a system of psychosocial care for young families in the US, highlighting the the Family Connects program which aims to reach every family with a newborn child in a given community through a system that combines home visiting by trained nurses; community alignment through a directory of services to connect families to the resources they need; and data and monitoring through an electronic data system that acts as a family-specific psychosocial and educational record.

Universal Approaches to Promoting Healthy Development

Princeton University and the Brookings Institution, 29 May 2019

This volume explores universal social programs designed to serve entire communities as they move toward achieving population impact in reducing child maltreatment, strengthening parental capacity, and improving infant health and development.

The effect of aftercare on human capital acquisition among foster care alumni

Signe Hald Andersen - Children and Youth Services Review, 23 May 2019

This study tests whether an expansion of the Danish aftercare scheme in 2001 affects later outcomes of foster care alumni.

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Citizens of Nowhere? Paradoxes of State Parental Responsibility for Unaccompanied Migrant Children in the United Kingdom

Francesca Meloni & Rachel Humphris - Journal of Refugee Studies, 18 May 2019

This paper asks how state parental responsibility towards unaccompanied minors is given meaning, and with what consequences, for both frontline workers and unaccompanied minors alike?

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Local Images of Global Child Rights: CRC in Taiwan

Amy Huey-Ling Shee - Taiwan and International Human Rights, 17 May 2019

This chapter aims to review how the CRC has been integrated into Taiwan’s laws and social practices since its promulgation in 1989.

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An Overview: Foster Care and Policies Designed to Support Youth in Care

Jacob P. Gross & Jennifer Geiger - Former Foster Youth in Postsecondary Education, 16 May 2019

This chapter will help the reader to understand the design and outcomes of the foster care system in the USA.

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Challenging the Welfare System and Forcing Policy Innovation? Unaccompanied Asylum-seeking Children in Sweden and Germany

Inga Narbutaité Aflaki & Matthias Freise - Journal of Refugee Studies, 13 May 2019

The article examines from a comparative perspective how Sweden and Germany reacted to the unprecedented increase in unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) in 2015. By illustrating the reactions of two countries, the study shows that an unprecedented wave of refugees/asylum seekers can trigger both more incremental, adaptive and drastic transformative policy changes.

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Much Ado about Nothing? The Road to the Incorporation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in Sweden

Rebecca Thorburn Stern - The International Journal of Children's Rights, 10 May 2019

This article aims to unpack the reasons that Sweden's incorporation of legal measures to secure the rights recognised in the Convention on the Rights of the Child has been the subject of a lengthy and contentious debate.

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2018 State of the Social Service Workforce: Trends and Recommendations for Strengthening the Workforce

Alex Collins, Global Social Service Workforce Alliance, 07 May 2019

This 4th annual report from the Global Social Service Workforce Alliance includes a multi-country, four region review of the state of the social service workforce.

Care and protection of tamariki Māori in the family court system

Tania Williams, Jacinta Ruru, Horiana Irwin-Easthope, Khylee Quince, Heather Gifford - te Arotahi Series Paper, 01 May 2019

This paper urges the government and nation of New Zealand to give effect to long-standing Kaupapa Māori models for developing the new required evaluation measures aimed at reducing the disparities for Māori children and young persons who come to the attention of Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children.