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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Opening Doors for Europe's Children 2018 Country Factsheets

Opening Doors for Europe's Children, 15 Mar 2019

The Opening Doors for Europe’s Children – a pan-European campaign that advocates for strengthening families and ending institutional care – released 16 country fact sheets about the progress with the transition from institutional to family- and community-based care (also known as deinstitutionalisation) in 2018.

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Recurrence, eruptions, and a transnational turn: Three decades of strained relations between migrants to Norway and the Child Welfare Services

Anders Vassenden & Gunn Vedøy - Child & Family Social Work, 12 Mar 2019

This article explores the history of strained relations between the Norwegian Child Welfare Services (CWS) and various migrant groups.

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A structural path to job satisfaction, burnout, and intent to leave among child protection workers: A South Korean study

Youngsoon Chung & Hyekyung Choo - Children and Youth Services Review, 09 Mar 2019

This study aimed to identify the interrelationships of risk and protective factors, job satisfaction and burnout to child protection workers' intent to leave, the relative impact between job satisfaction and burnout on intent to leave, and their mediating roles for the risk and protective factors.

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The revolving door of families in the child welfare system: Risk and protective factors associated with families returning

Ryan D. Davidson, Claire S. Tomlinson, Connie J. Beck, Anne M. Bowen - Children and Youth Services Review, 09 Mar 2019

This article aims to identify risk and protective factors associated with families returning to the US child welfare system within a social ecological framework, to identify gaps in the current literature, and to discuss areas for future research.

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Country Care Review: Syrian Arab Republic

Better Care Network, 06 Mar 2019

This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child. The Committee's recommendations on the issues relevant to children's care are highlighted, as well as other care-related concluding observations, ratification dates, and links to the Universal Periodic Review and Hague Intercountry Adoption Country Profile.

‘Why can’t we help protect children too?’ Stigma by association among community workers in child protection and its consequences

Sharynne Hamilton, Deborah Cleland, Valerie Braithwaite - Community Development Journal, 06 Mar 2019

Drawing on in-depth interviews with fifteen community workers, who represent nine agencies assisting families with child protection issues in a small jurisdiction in Australia, the authors of this article show how the stigma attached to ‘bad’ parents is passed on to the community workers who are supporting them.

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Country Care Review: Japan

Better Care Network, 05 Mar 2019

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

The Center for Regional and Tribal Child Welfare Studies: Reducing disparities through indigenous social work education

Wendy Haight, Cary Waubanascum, David Glesener, Priscilla Day, Brenda Bussey, Karen Nichols - Children and Youth Services Review, 05 Mar 2019

This research addresses one of the most pressing and controversial issues facing child welfare policymakers and practitioners today: the dramatic overrepresentation of Indigenous families in North American public child welfare systems. The article presents a successful model of inclusive education: the Center for Regional and Tribal Child Welfare Studies (the Center) at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, School of Social Work.

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Country Care Review: Czech Republic

Better Care Network, 05 Mar 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. The Committees' recommendations on the issues relevant to children's care are highlighted, as well as other care-related concluding observations, ratification dates, and links to the Universal Periodic Review and Hague Intercountry Adoption Country Profile.

The contribution of supervision orders and special guardianship to children’s lives and family justice

Professor Judith Harwin, Dr Bachar Alrouh, Ms Lily Golding, Ms Tricia McQuarrie, Professor Karen Broadhurst and Dr Linda Cusworth - Centre for Child and Family Justice Research, Lancaster University, 04 Mar 2019

This report is about the use of ‘family orders’ to support family reunification and placement with family and friends as outcomes of S31 care and supervision proceedings brought under the UK Children Act 1989. The over-arching aim of this study is to understand the opportunities, challenges and outcomes of these orders, and their use at national and regional level.