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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Tusla’s Programme for Prevention, Partnership and Family Support: Children’s Participation Work Package Final Report

Ms Edel Tierney, Dr Danielle Kennan, Dr Cormac Forkan, Dr Bernadine Brady, and Ms Rebecca Jackson - UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre, National University of Ireland Galway, 01 Sep 2018

This evaluation study focuses on the implementation of and the outcomes from the Programme for Prevention, Partnership and Family Support (PPFS) programme, a programme of action being undertaken by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency of Ireland.

Promoting and Protecting the Rights of Children: A Formative Evaluation of UNICEF’S Child Protection Programme in Cambodia Volume 1

Professor Dame Carolyn Hamilton, Kara Apland, Elizabeth Yarrow & Dr Anna Mackin, with support provided by Soksan Tem & Phally Keo, on behalf of Coram International - UNICEF Cambodia, 01 Sep 2018

The objective of this evaluation was to provide evidence that can help strengthen performance and accountability with UNICEF’s work with the Royal Government of Cambodia and the myriad other authorities and organizations involved in child protection.

Child Protection Risks and Needs in Mali: Secondary Data Review

Child Protection Area of Responsibility in Mali and the Global CP AoR, 01 Sep 2018

This review of secondary sources refers to information on child protection risks and violence against children in Mali, collected from 2016 to 2018.

The Overlap Between the Child Welfare and Youth Justice Systems in Manitoba, Canada

Marni Brownell, Nathan Nickel, Lorna Turnbull, Wendy Au, Leonard MacWilliam, Oke Ekuma, Jeff Valdivia, Scott McCulloch, Janelle Boram Lee - IJPDS International Journal of Population Data Science, 23 Aug 2018

This study linked Child and Family Services (CFS), Justice, and Population Health Registry data to quantify the overlap between having a history of CFS during childhood (0-17 years) and being charged with a crime as a youth (12-17 years).

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A scoping study of Indigenous child welfare: The long emergency and preparations for the next seven generations

Wendy Haight, Cary Waubanascum, David Glessener, Scott Marsalis - Children and Youth Services Review, 20 Aug 2018

This scoping study yielded 37 empirical studies published in peer-reviewed journals addressing one of the most pressing, sensitive, and controversial issues facing child welfare policymakers and practitioners today: the dramatic overrepresentation of Indigenous families in North American public child welfare systems.

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Improving decision‐making in care order proceedings: A multijurisdictional study of court decision‐makers' viewpoints

Marit Skivenes & Milfrid Tonheim - Child & Family Social Work, 15 Aug 2018

In this paper, the authors examine if and how care order proceedings could be improved in England, Finland, Norway, and California, USA, asking the judiciary decision‐makers about their views on what should be improved.

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Inequalities in US Child Protection: The Case of Sex Trafficked Youth

Lisa Werkmeister Rozas, Jason Ostrander, and Megan Feely - Social Sciences, 13 Aug 2018

This article demonstrates how structural social work theory and critical consciousness development can be used to help facilitate a transition from a deficit model approach to an inequities perspective in a child welfare system that was working to improve the identification of and services for domestic minor sex trafficked youth (DMST).

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Alternative Care and Children’s Rights

Kirsten Sandberg - International Human Rights of Children, 13 Aug 2018

In this chapter children’s rights and state obligations in relation to alternative care are presented, with reference to the UN Alternative Care Guidelines and the general comments and concluding observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

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Children Deprived of Their Liberty on ‘Welfare’ Grounds: A Critical Perspective

Deena Haydon - Human Rights and Incarceration, 10 Aug 2018

Focused on the UK, this chapter considers the relevance of human rights in relation to children who are deprived of their liberty by the state on ‘welfare’ grounds for their own or others’ protection.

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National Systems of Child Protection

Lisa Merkel-Holguin, John D. Fluke, Richard D. Krugman, 07 Aug 2018

This volume provides a wide spectrum description analysis of the contemporary and well established child protection systems in a range of countries, such as Australia, Canada, Netherlands, Spain and the United States.

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