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: France

Better Care Network, 23 Feb 2016

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

‘I want to be better than you:’ lived experiences of intergenerational child maltreatment prevention among teenage mothers in and beyond foster care

Elizabeth M. Aparicio, 04 Feb 2016

The current study employed interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore 18 in-depth, qualitative interviews from six participants on the meaning and experience of motherhood among teenage mothers in the United States in foster care in the and in the years immediately after ageing out.

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Policy transfer, social pedagogy and children's residential care in England

David Berridge - Child and Family Social Work, 01 Feb 2016

This paper builds on a recent evaluation of the piloting of the continental European model of social pedagogy (SP) in English residential care. It does three things: it considers the theoretical social policy literature on policy transfer and its implications; discusses European residential care for children and the discipline of SP; and reflects on these debates and the situation of children's residential care in England.

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Country Care Review: Maldives

Better Care Network, 29 Jan 2016

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

Lignes directrices nationales sur la prise en charge des enfants dans les familles d’accueil transitoire: Manuel à l’usage des acteurs de protection de l’enfance en RCA

Ministere des Affaires Sociales, de la Promotion du Genre et de L’Action Humanitaire - Republique Centrafricaine, et UNICEF, 02 Jan 2016

Le présent document propose la procédure d’identification, de sélection, de formation, de suivi et d’appui aux familles d’accueil temporaire dans la prise en charge des enfants non accompagnés, séparés, enfants associés aux groupes armés, orphelins et autres enfants vulnérables en Centrafrique, aussi bien sur les sites des déplacés que dans les communautés.

Schools that care: A review of linkages between children’s education and care

Camilla Jones – Family for Every Child, 2016

This report presents the key findings of a scoping study on the links between education and children’s care. The study involved a literature review in English, French and Spanish; key informant interviews; and consultations with 170 children, carers, teachers and other stakeholders in Guyana, India, Russia and Rwanda.

Strengths-based community action as a source of resilience for children affected by armed conflict

Michael Wessells, 2016

Mental health issues in war-affected children include depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and neurological problems, among others.

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The Children’s Act 2011: DRAFT Regulations on the Care and Protection of Children

Department of Social Welfare - Zanzibar, 2016

These DRAFT Regulations on the Care and Protection of Children of the Children’s Act of Zanzibar offer a definition of a child in need of protection and outline the general duties of the Department of Social Welfare in regards to providing that protection.

EAC Child Policy (2016)

East African Community, 2016

The EAC Child Policy is the culmination of various processes geared towards the harmonisation of standards on and approaches to the implementation of child rights in the EAC.

Child Protection and Residential Care in Greece: An Illuminative Case Study

Iro Mylonakou-Keke, Stefanos Alevizos, Pavlos Salichos, Fotine Konstantopoulou and Chara Grosdani - Global Perspectives, 2016

This chapter from Global Perspectives is a discussion of child protection, care, welfare, and residential care in Greece. This chapter covers a brief historical overview of the child protection and care situation in Greece, as well as a discussion of care and protection of children in contemporary Greece. There is a case study included of “The Smile of the Child” foundation.

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