Child Care and Protection System Reforms

Social welfare sector reform is increasingly common, particularly in transitional countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Increasing attention has been paid to the development of preventive community based child and family welfare programs that would, in coordination with health and education programs and social assistance, provide a range of support for vulnerable families.

Recognition of the damaging effects of institutional care on children and its high cost has influenced governments to redirect resources towards alternative family and community-based care practices such as kinship care, fostering, and adoption. Redirecting resources in the context of social welfare reforms requires a commitment from governments to provide adequate financing for effective policy implementation.

Funding availability raises a variety of issues regarding the level and type of support to be provided, the private or public management of services, and the entitlement process. Social welfare should protect the rights of children and their caretakers via fair and clear criteria of support provisions, with transparent procedures for the effective allocation of services.

Social welfare reforms to protect and support children and families need to be built on legal protections and child care policies which reflect the same child centred goals. Alternative forms of community based care, combined with social reintegration programmes and family support services, must be developed to reduce the use of institutions and enable children leaving institutions to rejoin their communities.

The resources in this section focus on country initiatives in reforming their social welfare sector to finance community based care developments.

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Care Reform in Ghana: Timeline of System Achievements

MEASURE Evaluation and USAID, 15 Sep 2017

This infographic provides a historical timeline of the alternative care reform process in Ghana, marking key achievements in the establishment of policies, guidelines, procedures, and programs to improve the quality of care and protection for children without adequate family care.

Care Reform in Armenia: Timeline of System Achievements

MEASURE Evaluation and USAID, 15 Sep 2017

This infographic provides a historical timeline of the alternative care reform process in Armenia, marking key achievements in the establishment of policies, strategies, guidelines, procedures, and programs to improve the quality of care and protection for children without adequate family care.

Care Reform in Uganda: Timeline of System Achievements

MEASURE Evaluation and USAID , 15 Sep 2017

This infographic provides a historical timeline of the alternative care reform process in Uganda, marking key achievements in the establishment of policies, guidelines, procedures, and programs to improve the quality of care and protection for children without adequate family care.

Childcare Reform in Moldova: Achievements and Challenges

Stela Grigoraș, Minister of Health, Labour and Social Protection, 11 Sep 2017

This presentation by the Minister of Health, Labour and Social Protection of Moldova outlines the basic demographic data of Moldova and provides a thorough review of the situation of children's care, and care reform efforts, in the country.

Care Reform in Armenia Achievements and Challenges

Sona Harutyunyan, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, 11 Sep 2017

This presentation from the Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Affairs of Armenia provides an overview of the demographic data of Armenia and offers a thorough review of the situation of children's care, and care reform efforts, in Armenia.

Care Reform in Ghana: Achievements and Challenges

Fred Sakyi Boafo, Yvonne Norman and Kwabena Frimpong-Manso, 11 Sep 2017

This presentation by key actors in children's care reform in Ghana provides an overview of the demographic data of Ghana and offers a thorough review of the situation of children's care, and care reform efforts, in the country.

Care Reform in Uganda: Achievements and Challenges

Jane Stella Ogwang, Principal Probation and Welfare Officer, 11 Sep 2017

This presentation by the Principal Probation and Welfare Officer of Uganda outlines the basic demographic data of Uganda and provides an overview of the situation of children's care, and care reform efforts, in the country.

Successes and challenges in developing trauma-informed child welfare systems: A real-world case study of exploration and initial implementation

Becci A. Akin, Jessica Strolin-Gotzmna, and Crystal Collines-Camargo - Children and Youth Services Review, 06 Sep 2017

This paper describes and analyzes the implementation of trauma and evidence-informed interventions in three federally-funded statewide demonstration sites in different regional contexts throughout the United States.

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New Perspectives for Outcome-based Evaluation and Research on Family and Children’s Services

Cinzia Canali, Joyce Lai Chong Ma and Tiziano Vecchiato - Emanuela Zancan Foundation, University of Hong Kong and the International Association for Outcome-Based Evaluation and Research on Family and Children's Services, 01 Sep 2017

This book is composed of a series of extended abstracts relevant to the evaluation and research of family and children's services in various contexts.

Overhauling Russia’s Child Welfare system: Institutional and Ideational Factors behind the Paradigm Shift

Kulmala Meri, Rasell Michael, Chernova Zhanna - The Journal of Social Policy Studies, 01 Sep 2017

This article studies the causal factors behind the major overhaul of Russia’s system for children in substitute care that has been taking place since the late 2000’s.

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