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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“Shaping Our Care Reform Work Across Africa:” Program Learning Event Agenda

Save the Children, 20 Apr 2015

Various stakeholders, including Better Care Network, met at an Africa wide Program Learning Event on 20-23 April 2015, organized by Save the Children, under the theme “Shaping our care reform work across Africa,” which brought together country, regional and global experts. This document includes the agenda for the 3-day event.

Children Without Appropriate Care Africa-Wide Program Learning Event Session Summary

Save the Children, 20 Apr 2015

This document provides an overview of the topics covered in the various sessions during the three-day program learning event “Shaping our care reform work across Africa,” held in Ethiopia on 20-23 April 2015.

Shaping Our Care Reform Work Across Africa - Program Learning Event

Save the Children, 20 Apr 2015

A Child’s right to a Family: Deinstitutionalization of Child Welfare in Russia as Ideology and Practice

Meri Kulmala, Maija Jäppinen and Jouko Nikula - XVI April International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development, 08 Apr 2015

This paper, presented at the XVI April International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development in Moscow on 8 April 2015, outlines a research project analyzing ongoing foster care reform in Russia in the context of the country’s new family policies.

Can States Improve Children’s Health by Preventing Abuse and Neglect?

Ron Haskins, Janet Currie, and Lawrence M. Berger - The Future of Children Policy Brief Spring 2015, 01 Apr 2015

This brief from the Future of Children Journal, a collaboration of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and the Brookings Institution, outlines the current state of the Child Welfare System in the United States, particularly federal funding to individual states’ child welfare systems.

USAID/ DCOF – Three Country Child Care Reform Exchange Workshop Report

USAID and World Learning, 26 Mar 2015

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Displaced Children and Orphans Fund (DCOF) supported a sub-regional workshop held in Kigali March 23-26, 2015 to provide structured opportunities for technical exchange on care reform, approaches, methods, and tools. This report summarizes the activities and discussions from the workshop.

Permanence for Disabled Children and Young People through Foster Care and Adoption: A Selective Review of International Literature

Vicki Welch, Christine Jones, Kirsten Stalker, Alasdair Stewart - Children and Youth Services Review, 25 Mar 2015

This review of literature covers international material related to stability and permanence for disabled children, in particular permanence achieved through fostering and adoption.

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At What Age Do Young People Become Adults?

Monica Dowling & Courtney Hougham - Criminal Justice Matters , 16 Mar 2015

In this brief article, the authors make their case for extending the age limit for young people to receive care in the foster care system, focusing on the UK and the US.

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Child Welfare in Chile: Learning from International Experiences to Improve Family Interventions

Carolina Muñoz-Guzmán, Candice Fischer, Enrique Chia and Catherine LaBrenz - Social Sciences , 13 Mar 2015

This paper offers strategic guidelines to improve alternative care for children younger than six years of age, who are under protective measures.

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Country Care Profile: Rwanda

Better Care Network, UNICEF, PEPFAR, USAID, 01 Mar 2015

This country care profile provides an overview of key lessons learned in the children’s care reform process in Rwanda, including successes, challenges and areas for progress, and gaps in learning and best practice.