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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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.

Tracking Progress Initiative: Monitoring the Guidelines’ Implementation

Florence Martin, ISS Monthly Review, 01 Mar 2015

The February-March 2015 double edition of the ISS Monthly Review includes an article by Florence Martin, director of the Better Care Network, which provides a brief overview of the Tracking Progress project and potential implications for users of the tool.

An Analysis of Child-Care Reform in Three African Countries: Summary of Key Findings

Better Care Network and UNICEF, with support from PEPFAR and USAID, 01 Mar 2015

This report summarizes the care-reform process of three sub-Saharan African countries – Ghana, Liberia and Rwanda.

Primera infancia en familia: Guía de experiencias de referencia para la preservación de los vínculos tempranos

RELAF y UNICEF, 01 Feb 2015

Esta Guía reúne una serie de programas, prácticas y políticas públicas que resultaron en la garantía del derecho a la convivencia familiar y comunitaria de niñas y niños en su primera infancia. En particular, se caracterizan por ser innovadoras o por haber obtenido buenos resultados en la protección y la restitución de este derecho. Las experiencias recopiladas abarcan programas, proyectos e iniciativas públicas, privadas o mixtas de fortalecimiento familiar, provisión de cuidados alternativos, y de reintegración familiar.

Are European Structural and Investment Funds Opening Doors for Europe’s Institutionalised Children in the 2014-2020 programming period?

Aagje Ieven, EuroChild , 01 Feb 2015

This report is based on the outcomes of a survey addressed to eight National Coordinators of the Opening Doors campaign. It aims to assess the extent to which EU Member States have used ESIF to catalyse child care systems reform.