Cost of Care and Redirection of Resources

Developing a high quality alternative care system requires adequate funding and resources. In countries that are working to reform their care systems, efforts are needed to redirect financing from residential care options towards new initiatives that support parents, prevent family separation, and provide children with a range of family and community based care alternatives.

Cost-benefit studies of different forms of alternative care demonstrate that it makes good economic sense for governments to invest in family based alternatives rather than residential care. While costs may increase for a temporary period as countries make the shift to family-based care – for example to fund training of social workers, develop social welfare services and establish tracing and foster programmes – in the long run it costs less than keeping children in institutions where funds are required to pay salaries for staff, maintain buildings and provide food and other services. The bottom line is that for the cost of keeping one child in residential care, many more girls and boys can be supported within families.

Funding for care reform involves allocating (or redirecting) resources from institutional care towards a range of family-based care services, investing in the development of a competent social welfare workforce, supporting carers, and providing financial and practical support to children leaving care. It also means investing in programmes that tackle the factors that lead to family separation and children being placed in alternative care – such as poverty, unemployment, disability, health and conflict. This could include promoting access to basic health, education and housing services, developing social protection and financial assistance initiatives, and working to strengthen families through parenting education or counselling.

Governments also need to make a commitment to putting in place licensing and regulation mechanisms to ensure that funding of care is motivated by children’s best interest rather than the financial benefit of the provider – and that resources are directed towards families rather than institutions. Unfortunately in many countries, there are vested interests in admitting or keeping children within formal care (particularly residential facilities) for profit-making, and large numbers of private care facilities operate outside the control of authorities.

The literature in this section focuses on budget and cost analysis pertaining to children’s care, including preventive services to support family based care and the provision of a range of alternative care options.

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The State of Funding for Children in SADC Report

RIATT-ESA, 01 Feb 2019

The State of Funding for Children in SADC is a report that investigates the status of resources that are earmarked for children in southern Africa.

Future Savings: The Economic Potential of Successful Transitions From Foster Care to Adulthood

Annie E. Casey Foundation, 30 Jan 2019

This report turns the lens on young people who age out of foster care and explores four areas — education, early parenthood, homelessness and incarceration — where they fare worse than their general population peers in the US.

The Cost of Case Management in Orphans and Vulnerable Children Programs: Findings from Zambia

MEASURE Evaluation, 2019

This brief outlines the findings from the Zambia Family project in Zambia, implemented by Expanded Church Response, five partners, and 73 community-based organizations.

How Australia can invest in children and return more: A new look at the $15b cost of late action

William Teager, Stacey Fox and Neil Stafford - . Early Intervention Foundation, The Front Project and CoLab at the Telethon Kids Institute, 2019

The purpose of this report is to: reveal how much Australian governments spend every year because children and young people have reached crisis point and highlight the opportunity of earlier and wiser investment in children to improve the lives of young Australians while reducing pressure on government budgets.

The Cost of Case Management in Orphans and Vulnerable Children Programs: Findings from South Africa

MEASURE Evaluation, 2019

This brief outlines the findings from the Government Capacity Building and Support project, in South Africa, which Pact implemented with support from three partners and the South African Department of Social Development.

The Cost of Case Management in Orphans and Vulnerable Children Programs: Findings from Uganda

MEASURE Evaluation, 2019

This brief outlines the findings from the Better Outcomes for Children and Youth project, in Uganda

India's Children Continue to Challenge our Conscience

Enakshi Ganguly - HAQ: Centre for Child Rights, 2019

This report, which is also the fifth in the series, reflects on how children and the realisation of their rights continue to challenge our conscience even today.

The Cost of Case Management in Orphans and Vulnerable Children Programs: Findings from Rwanda

MEASURE Evaluation, 2019

This brief outlines the findings from the Turengere Abana program in Rwanda.

The Cost of Case Management in Orphans and Vulnerable Children Programs Results from a Mixed-Methods, Six-Country Study

Stacie Gobin, Shaylen Foley - MEASURE Evaluation, 2019

USAID and PEPFAR-funded MEASURE Evaluation worked with six OVC projects in six countries to gain insight on current approaches to OVC case management, map how costs can be linked to OVC case management activities, and determine the cost of OVC case management.

The Cost of Case Management in Orphans and Vulnerable Children Programs: Findings from Tanzania

MEASURE Evaluation, 2019

This brief outlines the findings from the Kizazi Kipya project, in Tanzania, which Pact implements in collaboration with five partners and 48 civil society organizations.