Standards of Care

Standards of care are approved criteria for measuring and monitoring the management, provision and quality of child care services and their outcomes. Such standards are required for all child care provision, including day care, kinship, foster and institutional care.

Standards should be concrete and observable sets of indicators which describe what good practice means in terms of outcomes for the child, how a service should be delivered, and the actions required by staff. They should be guided by the rights and best interests of the child, the preservation of the family, and the promotion of the child’s development.

Standards of care should be in line with national child care and protection policies, and reflect international standards for children’s rights. The development, monitoring and evaluation of standards should be participatory, and reflect the views of children and families who are using the services.

Standards should give indicators relating to all aspects of child care from the child’s physical and emotional well-being to staff and organisational procedures. This includes the child’s diet, access to health and education, and play and recreational facilities. Standards should outline the methods of care and control, and ensure that services are accessible and promote the child’s health. Standards should specify the rights of children to privacy, informed choices, dignity and respect. Standards relating to staff should include recruitment and selection procedures, regular supervision, support, and training. Procedural standards include the maintenance of records, respect for confidentiality, and accountability mechanisms.

The literature in this section focuses on examples of organisational standards for child care provision.

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Country Care Review: Kuwait

Better Care Network, 20 Sep 2019

This country care review includes the Concluding Observations for the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities adopted as part of their examinations of Kuwait’s periodic reports.

Country Care Review: India

Better Care Network, 20 Sep 2019

This country care review includes the care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as part of the Committees' examinations of the periodic reports of India.

Case Management Minimum Indicators

The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action Case Management Task Force, 23 Aug 2019

These Case Management Minimum Indicators provide measurable benchmarks to assess the quality of case management in humanitarian crises.

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Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (CPMS) E-course

Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action, 31 Jul 2019

This training is designed to increase participants' knowledge of the Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (CPMS).

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Country Care Review: Malta

Better Care Network , 26 Jun 2019

This country care review includes the care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Approaches to realising the rights of young people leaving out of home care

Emily Munro - Leaving Care and the Transition to Adulthood, 25 Apr 2019

This chapter from the book Leaving Care and the Transition to Adulthood explores progress towards realizing the rights of young people in and leaving out of home care in Australia, Sweden and the UK.

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Social care common inspection framework (SCCIF): children’s homes

Ofsted, 29 Mar 2019

This inspection framework, developed by the UK's Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted), provides guidance about how children’s homes are inspected, for use from April 2019.

Leaving Care and the Transition to Adulthood: International Contributions to Theory, Research, and Practice

Varda R. Mann-Feder and Martin Goyette (Eds), 25 Mar 2019

This book offers a comprehensive overview of the newest contributions to the literature on leaving care in relation to theory, in addition to the Theory of Emerging Adulthood, while also featuring cutting-edge research and best practices that support adjustment across a range of domains for this population.

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Country Care Review: Guinea

Better Care Network , 28 Feb 2019

This country care review includes the care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child as part of its examination of Guinea’s periodic report to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

When a good heart is not enough: Summary of a research project "A Comparative Analysis between the Practice of Chiang Mai Children's Homes and the United Nations Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children"

CRC Coalition Thailand, 2019

This summary report presents the findings of a study comparing practices within residential children's homes in the Thai province of Chiang Mai with the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children.