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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Taking culture seriously: Can we improve the developmental health and well-being of Australian Aboriginal children in out-of-home care?

S. Raman, S. Ruston, S. Irwin, P. Tran, P. Hotton & S. Thorne - Child: Care, Health and Development , 23 Jul 2017

This study sought to identify child, carer, and intervention characteristics that contribute to child wellbeing for Aboriginal children in out-of-home care in Australia. The article also identifies enablers and barriers to providing trauma-informed and culturally competent care to Aboriginal children.

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The fostering system in England: Evidence review

Mary Baginsky, Sarah Gorin and Claire Sands - Quest Research and Evaluation Ltd, England Department for Education (Publisher), 17 Jul 2017

Commissioned by England's Department for Education, this review of the fostering system in England provides a look into the details of the foster care system, how it functions and how children in care are impacted by it, and identifies gaps and areas for improvement.

Creating Compassionate Foster Care: Lessons of Hope from Children and Families in Crisis

Janet C. Mann and Dr. Molly Kretchmar-Hendricks - Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 13 Jul 2017

This book draws on over 20 years of work in foster care, along with current attachment research and theory, to question traditional foster care models, make recommendations for improved models of care and interventions, and aid social workers and care professionals to better understand families in crisis and inform their practice.

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Children returning from care: The challenging circumstances of parents in poverty

Elizabeth Fernandez, Paul Delfabbro, Ioana Ramia, Szilvia Kovacs - Children in Youth Services Review, 14 Jun 2017

This paper reports the findings of an Australian study that examined longitudinal data on reasons for entry to care, trajectories in care and patterns of reunification and associated factors.

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Thoughts on Public Policy to Expand Family-Based Care and Contract Institutional Care

Gary Newton - Child Abuse & Neglect, 01 Jun 2017

This paper highlights some of the challenges of reforming child care policy and offers recommendations to advance the political priority of care reform at the national level.

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Country Care Review: Jordan

Better Care Network, 18 May 2017

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

Country Care Review: Armenia

Better Care Network, 08 May 2017

This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities during the seventeenth session (20 March 2017 - 12 April 2017) of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

“Let me be me!” Better Care for LGBTI* Children: A Working Paper for iNGOs

Ise Bosch, Eva-Maria Hilgarth, Sarah Blakemore, Amani Njogu, Nguyen Van Hue, Karin Demuth – Dreilinden, 01 Apr 2017

Dreilinden produced this working paper to improve practice in the area of *LGBTI children in care. This paper has texts in a variety of formats from around the world and contains three sections that cover research and tools, interviews, and practice examples.

Undocumented and Underage: The Crisis of Migrant Children

VICE, 23 Mar 2017

In this video from VICE, undocumented children face danger attempting to cross the border into the U.S. from Mexico. Those who end up in detention live in squalid, prison-like conditions.

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What is known about the placement and outcomes of siblings in foster care?

Sarah Meakings, Judy Sebba and Nikki Luke - Rees Centre for Research in Fostering and Education, University of Oxford, 01 Feb 2017

This review of the international research examines what is known about the placement of siblings in foster care.