This report, written by Florence Martin, is based on the results of research carried out as a joint collaboration between the Ministry of Social Affairs (Kemensos), Save the Children in Indonesia and a team of Social Workers and Social Scientists from STKS Bandung and the University of Indonesia. The report reviews the role and practice of State-established special child protection homes in Indonesia called Rumah Perlindungan Sosial Anak (RPSA).
The Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs established the first RPSA in 2004 on the outskirts of Jakarta, in Java. It was focused on providing services for children defined as being in need of special protection under the Child Protection law, in particular child victims of abuse, neglect or exploitation including victims of trafficking, children affected by natural or man made emergencies, children in contact with the law and children from particularly isolated and vulnerable minorities. Since 2004, the Ministry has been encouraging the local government and more recently, private social service providers, to establish more RPSAs. In 2009, 15 RPSAs were already operating or were in the process of being established.
As the main model of intervention being promoted by the Ministry for children in need of special protection, the RPSA can provide particularly rich learning about what interventions and approaches work best to support children in these complex and dangerous situations. This research project was developed as a contribution to this, in collaboration with the Directorate of Children’s Services and the management and staffs from 5 of the RPSAs. Through an assessment of the services and the presentation of case studies and interventions at a particular time in point, the aim is to foster reflection on the capacity and effectiveness of the RPSA model to provide crucial protection to vulnerable children in Indonesia.
Save the Children
