Purpose of Activity/Assignment:
Worldwide, an estimated 2.7 million children live in so-called orphanages or other residential care facilities. The figure is likely just the tip of the iceberg, however, since many low-and middle-income countries lack reliable data on this issue. To address this gap, UNICEF developed a comprehensive package to collect data on children living in residential care. It is comprised of a protocol that outlines the recommended steps for gathering data, 12 data collection tools, and an implementation package covering everything from sample design to the dissemination of the findings. The package is designed to generate information on the number and location of all residential care facilities in a country, the number and basic characteristics of children living in them as well as selected measures of their well-being. The protocol has been tested and piloted in three countries (India, Ghana and Kazakhstan) with a number of additional countries planning to implement the protocol over the next two years.
In order to further unpack the context in which children are placed in residential care, the Data and Analytics section is seeking a consultant to develop a protocol for a qualitative follow-up survey with parents/family of separated children (i.e., those living in residential care) to understand the reasons that led to children’s separation and placement in care. The idea is to append the qualitative follow-up survey protocol to the full census/survey protocol mentioned above.
Terms of Reference / Deliverables
Scope of Work:
The consultant should undertake a desk review of any available studies/research that have collected data on children in residential care/institutions using qualitative methodologies. Based on this, the consultant should prepare a database/inventory of possible questions (both open-ended and closed-ended) for possible use and inclusion in the qualitative/semi-structured interviews with parents of separated children.
The consultant will be responsible for preparing a full protocol for the qualitative follow-up survey that includes the following components:
1) Background and rationale
2) Aim and objectives
3) Survey design
4) Participant identification
a. Inclusion/exclusion criteria
b. Sampling strategy
5) Interviewers
a. Qualifications
b. Training
6) Data collection
a. Informed consent
b. Note taking/transcribing interviews
7) Data management and analysis
8) Quality assurance procedures
9) Ethical considerations
The protocol will need to be accompanied by the actual semi-structured interview guide that should include an introduction, closing and questions (with probes/follow-ups).
Application deadline is 24 August 2021.