The purpose of this assignment is to operationalise the content of the Family and Child Support Centre Regulation, which now focuses on community-based support services for vulnerable families and children with the aim to prevent unnecessary institutionalisation of children and promote the right of each child to grow in a safe and supportive family environment. The assignment will be delivered in a very participatory and consultative manner in order to capitalise on the existing capacities and assets, including among NGO partners.
The specific objectives of this assignment are as follows:
- Provide input to the overall situation analysis of the “Baby Homes†or Family and Child Support Centres in the country in light of the new changes brought about by the revised regulation, as may be required;
- Assist in developing a detailed roadmap for the incremental implementation of the Family and Child Support Centre Regulation, listing the planned activities and timeframe, as may be required;
- Contribute to the development of new job descriptions for the staff of the Family and Child Support Centres in light of the new duties they will be expected to perform as per the Family and Child Support Centre Regulation, as may be required;
- Assist in developing guidelines, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and other operational tools, as may be required, for the effective functioning of the Family and Child Support Centres;
- Contribute to conducting training needs assessment of all staff working in the Family and Child Support Centres and other concerned stakeholders (e.g. Child Rights Units officers and existing family support workers) and to developing a training plan for the effective implementation of the Family and Child Support Centre Regulation;
- Map out all relevant role players around the Family and Child Support Centres and assist in devising and pre-testing a strong gatekeeping mechanism, with clear referral pathways, to be used by the Family and Child Support Centres and other concerned stakeholders (e.g. CRU officers) to prevent unnecessary institutionalization of young children;
- Building on existing tools whenever relevant, provide input for the development and pre-testing of one uniform methodology for carrying out individual systematic child assessments and case reviews to be used in all four Family and Child Support Centres. The assessments should be child-centred, evidence-based, rooted in child development, and focused on the best interests of the child and context of the child, as well as on maintaining or restoring contacts between the child and the family;
- Assist in developing and pre-testing one uniform procedure and tools for gathering and analysing data, including information on the family background and other socio-economic factors to allow for better understanding of the drivers of child institutionalization;
- Assist with communication (written and oral) between the international expert and national stakeholders. *Within the partnership between MOHSPP, UNICEF, HealthProm and its local associates, HealthProm and its associates (i.e. Hayot da Oila, Iroda and Sarchashma) will be responsible for the training and mentoring of Family and Child Support Centres staff. The international consultant may be required to co-facilitate some of the training events if deemed necessary.
DESCRIPTION OF THE ASSIGNMENT:
The main deliverables of the assignment are as follows:
1. Relevant and quality input provided in a timely manner to ensure brief situation analysis is conducted, which identifies the opportunities and challenges in operationalising the changes brought about by the revised Baby Home regulation and concrete recommendations are provided (estimated duration: 5 days);
2. Quality and timely input provided to the international expert for drawing a detailed roadmap with specific activities, timeframe, required resources, etc. for the incremental transformation of Baby Homes (estimated duration: 5 days);
3. Quality and timely contribution made to the drafting of new job descriptions of Family and Child Support Centres staff (estimated duration: 5 days);
4. Quality and timely input provided to the international expert to develop guidelines, SOPs and other operational tools (estimated duration: 5 days);
5. Quality and timely contribution provided to the international expert for conducting the training needs of the staff and stakeholders and developing the training plan (estimated duration: 5 days);
6. Mapping of relevant role players around the Family and Child Support Centres is carried out; Input provided for devising and pre-testing a gatekeeping mechanism and referral pathways aimed at preventing institutionalisation of young children (estimated duration: 5 days);
7. Quality and timely input provided for the development and pre-testing of a uniform methodology to re-assess the child and the family with the aim to develop an exit strategy for each child and to refer the family to other support services (estimated duration: 5 days);
8. Quality and timely input provided for the development and pre-testing of a uniform procedure and tools for data gathering and analysis for easy reference and use by the Family and Child Support Centres (estimated duration: 5 days);
9. Communication between the international expert and national stakeholders facilitated (estimated duration: 5 days);
10. High-quality report produced (estimated duration: 2 days).