Ukraine Response Protection Snapshot: 25 February - 1 March 2022

Protection Cluster - Ukraine

The Protection Cluster coordinates the protection response and advocates for the improvement of policies and legislation affecting conflict-affected people. It also engages in capacity building and provides guidance on mainstreaming protection into all humanitarian response activities. This is the protection snapshot for Ukraine for the period February 25 - March 1, 2022, compiled by Protection Cluster Ukraine.

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Sharing Their Narratives: A Research Project Exploring Children's and Families' Experiences of Alternative Care in Thailand

Justin Rogers, Victor Karunan, Pryn Ketnim, Aphisara Saeli

The overall aims of this research project were to explore the experiences of the children, parents and families involved in alternative care in Thailand. This research project reached a significant number of children (n.160) living in alternative care and their parents and families (n.20).

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APPG for Looked After Children and Care Leavers: Spotlight Inquiry

All-Party Parliamentary Group for Looked After Children and Care Leavers

This APPG report puts a spotlight on what ‘community’ means to care-experienced people and explores what might be done to help strengthen important community relationships and connections for current and future generations of children in care. The report contains 15 practical recommendations for changes that could be made in the near future to improve the ways in which the care system supports young people to connect with their communities and highlights 5 broader areas where the authors feel serious reform is required that the Department for Education (and others) should consider in greater detail.

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The Situation of Children and Young People in Indonesian Cities

PUSKAPA, UNICEF, BAPPENAS

This study combines a quantitative overview of the leading indicators of well-being among children and young people in cities, with a qualitative, in-depth understanding of how daily life is perceived and experienced by the urban young. The quantitative analysis has predominantly employed existing national data sets, such as The National Socioeconomic Survey (SUSENAS) and the Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey (IDHS), to understand the situation of children in urban settings. The secondary analysis assessed approximately 20 indicators that are based on the SDG/Sustainable Development Goal themes, and that align with the Indonesian National Medium Term Development Plan 2020–2024. The combination of secondary analysis, a systematic literature review, and consultations with children and young people generated insights on the constraints and opportunities faced by them and their broader urban communities.

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Developing Practice for Care Records in Scotland

CELCIS

This CELSIS briefing builds on the 2019 briefing, Access to Care Records, which outlined the legislative and policy context in Scotland around care records. This briefing is for all practitioners involved in writing, managing and/or supporting access to care records, and draws on research, campaigning work, and knowledge from organisations and local authorities across Scotland including in social work and information governance teams.

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Engaging Fathers – Putting Lessons Into Practice, Part 1

Child Welfare Information Gateway

“Engaging Fathers – Putting Lessons Into Practice” is a three-part series to share strategies implemented from three of the five State or county agencies: Los Angeles county, California; Hartford, Connecticut; and Prowers county, Colorado. Part one focuses on the strategies developed within Hartford, Connecticut.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Care Leavers’ Well-Being

Anita Chandra, Sarah Taylor, Sam Shorto, Vanessa Patel, Lizzie Gilbert - Coram Impact and Evaluation Team

This report is a follow up to the ‘What Makes Life Good?’ report published in 2020 about the views of care leavers on their well-being, using pre-pandemic data collected between 2017 and 2019 through the Your Life Beyond Care survey. In this follow-up report, the authors compare the ‘What Makes Life Good?’ pre-pandemic data from 1,804 care leavers to data from 2,476 care leavers in 2020 to 2021, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This has allowed them to identify priority areas that have emerged recently. Care leavers aged 16 to 25 were asked the same questions at both time points; about their living arrangements and safety, financial well-being, relationship with care workers, emotional support, stress, loneliness, overall well-being, and more.

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Children's Social Care: The Way Forward

Parent Families and Allies Network, Love Barrow Families, New Beginnings, Parent and Carer Alliance, Southwark Family Council and Parent to Parent Peer Advocacy

This report is based on consultations with parents and allies in England carried out by Parent Families and Allies Network; Love Barrow Families; New Beginnings; Parent and Carer Alliance; and Southwark Family Council and Parent to Parent Peer Advocacy. It sets out ideas on making the care system more supportive, humane and inclusive, and ensuring families’ needs are met early, with advocacy as a core feature. It also argues for immediate changes, led by parents and children with lived experience of social care.

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Primary Prevention Framework for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action

Susan Wisniewski - The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action

The Primary Prevention Framework for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (the Framework) provides guidance for humanitarian workers on the key actions and considerations to apply when developing or implementing programming to prevent harm to children in humanitarian settings at the population-level. The Framework highlights guiding principles and specific actions to take within each of the five steps of the program management cycle for effective primary prevention efforts. Supporting resources and practical tools are linked within each step.

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Caring in a Changing Climate: Centering Care Work in Climate Action

Sherilyn MacGregor, Seema Arora-Jonsson, Maeve Cohen

The aim of this report is to fill a knowledge gap by examining the points of interaction between climate change impacts and the amount, distribution, and conditions of unpaid care work. We focus on care workers rather than those who are cared for, while stressing the relational nature of care and acknowledging
that carers too require care.

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Child Abuse and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Christina M. Theodorou, Erin G. Brown, Jordan E. Jackson, Alana L. Beres

The COVID-19 pandemic had widespread effects, including enhanced psychosocial stressors and stay-at-home orders which may be associated with higher rates of child abuse. The researchers aimed to evaluate rates of child abuse, neglect, and inadequate supervision during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Mandatory Reporting “Will Paralyze People” or “Without it, People Would not Report”: Understanding Perspectives from Within the Child Protection System

Laura M. Schwab-Reese, Karen Albright, Richard D. Krugman

The purpose of this analysis was to compare perspectives of frontline workers, administrators, and experts in child abuse and neglect in a system with mandatory reporting (Colorado, United States) and one without mandatory reporting (The Netherlands).

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Mandatory Reporting

The Right Decisions for Children in Long-Term Foster Care

Birgit Larsson,Elsbeth Neil, Gillian Schofield

Although long-term fostering has existed for many years as an important part of the foster care service, it was only in 2015 that the government issued the first regulations and guidance on longterm foster care. The introduction of these Department for Education regulations and guidance supports long-term foster care with both kinship and non-kinship carers as a positive permanence option. The aim of this study was to investigate their implementation.

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Proceso de reunificación de un niño, niña o adolescente a un entorno familiar: Ruta de coordinación interinstitucional

Changing the Way We Care

Este gráfico está destinado a los profesionales que trabajan en los organismos gubernamentales y las organizaciones no gubernamentales que participan en diferentes aspectos del sistema de protección y atención, pero específicamente en el apoyo a la reunificación, y detalla las funciones y responsabilidades específicas de quienes participan en este proceso en Guatemala y cómo deben coordinarse. 

Reunification Process of a Child to a Family Environment: Inter-institutional coordination roadmap

Changing the Way We Care

This graphic is intended for use by professionals working within government agencies and non-governmental organizations in Guatemala engaged in different aspects of the protection and care system but specifically in support of reunification. It details specific roles and responsibilities of those engaged in this process in Guatemala and how they should coordinate.

National Case Management Guidelines for Prevention of All Forms of Violence Against Children of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Department of Probation and Child Care Services, Ministry of Women and Child Affairs

The Sri Lanka The Department of Probation and Child Care Services created this national guideline to assist with providing collaborative intervention of Child Rights Promotion Officers and all government social workers to minimize vulnerabilities that lead to violence against children.

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Study Brief: Community Volunteers and their Role in Case Management Processes in Humanitarian Contexts - A Comparative Study of Research and Practice

The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action

The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action undertook an inter-agency project to provide a better understanding of community volunteers’ engagement in the case management process and develop guidance and tools to support their work.

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Community Volunteers and their Role in Case Management Processes in Humanitarian Contexts: A Comparative Study of Research and Practice

Glynis Clacherty - The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action

Community volunteers are an integral part of preventing and responding to cases of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of children in humanitarian settings. They have a deep understanding of their communities, and help to identify children who are at-risk, have experienced harm, or have been separated from their family. Following global and field research conducted in 2020, the Alliance has produced key resources related to the roles of community volunteers in Child Protection case management in humanitarian settings.

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The National Alternative Care Policy for Children in Sri Lanka

Ministry of Woman and Child Affairs and Dry Zone Development Department of Probation and Child Care Services

Sri Lanka's National Policy on the Alternative Care of Children outlines a comprehensive range of alternative care options and encourages the reforming of all formal structures that provide at-home and out­-of-home services for children deprived of care and protection or at risk of being so. This policy also extends to children under care of the Juvenile Justice System. It provides policy solutions to programming for children at risk of family separation and facing deprivations such as child abuse, neglect, child labor, poverty, addiction, imprisonment, human trafficking, mental and physical disabilities, HIV/AIDS, domestic violence, orphanhood, abandonment and displacement etc. The policy also takes into consideration and encompasses provisions to children who are forced to live and work on streets.

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Raising the Profile of Care Leavers with Mental Health and/or Intellectual Disabilities: A contribution from Northern Ireland

BerniKelly, Paul Webb, Gavin Davidson, John Pinkerton, Theresa McShane

It is starting to be recognised that young people with mental health and/or intellectual disabilities making the transition to adulthood from out-of-home care require focused attention to understand their needs and service requirements. Within the UK jurisdiction of Northern Ireland (NI), young people with mental health and/or intellectual disabilities are over-represented in the population of care leavers and yet very little is known about their specific needs. The overall aim of the study reported here was to examine the profile of care leavers with mental health and/or intellectual disabilities in order to better inform how best to configure child and adult service systems to meet their transitional needs.

Perceived Needs and Wellbeing of Vietnamese Parents Caring for Children with Disability

Abner Weng, Cheong Poona, Maria Cassanitib, Prasheela Karanc, Rosaleen Owd

There are limited studies which investigate the perceived needs and wellbeing of parents caring for their children with disability from culturally and linguistically diverse communities. This qualitative study uniquely explored the experiences and cultural factors of Vietnamese parents caring for children with a disability in multicultural Australia.

Global, Regional, and National Minimum Estimates of Children Affected by COVID-19-associated Orphanhood and Caregiver Death, by Age and Family Circumstance up to Oct 31, 2021: An updated modelling study

H Juliette T Unwin, Susan Hillis, Lucie Cluver, Seth Flaxman, Philip S Goldman, MA Alexander Butchart, et al.

At least 5 million children have lost a parent or caregiver due to #COVID19 since March 2020, updated figures suggest. The authors urge actions to prioritise affected children, incl. economic strengthening, enhanced community and family support, and education.

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Recordings: Global Disability Summit 2022 (February 16 – 17)

Government of Norway, Government of Ghana, International Disability Alliance (IDA)

The goal of the summit was to lead lasting change in the lives of millions of people with disabilities. To succeed, it is crucial that governments, international organizations, civil society and private business commit themselves to increased efforts to promote inclusion and rights-based development.

Urgent Action to Overcome the Threat of COVID-19-Associated Orphanhood and Caregiver Death

An estimated 6.7 million children have suffered from COVID-19-associated orphanhood and caregiver death in the past two years (as of January 15, 2022). This number is rapidly growing: every 6 seconds another child loses a parent or caregiver. This report, issued by dozens of leading international NGOs, outlines the magnitude of loss globally due to COVID-19 and presents tangible steps that the U.S. government can take to support children and families.

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2021 BICON Conference Report

4th Biennial International Conference on Alternative Care for Children in Asia

BICON 2021 was an opportunity for government and intergovernmental representatives, civil society organisations, practitioners, academics and most importantly care experienced young people to come together and discuss the most pressing issues regarding children’s care in Asia. With a focus on implementation, practitioners shared examples of innovation, highlighted promising practices, and showcased local solutions to challenges faced by countries across Asia. The Report is filled with challenges, recommendations, session summaries, speaker bios and more.

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निजी रूपमा सञ्चालित आवासीय हेरचाह संस्थाहरूमा COVID-19 को प्रभाव: वकालत र जागरूकता बढाउनका लागि अन्तरदृष्टि र प्रभावहरू

Rebecca Nhep, Better Care Network; Dr Kate van Doore, Law Futures Centre & Griffith Law School

यस अध्ययनले सातवटा केन्द्रित देशहरूमा २१ अर्ध-संरचित अन्तर्वार्ताहरू समावेश गरी गुणस्तरीय अनुसन्धान अध्ययन सञ्चालन गरेर निजी रूपमा सञ्चालित र वित्त पोषित आवासीय हेरचाह संस्थाहरूको सानो संख्यामा COVID-19 को प्रभावको अन्वेषण गर्दछ।

Care Reform in Kenya: Virtual Study Tour

Changing the Way We Care, UNICEF, Government of Kenya

This Changing the Way We Care virtual study tour aims to provide an overview of care reform in Kenya from the comfort of your own home. Care reform relates to the care of children. It refers to efforts to improve the legal and policy frameworks, structures, services, supports and resources that determine and deliver alternative care, prevent family separation and support families to care for children well.

Revisión y Análisis del Pénsum de Estudios Universitarios de Trabajo Social en Guatemala, y Propuesta de Inclusión de un Área Curricular de Protección Integral a la Niñez y Adolescencia en Guatemala

Changing the Way We Care

Esta evaluación curricular esta dirigida a profesionales, personal y estudiantes de programas de trabajo social; la cual se basó en el análisis de cinco planes de estudio universitarios guatemaltecos relacionados con el trabajo social, utilizando un marco de competencias que incluyó habilidades y conocimientos básicos sobre los derechos de la niñez y adolescencia, la protección y el bienestar. Los resultados destacaron que los planes de estudio eran valiosos en muchos sentidos, sin embargo, presentan oportunidades para fortalecer los contenidos a fin de preparar con mayor profundidad al recurso humano convirtiendose en defensores de los derechos y la protección de los niños, niñas o adolescentes

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The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Families: Young People’s Experiences in Estonia

Dagmar Kutsar, Leena Kurvet-Käosaar

This articles reflects the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the everyday lives of children and their families in Estonia during lockdown in spring 2020 and 2021. The data corpus is based on diaries compiled by children during the first lockdown in 2020 for a collection at the Estonian Literary Museum, and on a series of semi-structured interviews with children documenting their experiences during lockdown in spring 2021. The study draws on literature from the “new sociology of childhood” and applies Bronfenbrenner’s social ecological model to an analysis of young people’s experiences when their mobility outside the home was restricted, and they were forced to reorganise their time use.

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A Critical Analysis of the Recent Developments in Alternative Care Space Across South Asia Amidst the COVID-19 Crisis

Kiran Modi, Gurneet Kalra, Leena Prasad, Rajeshwari Narsimha, Jyoti Singh

The purpose of the study is to understand the impact of COVID-19 on alternative care space in South Asian countries, its effect on the children living in alternative care, and to understand the measures taken by respective governments in these countries to support them during the pandemic.

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Developing Philosophical Discussions with Children and Young People in Residential Care Homes

Terje Jostein Halvorsen

Since the 1980s, an increasing number of researchers have focused on the educational attainment of looked-after children. Children in residential homes are in high risk of educational failure, and such failure may cause social problems later in life. Several scholars have called for efforts to promote lookedafter children’s ability to cope with academic challenges.

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Quality is Everyone’s Responsibility: Applying implementation science to residential child care

Miriana Giraldi, Alexander McTier, Robert Porter

With millions of children worldwide living in alternative care settings, this article applies the learning from implementation science to advance the sector’s thinking around what needs to be in place to ensure consistently high-quality residential care.

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Voices of Young Women Leaving Care: ‘I did not have anywhere to go…so I went with a man’

Petra Roberts

Transitioning into adulthood can be difficult for many young people but transitioning from residential care comes with challenges to those who have grown up away from parents and family. This paper presents the voices of young women in Trinidad and Tobago and the challenges they faced transitioning from residential care. Their voices highlight the need to think in more gendered terms when contemplating effective strategies for facilitating transitions from out of home care.

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Stability in Residential Care in NSW, Australia: The role of the workforce

Jenna Bolinger, Philip Mendes, Catherine Flynn

Stability in residential care has, to date, been operationalised by fundamentally counting placements and equating these with varying levels of stability. In so doing, it has been found that having many placements (i.e., indicative of instability) is associated with diverse problematic outcomes including increased criminalisation, increased mental health difficulties and ongoing placement instability. On the other hand, however, stability has not been found to provide repair. This paper examines staff’s roles and needs required for providing stability.

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Caring for our Children and Young People: An update on Scotland’s Corporate Parenting 2018 - 2021

The Scottish Government

Putting this second national report on corporate parenting before the Scottish Parliament in line with their duties under Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, the Scottish Government provides an overview of corporate parents’ activities over the last three years. The report aims to become a useful learning resource for corporate parents.

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Government Digital Policies and Children’s Rights in Uruguay: An assessment framed by the UN CRC’s dimensions of provision, protection and participation

Soledad Magnone

This study consists of an analysis of government digital policies focused on children in Uruguay between 2009 and 2019. To facilitate this, the CRC was used as a framework to categorise key features of the principal strategies that have been implemented. It argues that while great advances have been made in terms of digital access, this has not been sufficiently accompanied with comprehensive and child-centred solutions that encompass regulations and children and adult digital education.

Beyond Family: Separation and reunification for young people negotiating transnational relationships

Jennifer E Shaw

This paper explores perspectives on family reunification and emergent forms of separation among young migrants. These young people lived apart from and later reunited with their migrant parents who moved from the Philippines to Canada for work.