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This paper by Eurochild and Hopes and Homes for Children aims to raise awareness on the perverse effects of institutionalisation on children and it calls for comprehensive system reforms, starting with a transition towards family and community-based care. The UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children clearly speak in favour of such evolution: “where large residential care facilities (institutions) remain, alternatives should be developed in the context of an overall de-institutionalisation strategy, with precise goals…
This report presents the findings from a two-year peer research project which includes the testimony of more than 300 young people with care experience in Albania, the Czech Republic, Finland, and Poland. Their collective understanding of the leaving care process directly informed both the findings and policy recommendations contained in the report. More than 40 care leavers from the four countries were selected and trained to play an active role in the all aspects of the projects, from designing the questionnaire to conducting the interviews, analyzing the…
This paper explores the research evidence from England and France on the mental health of young people aging out of care and into adulthood. It represents the first comparative review based on the evidence from these two countries. Set in the legal, policy and service framework for both countries, it reviews evidence on the mental health of young people in the general population, young people living in care, young people aging out of care, and young adults. It shows: the high levels of psychological adversity of young people entering care; the high rates of mental health problems of young…
TransMonEE is a database that captures a vast range of data on social and economic issues relevant to the situation and wellbeing of children, adolescents and women in 28 countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Commonwealth of independent States and the European Union. TransMonEE is used to support national reforms for the advancement of children rights, inform sector strategies, measure trends and provide benchmarking for countries and sub-regions, and improve the quality of monitoring trends in the situation of children and women at the national level. This document includes inter-country…
Article 7 of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) states that every child has “the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents.” When a child is abandoned, this right is violated. Infants and young children are those most at risk of being abandoned There is a distinct lack of research in understanding the extent, causes, and consequences of child abandonment. Such studies are essential in order to develop effective prevention programs and strategies aimed at protecting children most vulnerable in the European society.
This comprehensive manual provides an overview of…
The European Declaration on the Health of Children and Young People with Intellectual Disabilities and their Families: Better Heath, Better Lives outlines ten priorities for action aimed at ensuring healthy and full lives for these children and their families. The purpose of this paper is to provide background information and offer pragmatic steps in relation to priority no. 3: “Transfer care from institutions to the community”. The paper was produced in preparation for the conference in Bucharest, Romania 26-27 November, 2010.
The paper includes a statement on the impact of…
The purpose of this paper is to give meaning and insight into some of the key drug and alcohol issues that affect children from the perspectives of the children themselves. Research shows that large numbers of children who are separated from their parents are particularly vulnerable to developing drug and alcohol problems. There are considerable country variations in where these children go, what options are available to them and what systems are in place to ensure that the children themselves have a say in where and with whom they live. Special attention is paid throughout the report…
This article describes the results of a meta-analytic review aimed at providing an estimate of the prevalence of physical and emotional neglect by integrating prevalence figures from the body of research reporting on neglect. The authors conclude that neglect seems to be a neglected type of maltreatment in scientific research. This was apparent from the fact that the study could trace only a modest number of studies reporting on the prevalence of neglect: 16 for physical neglect including 59,406 participants, and 13 for emotional neglect including 59,…
This article discusses the use of institutional care for children in Europe and shows that it remains common place despite the evidence of harm for children, including attachment disorder and developmental delay. The authors review the use of alternatives to institutional care and argue that children less than 3 years old, with or without disability, should not be placed in residential care without a parent and that when institutions are used as an emergency measure, the child should be moved into a foster family as soon as possible.
British Medical Journal VOLUME 332 25 FEBRUARY 2006…
Following on from our Focus Report on the Right of Children with Disabilities to Live in the Community, published in December 2006, this issue includes three articles relevant to questions of care for disabled children around the world:
Children and Young People With Disabilities in Residential Institutions in Greece - By Prof. John Tsiantis, APHCA
Prof. John Tsiantis points out that while within the Greek mental health system there have been successful moves towards developing community-based alternatives to institutional care there has been little improvement in the…