Child Care and Protection System Reforms

Social welfare sector reform is increasingly common, particularly in transitional countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Increasing attention has been paid to the development of preventive community based child and family welfare programs that would, in coordination with health and education programs and social assistance, provide a range of support for vulnerable families.

Recognition of the damaging effects of institutional care on children and its high cost has influenced governments to redirect resources towards alternative family and community-based care practices such as kinship care, fostering, and adoption. Redirecting resources in the context of social welfare reforms requires a commitment from governments to provide adequate financing for effective policy implementation.

Funding availability raises a variety of issues regarding the level and type of support to be provided, the private or public management of services, and the entitlement process. Social welfare should protect the rights of children and their caretakers via fair and clear criteria of support provisions, with transparent procedures for the effective allocation of services.

Social welfare reforms to protect and support children and families need to be built on legal protections and child care policies which reflect the same child centred goals. Alternative forms of community based care, combined with social reintegration programmes and family support services, must be developed to reduce the use of institutions and enable children leaving institutions to rejoin their communities.

The resources in this section focus on country initiatives in reforming their social welfare sector to finance community based care developments.

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Zambia National Consultation to Accelerate Care Reform

Government of Zambia, Better Care Network, and others, 04 May 2016

The Government of Zambia, along with many other partners including Better Care Network, convened a National Consultation to Accelerate Care Reform in Zambia from 4-6 May, 2016. This resource includes the presentations and final Call to Action from the consultation.

A Presentation on Laws Relating to Children, Zambia

Andrew B. Mukuwa - Zambia Law Development Commission, 04 May 2016

This presentation from the Zambia Law Development Commission, given at the Zambia National Consultation to Accelerate Care Reform, describes the Zambia Law Development Commission and its work, provides an overview of the legal framework supporting child care in Zambia, and highlights potential or pending legislation related to children’s care.

Children in Families Zambia

GHR Foundation, 04 May 2016

This presentation from GHR Foundation, given at the Zambia National Consultation to Accelerate Care Reform, presents GHR’s approach to reforming child care systems, the multiple aspects of the care system engaged, and its underlying theory of collective impact.

Zambia National Consultation to Accelerate Care Reform - BCN Presentation

Florence Martin, Better Care Network, 04 May 2016

Florence Martin, Director of Better Care Network presented at the National Consultation to Accelerate Care Reform in Zambia on the work that BCN does globally, provided a summary of cross country and regional learning on on child care reform, and some of the necessary steps and considerations for care reform. A second presentation follows, highlighting the findings from an analysis of children's care and living arrangements based on data from the Zambia DHS 2013-2014.

Opening Remarks by the Permanent Secretary of Community Development and Social Welfare for the Zambia National Child Care Consultative Forum

Dr. Davy Chikamata, Permanent Secretary of Community Development and Social Welfare - Zambia, 04 May 2016

This document includes the opening remarks given on the first day of the National Consultation to Accelerate Care Reform in Zambia by Dr. Davy Chikamata, the Permanent Secretary of Community Development and Social Welfare, to the participants of the consultation.

The Orphan Myth: Keeping Families Together

To the Contrary - PBS, 08 Apr 2016

This special documentary episode of PBS’s “To the Contrary” explores the trend away from orphanages and towards family reunification.

Unaccompanied and Separated Foreign Children in the Care System in the Western Cape – A Socio-Legal Study

Julia Sloth-Nielsen and Marilize Ackermann - SCIELO, 30 Mar 2016

This article reports on the findings of a study of foreign children, including from Burundi, accommodated in the care system in the Western Cape, based on fieldwork conducted in child and youth care centres (CYCCs).

Making sense, discovering what works… Cross-agency collaboration in Child Welfare and Protection in Norway and Quebec

Oscar E. Firbank - Journal of Comparative Social Work, 01 Feb 2016

This study seeks to understand collaboration dynamics in social services for determining what strategies work best in facilitating collaborative endeavors in specific policy and institutional environments.

Um fin ao silêncio: Fundamentos para eliminar a institucionalização de crianças e adolescentes

Hope and Homes for Children, 2016

Décadas de pesquisas comprovam que o crescimento em instituições de acolhida gera consequências psicológicas, emocionais e físicas, incluindo transtornos de apego, atrasos cognitivos e no desenvolvimento, e uma falta de habilidades sociais e de competências para a vida, trazendo diversas desvantagens na idade adulta.

Adolescentes y Jóvenes: Un Abordaje Integral en América Latina y el Caribe

Save the Children, 2016

Este documento discute el enfoque integral utilizado por Save the Children para promover la sinergia entre la autonomía personal y el desarrollo económico.