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Children living in institutional care are more likely than their family-based peers to experience abuse, neglect, exploitation, lack of stimulation, poor nutrition and toxic stress.
Accurate figures on the number and characteristics of these vulnerable children in Ghana were lacking. A census of residential care facilities and an enumeration of the child population in these facilities were undertaken to address this gap, followed by a survey on a representative sample of such population. This was the most comprehensive data collection effort ever conducted on children in residential care.…
This report captures the findings of a mapping exercise commissioned by UNICEF Ghana and undertaken by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ). This mapping exercise sought primarily to establish the number and profile of institutions at national and sub-national levels involved in child protection. The mapping report documents identifiable Government Institutions, International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs), Local Non-Governmental Organizations (LNGOs), Faith-Based and Community- Based Organizations engaged in child protection work from preventive,…
Displaced Children and Orphans Fund (DCOF)/USAID are supporting the efforts of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) and UNICEF Ghana to accelerate on-going childcare reform efforts through a 5 year programme, the DCOF/UNICEF/MoGCSP Accelerating Child Care Reform Programme 2015 – 2020. One of the activities is to conduct a comprehensive geographical mapping and analysis of Residential Homes for Children (RHCs) in Ghana to identify the “hot spots” - high concentration of RHCs and/or children in RHCs - and develop a comprehensive…
Abstract
The paper describes the findings of a geographical mapping and analysis of residential care facilities in four regions of Ghana. The mapping exercise study identified 24 residential facilities with 944 children, amounting to 22% of residential facilities and 27% of children in residential facilities in Ghana. Most of the residential facilities were privately run with their budgets funded by international donors. Seventy-five percent of the residential facilities were unlicensed because they did not meet the national standards for residential care facilities. Most of the children…
This report presents the key findings and recommendations from a comprehensive geographical mapping and analysis of Residential Homes for Children (RHCs) in Ghana. The mapping was intended to identify the “hot spots” - high concentration of RHCs and/or children in RHCs - and develop a comprehensive understanding of current trends, flows and drivers of children in RHCs in these “hot-spot” (priority) areas.
"The geographic mapping identified 115 RHCs in Ghana as at October 2016, caring for 3 586 children. Just over half of all RHCs (53 percent) were located in three Regions:…
Abstract
This article presents the results of a systematic mapping of social work training programs in countries throughout West Africa, a region historically under‐represented in global discussions of the social welfare workforce. The research illuminates how social workers and related professionals are trained to engage in social work practice in a number of West African countries. The research was conducted in two phases. In the initial phase, the research team collected documents from 12 West African countries and conducted phone interviews with relevant individuals. The second phase…
Abstract
In this chapter of Residential child and youth care in a developing world: Global perspectives, First Edition, the reader is introduced to the West African country of Ghana, formerly Gold Coast, where children constitute almost half the population of 25.9 million, of whom 12 percent are orphans. Europeans introduced residential care to Ghana and now there are three types of residential homes including homes for abandoned and orphaned children; shelters for trafficked and abused children; and correctional (borstal) centres for juvenile…
Abstract
In the past few decades, the number of children requiring out‐of‐home care in the developing world has risen sharply. Many children end up in institutions where they make a transition to adulthood. Little is however known about the social support available to young people during and after they leave care. This study examines the sources and kinds of support as well as the barriers to social support for a group of care leavers from a children's village in Ghana. The participants used a combination of formal and informal sources for their support needs. The formal sources provided…
Executive summary
This paper presents the findings and insights generated through the mapping and assessment of national child protection systems in five West African countries: Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Niger, Senegal and Sierra Leone. 1 The research process began in July 2009 and was completed in January 2011. The goal of the country research was to provide national actors with a profile of their existing system and an initial assessment of its contextual appropriateness and relevance to the populations being served. The need to undertake this research was prompted by the recognition that…
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The objective of this child protection systems mapping and analysis is to provide stakeholders with a descriptive profile of their existing system, and an initial assessment of its contextual appropriateness and relevance to the populations being served. The study aims to present the evidence base required to build a common understanding among national stakeholders of the components and nature of their child protection system and to identify opportunities and challenges for systems strengthening. The mapping assessed key aspects of the formal child protection system,…