Displaying 1 - 10 of 52
Abstract:
Reflecting on the last decade, a promising trend is emerging in the promotion of family-based alternatives for children in Sri Lanka. Despite some plateauing due to certain humanitarian, environmental, financial and political issues, there is a move to reduce the number of children in residential care. The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka has a history of institutionalised care dating back to the nineteenth century and formalised care starting in the mid-twentieth century. Back then, the country faced many challenges including economic crises, a brutal war and a…
In this editorial, Ian Forber-Pratt, editor of this tenth anniversary edition of the Institutionalised Children Explorations and Beyond, gives an of alternative care in Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bhutan.
Introduction:
Over the past decade, the South Asian region has witnessed remarkable efforts in reforming child protection systems from institutions as the first resort to providing a wide range of family-based.
This tenth anniversary edition of the journal gives a real, raw, and…
This article focuses on the national efforts advancing children’s right to alternative care services in Nepal. It presents the government’s existing laws and policies in providing responsible care to children in need of special protection and for children who cannot be placed in parental care due to various reasons for family separation.
This article also looks into the history of alternative care in Nepal and discusses the alternative forms of care practised in the communities and their evolution, upholding the best interest of the child.
The authors share the promising practices of…
Why is it so important to consider mental health and emotional well-being in child care and child protection? How can we address mental health needs in a non-clinical environment? What are some of the tried and tested approaches to supporting the mental health of vulnerable children? In this webinar three members from the Family for Every Child alliance present how they support the mental health of vulnerable children they work with in their different contexts, sharing their programmes and methodologies and responding to questions from audience members.
Speakers:…
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…
Abstract
The enactment of new legislations and policies and establishment of proper implementation agencies are considered the fundamental elements of modernisation. Likewise, in India, the child welfare sector is witnessing a paradigm shift after the implementation of juvenile justice acts and the establishment of Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS). The policy documents suggest that institutionalisation of a child must be the last resort; hence, the ideal situation is deinstitutionalising children from institutions to other care facilities. Childcare staff have to intervene…
The Finding the Way Home documentary highlights the painful realities of the eight million children living in orphanages and other institutions around the world. The film draws on intimate access to families from Brazil, Bulgaria, Haiti, Nepal, India and Moldova to tell six stories of children who have found their way into the care of loving families after spending periods of their lives in an institution. The documentary was made with the support of ACER (Brazil), Catalysts for Social Action (CSA, India), Next Generation Nepal, Lumos and others who helped identify and support some…
Abstract
The aim of this module from the book Rights-based Integrated Child Protection Service Delivery Systems is to learn about children without parental care and the need for rights-based Integrated Alternative Childcare Centres. It first examines the conceptual framework of children without parental care who are children not in the overnight care of at least one of their parents, causes of these…
Abstract
The international human rights law and policy makers establish the primacy of family for a child and accord a high priority to the continuum of care. India has recently been advocating for a transition from institutionalisation to the deinstitutionalisation of children in need of care and protection. Prevailing legislation and guidelines in India including the Juvenile Justice Act (JJ Act) 2015, the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS), the New Adoption Guidelines 2016 and Regulations 2017, the Model Guidelines for Foster Care 2016, and Supreme Court rulings advocate for the…
Aftercare is an often-neglected aspect of the alternative care system in most parts of the world. Care leavers therefore struggle with uncertainty and the lack of specialised services to cope with independent living. Care leavers often consider themselves excluded and unable to socially integrate. This is especially relevant in the context of children with difficult backgrounds such as children of women in prostitution. This paper from the Institutionalised Children: Explorations and Beyond Special Issue on Aftercare provides an…