Displaying 1 - 10 of 14
Abstract
This paper explores practical and ethical dilemmas for professionals when securing the protection of children in the complex non‐clinical setting of individual families. It is based on a cross‐country study on cultural encounters in interventions against child physical abuse and neglect in four countries (England/Wales, Germany, Portugal, and Slovenia). Drawing on national reports of legal‐organizational frameworks and socio‐cultural backgrounds of European child protection systems, it also presents the results of a series of focus groups with professionals. Data were analysed to…
In preparation for the Expert Meeting on Alternative Care and Family Support in the Baltic Sea Region - held in Tallinn, Estonia in May 2015 - the Children’s Unit in cooperation with the Expert Group for Cooperation on Children at Risk conducted a mapping of family support and alternative care services in the Baltic Sea Region Member States. The objective of this mapping was to analyse the situation, assess the achievements since the 2005 Ministerial Forum and to identify relevant opportunities and challenges for the future.
This report documents, assesses, and analyses the state of…
Government representatives, experts and professionals from the Baltic Sea Region including Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, the Russian Federation, Sweden and wider Europe gathered at a two-day expert meeting in Tallinn, Estonia and, together, endorsed a set of recommendations and action plan on alternative care and family support on 6 May 2015. This report provides an overview of the meeting and the presentations and discussions that took place on the topics of regional cooperation on alternative care, promoting quality care for children in the…
This background paper was developed as part of a regional study which gathered relevant data and information on family support and alternative care in the eleven Member States of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS): Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, the Russian Federation and Sweden. The aim of this study was to identify progress and challenges in preventing family separation and safeguarding the rights of children in alternative care in the region. This background paper offers a comprehensive and detailed overview of the situation of…
Government representatives, experts and professionals from the Baltic Sea Region including Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, the Russian Federation, Sweden and wider Europe gathered at a two-day expert meeting in Tallinn, Estonia and, together, endorsed a set of recommendations and action plan on alternative care and family support on 6 May 2015. The Recommendations and Action Plan highlight the urgency of integrating services for children and families at risk, making services accessible at a low threshold, ensuring timely interventions and longer…
Executive Summary
Across Europe hundreds of thousands of children are growing up in institutional care. The consequences are devastating for children, devastating for families and ultimately, devastating for society as a whole.
The Opening Doors for Europe’s Children Campaign seeks to improve the quality of life of children and young people in, at risk of entering, or leaving institutional care across Europe by promoting the transition from institutional to family-based care, also called deinstitutionalisation (DI). Through coordinated advocacy at national and EU level…
This online resource provides an overview of research, conducted by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), on national child protection systems in the 28 European Union (EU) Member States. The research seeks to understand how national child protection systems work and to identify common challenges and promising practices. The data collected are organized around five main areas: (1) National legislative and regulatory framework; (2) National authorities responsible for child protection and service providers; (3) Human and financial resources, focusing on…
This joint memo was issued by a group of European organizations to clearly state their belief that the draft language on community living in the proposed EU Structural Funds Regulations should be amended to enhance the effect and to better advance the rights of children, persons with disabilities, and older people. The memo highlights the need to clarify and improve the text, and why this is necessary in order to uphold the international legal obligations of the EU to promote the right to community living, particularly for children, persons with disabilities, and older people.
Many European countries have high rates of young children in institutions, where the physical care of the child predominates, with social/emotional needs a secondary concern. Institutional care is a very poor substitute for positive family care, increasing the risk of development delay, attachment difficulties, neural growth dysfunction and mental health disorders. This article provides an update on a series of projects that have highlighted this issue in Europe, arguing that babies and small children aged less than 3 years old, with or without disability, should not be placed in residential…
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…