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Ten percent of children worldwide live in households without a biological parent, and 5.4 million children live in residential care institutions. This study describes a participatory, child-informed process of developing a multidimensional measure of child subjective well-being tailored towards the priorities of children who have lived in residential care.
Eight focus groups were held with n = 49 adolescents reunified with family after living in residential care in Kenya and Guatemala and six focus groups were held with n = 29 young adults who had lived in residential care…
In this video, Tamara Mwale of Alliance for Children Everywhere (ACE) Zambia shares a story of reintegration. At ACE, whenever possible, the team seeks to reintegrate children with biological family. They create a customized plan to ensure a safe and healthy reintegration process with systemic support to prevent future disruption.
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Kinship care involves children who cannot be cared for by parents being looked after by relatives or friends of the family. In Zimbabwe, around a quarter of all children are estimated to be in kinship care. Regional and global guidance state that kinship care should always be explored as the first option when children are separated from parents. It can offer a safe and caring environment, where children speak their own languages and follow their own traditions. However, without support, kinship care families often face challenges, especially as most kinship carers are elderly grandmothers…
Abstract
Summary
Many young orphans in Zimbabwe grow up in residential care facilities, but according to governmental policies and literature in this field, these children should be transitioned to extended families to ensure optimal development. Thus, semi-structured interviews was conducted with a social worker, two residential care administrators and five extended families; whereas the participating orphans were asked to draw and narrate their lives in RCC and their extended families. This article provides empirically derived insights to the inner experiences of the…
A step-by-step process and approach that enables practitioners (sometimes called “case workers,” “case managers” or “social workers”) to work with families who need support. It includes tools and processes for work with children and families, recognizing all of their strengths and risks. Case management is used with both families at risk of separation and those where children have already separated and are in the process of being reintegrated, including biological family or placed into an alternative family (e.g., foster or kinship). The end goal of case management is that…
The institutionalisation of children has been seen to increase the risk for emotional, developmental, cognitive and attachment disorders later in life. Transitioning out of institutionalised care and integrating into the outside world has been found to be a difficult experience for many care leavers. Some of them are not prepared to face the outside world, feel neglected and lack a support system. Some may experience socio-emotional distress owing to a lack of necessary social skills in life outside the institutions.
The study purposed to assess the psychological wellbeing of adults who…
This handbook is a summarized, user-friendly version of the operating procedures for alternative family- and community-based care options. It provides an overview of each type of care, key considerations, and the process followed for placement. The handbook aims to provide an easy and quick reference to critical information and “how to” about alternative family- and community-based care placements.
The handbook should not be considered a replacement for the detailed Alternative Family- and Community-based Care Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs); rather, it is recommended that the full…
According to the literature, the success of deinstitutionalization (DI) practices in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is dependent on key factors including, a well-functioning family-based alternative care and social protection system, adequate funding and resources, and professional and other stakeholders' engagement and support. Following a practice research qualitative method, the study explored practitioner's experiences and perceptions on the status of Ghana's ongoing DI efforts and their recommendations for improving implementation.
The study's main themes were establishing…
Case management is the process of identifying, assessing, planning, referring, and tracking referrals, and monitoring the delivery of services in a timely, context-sensitive, individualized, and client-centered manner. Case management is used within child welfare and protection programming, and has been shown to improve decision-making and service delivery, to enhance child and family outcomes.
Changing the Way We CareSM (CTWWC) recognizes the importance of using case management as the preferred approach when supporting children to reintegrate from residential care to…
The Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the Alternative Family-based and Community-based Care of Children in Kenya provide guidance for the comprehensive implementation of the Guidelines for Alternative Family Care for Children in Kenya (2014). The SOPs guide actors to provide high-quality and standardized alternative care services to children separated from their parents (including emergency placements).
The SOPs provide step-by-step practical guidance on:
- Implementing safe and appropriate alternative family and community-based care services, especially when placing…