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The Moldova Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, in cooperation with Changing the Way We Care (CTWWC) Moldova and local partner CCF Moldova, organized an international conference on March 21, 2024 titled “Child protection and care reform in the context of Moldova – EU Association agenda: Ending the placement of young children in institutional care – from policy to action.” The conference was organized in partnership with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education and Research, UNICEF, Keystone Moldova, and Partnerships for Every Child.
During the conference…
Moldova’s National Program for Child Protection (2022-2026) articulates the commitment of the Government of Moldova and its partners to dramatically reducing the number children in institutions and to a child protection system anchored in securing safe and nurturing family care for all children. The Program includes the introduction of a moratorium on the placement of children under the age of three in residential care. The age was expanded to include children aged between 0-6 years to reflect the age range of children cared for in residential institutions. Despite notable achievements in…
It is estimated that at least 5.4 million children live in institutions worldwide. Yet over 80% of these have at least one living parent. Research has shown the harm of orphanage care on children’s health, development and wellbeing and how orphanage volunteering is working to perpetuate these institutional systems which separate children from their families and communities. There is now a global movement to end both practices.
These key policy recommendations were published as part of the "Put Children First: End Orphanage Care" campaign.
If you are an organisation, group, university,…
Kenya has embarked on a care reform process that is aimed at promoting family and community-based care options and subsequently reducing reliance on institutions (Children’s homes, Orphanages, baby centers, etc.) This booklet, along with the accompanying animations, emphasizes the importance of family based care for the care of orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) in Kenya, provides answers to regularly asked questions, and lists current government efforts to support OVC, including the policy and legal…
Families over Facilities is a call to action to end the unnecessary institutionalization of children in child welfare. The report details the physical, mental and emotional harm done to children in group settings, the significant unnecessary taxpayer costs associated with the practice, and violations of children’s civil and human rights.
The report provides both a Declaration of Urgency and an Adaptable Toolkit of practical steps state child welfare agencies, case workers, and service providers can take to end institutionalization, keep families together and children out of…
This call to action - issued by a coalition of child rights organisations including Hope and Homes for Children, Lumos, Eurochild, and SOS Children's Villages - calls on the Ukrainian government and the European Union to "act before it is too late to protect the rights and future of some of the most forgotten and left behind children." The call to action notes the estimated number of children living in institutions in Ukraine (100,000) and the harmful impacts of institutionalization on children, highlights progress and challenges in reforming the care system in the country, and…
Summary
Worldwide, millions of children live in institutions, which runs counter to both the UN-recognised right of children to be raised in a family environment, and the findings of our accompanying systematic review of the physical, neurobiological, psychological, and mental health costs of institutionalisation and the benefits of deinstitutionalisation of child…
In this commentary piece for The Lancet Psychiatry, Joan Kaufman of the Center for Child and Family Traumatic Stress highlights some key findings and recommendations from the Lancet Group Commission on the institutionalisation and deinstitutionalisation of children. The author builds on the Commission's "call for the progressive elimination of all forms of…
This Executive Summary provides an overview of the Lancet Group Commission, which advocates global reform of the care of separated children through the progressive replacement of institutional provision with safe and nurturing family-based care. It provides essential information on both the global scale of institutionalisation and its physical, social, and mental health consequences. It…
This Lancet Group Commission, published between The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health and The Lancet Psychiatry, advocates global reform of the care of separated children through the progressive replacement of institutional provision with safe and nurturing family-based care. It provides essential information on both the global scale of institutionalisation and its physical, social, and mental health consequences. It presents a pragmatic roadmap for carefully managed change.
The Commission was led by authors from the Lumos Foundation, King’s College London, and Maestral, with authors…