Child Care and Protection Policies

Child care and protection policies regulate the care of children, including the type of support and assistance to be offered, good practice guidelines for the implementation of services, standards for care, and adequate provisions for implementation. They relate to the care a child receives at and away from home.

States and all organisations with child care programmes should have child care policies which are in line with national legislation and international law, e.g. the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). In line with the CRC, emphasis should be placed on the child’s best interests, with support to families prioritised in order to prevent family separation. Good gatekeeping mechanisms are essential in ensuring families receive the services they need and are entitled to, and to guard against inappropriate placement into poor care arrangements.

Home-based care, day care, and other family support services are mechanisms for assisting families in providing for the child’s development and, when used appropriately, can prevent child separation. When a child is unable to remain at home, alternative forms of community based care should be prioritised, such as formal kinship care or foster care. The use of institutions should be highlighted as a last and temporary measure. All support and care provisions should outline the referral and admission process, the use of care plans, regular reviews, rehabilitation, and aftercare procedures.

Child protection legislation which recognises that abuse can be physical, emotional, sexual, or neglect, and may be carried out by parents, caretakers, children and other adults is required. All agencies working with children should have written child protection policies which respect the rights of the child. Policies should outline behaviours and actions which are unacceptable, provide standards for the appropriate care of children, and clear guidelines on what procedures to follow and by whom, including reporting mechanisms for suspected abuse to an assigned authority for investigation.

Child care and protection policies require resources and monitoring of standards to ensure their appropriate implementation. Adequate provision and training of child care and social work staff is required to deliver family support services and alternatives forms of child care. All staff working with children should be trained and supervised in providing appropriate care for children, identifying abuse, and responding appropriately.

The literature in this section contains country reports and examples of national and organisational child care and protection policies.

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Country Care Review: Cabo Verde

Better Care Network, 27 Jun 2019

This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Trajectories of child protective services contact among Alaska Native/American Indian and non-Native children

Anna E. Austin, Nisha C. Gottfredson, Adam J. Zolotor, Carolyn T. Halpern, Stephen W. Marshall, Rebecca B. Naumann, Meghan E. Shanahan - Child Abuse & Neglect, 26 Jun 2019

This study aimed to identify longitudinal trajectory classes of child protective services (CPS) contact among Alaska Native/American Indian (AN/AI) and non-Native children and examine preconception and prenatal risk factors associated with identified classes.

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Country Care Review: Malta

Better Care Network , 26 Jun 2019

This country care review includes the care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Child protection inequalities in Aotearoa New Zealand: Social gradient and the ‘inverse intervention law’

Emily Keddell, Gabrielle Davie, Dave Barson - Children and Youth Services Review, 18 Jun 2019

This article reports on a study of the relationships between child protection system contact and small area-level deprivation in New Zealand. The study found that, compared to children living in the least deprived quintile of small areas, children in the most deprived quintile had, on average, 13 times the rate of substantiation, 18 times the rate of a family group conference, and 6 times their chance of placement in foster care. Findings suggest that action is needed to address the causes of deprivation, provide services that respond to families living in poverty, and undertake further research to examine the interactions between demand and supply of services across deprivation levels.

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Advancing Protection and Care for Children in Adversity 2019-2023: A U.S. Government Strategy for International Assistance

USAID, US Department of Health and Human Services, US Department of Labor, US Department of State, PEPFAR, Peace Corps - United States Government, 17 Jun 2019

The goal of the Strategy is to ensure the U.S. Government’s investments for the most-vulnerable children and families around the world are comprehensive, coordinated, and effective in helping place partner countries on a Journey to Self-Reliance by which they can sustainably finance, manage, and deliver services that lead to stable, resilient, and prosperous families and communities.

Moving Children through Private International Law: Institutions and the Enactment of Ethics

Sonja van Wichelen - Law & Society Review, 06 Jun 2019

This article examines how the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co‐operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Adoption Convention) plays a central role in justifying the institution of legal adoption.

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How did kinship care emerge as a significant form of placement for children in care? A comparative study of the experience in Ireland and Scotland

Louise Hill, Robbie Gilligan, Graham Connelly - Children and Youth Services Review, 05 Jun 2019

This paper sets out to explore why formal kinship care has emerged in such a marked way in recent decades by investigating the emergence and development of formal kinship care in two neighboring jurisdictions in Europe where it now accounts for a substantial proportion of all care placements in Scotland and Ireland.

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Gender Equality in Practice of Child Clubs, Community Based Child Protection Mechanisms and Parents/Caregivers Groups

Robin Mauney, Rachan Srun - Plan International, 01 Jun 2019

The purpose of this study is to better understand how gender inequality impacts the Community Based Child Protection Mechanisms in Cambodia, its child clubs and caregiver groups and how programming should be targeted to being gender transformative – changing social norms that promote gender inequality.

A Second Revolution: Thirty years of child rights, and the unfinished agenda

Child Rights Now! - Joining Forces, 01 Jun 2019

This report reviews the situation of vulnerable children and children's rights and concludes with a call to action to improve the lives of children. The report includes a section on children in vulnerable family settings, including a brief case study on deinstitutionalization in Romania and the problems that persist there.

UNICEF Annual Report 2018: For every child, every right

UNICEF, 01 Jun 2019

In words, images, facts and figures, this report details the results that UNICEF achieved in 2018, together with its generous partners and supporters, a dedicated global workforce and children and young people themselves.