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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Juridification and Standardisation: Two Legal Dimensions Influencing Contemporary Child Protection

Lina Ponnert & Susanna Johansson - The British Journal of Social Work, 10 Jan 2018

The aim of this article is to analyse juridification and standardisation as two legal dimensions influencing contemporary child-protection work, and to discuss its implications for practice.

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Sixth Circuit Case Opens Door to Equal Pay and Support for Relative Caregivers

Heidi Redlich Epstein & Elizabeth Christy - Child Law Practice Today, 09 Jan 2018

Providing relative caregivers the same financial benefits and supports as nonrelative foster caregivers is the focus of ongoing US federal litigation described in this article from the Child Law Practice Today July/August 2017 Issue on Kinship Care. The litigation addresses the equitable treatment of relatives who care for children in the child welfare system.

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A Stakeholders' Analysis of the Systems that Support Foster Care

Karla Badillo-Urquiola, Jaclyn Abraham, Arup Kumar Ghosh, Pamela Wisniewski - Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Conference on Supporting Groupwork, 07 Jan 2018

This paper focuses on understanding how the key stakeholders of the foster care system work together, as well as the systems that facilitate collaboration.

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First Nations parenting and child reunification: Identifying strengths, barriers, and community needs within the child welfare system

Elaine Toombs, Alexandra S. Drawson, Tina Bobinski, John Dixon, Christopher J. Mushquash - Child & Family Social Work, 05 Jan 2018

A First Nations child welfare organization has prioritized further understanding of reunification and parenting, including identification of successes and barriers to reunification, and service needs within communities. These priorities were addressed with a community-based participatory research model and guided by a Research Advisory.

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Developing the social work role in the Indonesian child protection system

Patrick John O’Leary, Amy Young, Donna McAuliffe, Yanuar Wismayanti - International Social Work, 03 Jan 2018

This article outlines exploratory research in establishing a role for social work in child protection in Indonesia.

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Realising Rights? The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in Court

CRIN, 02 Jan 2018

This report by the Child Rights International Network (CRIN) draws out the ways the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has been used around the world to challenge abuses of children’s rights, but also where it has been misunderstood and misapplied by national courts.

The role of social work in international child protection: best practices in stakeholder cooperation

Julie Gilbert Rosicky & Felicity Sackville Northcott - Persona y Familia, 02 Jan 2018

The focus of this paper will be the intersection of law, policy implementation, and social work in child protection, specifically child protection involving children who are separated by an international border from their families.

Prepare for Leaving Care – A Child Protection System that Works for Professionals and Young People

SOS Children’s Villages, CELCIS, EuroChild, 2018

‘Prepare for Leaving Care – A Child Protection System that Works for Professionals and Young People’, a two-year project co-funded by the Rights, Equality and Citizenship (REC) Programme of the European Union (2017-2018), aims to ensure that the rights of young people in alternative care are respected and that they are prepared for an independent life.

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Measuring Impact Through A Child Protection Index: Time 1 & Time 2 Studies Kiryandongo and Adjumani refugee settlements, Uganda

Sarah Meyer, Sabrina Hermosilla, Lindsay Stark - UNHCR, the CPC Learning Network, and TPO Uganda, 2018

This report describes the research conducted in 2016 in Kiryandongo and Adjumani refugee settlements in Uganda, presenting a comparison of child protection system strength between 2014/5 and 2016, and child protection outcomes over the same time period.

Assessing the Quality and Comprehensiveness of Child Protection Practice Frameworks: A Report to the Australian Children's Commissioners and Guardians

Samantha Finan, Leah Bromfield, Fiona Arney and Tim Moore - Australian Centre for Child Protection, 2018

This report, developed by the Australian Centre for Child Protection (ACCP) in consulation with an Expert Panel, provides an analysis and evaluation of a range of child protection practice frameworks in terms of the way they respond to the values and principles and approach to working with children and families applicable to the continuum of child protection practice.