All the best,

The BCN Secretariat

 

A major ministerial conference on ending the placement of children under three in institutional care was held in Sofia, Bulgaria on 21 and 22 November 2012. Organized by the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria in collaboration with UNICEF, it brought together representatives of twenty governments from Eastern Europe and Central Asia, experts from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, international and local NGOs and the academic world to discuss strategies and emerging good practices to support vulnerable families and prevent baby abandonment and the placement of children below the age of three in institutions. BCN will be highlighting resources and learning from this important conference over its next two newsletters, starting with a major rights based regional situation analysis of children under three in formal care and a briefing on making social protection more effective for children by keeping families together.

For more information about the Sofia Conference, please visit: http://www.unicef.org/ceecis/media_20824.html

Through a comprehensive statistical analysis and literature review, this major UNICEF report provides a child rights-based up-to-date review of the situation of children under the age of three in formal care. It examines regional and country level trends in the use of institutional care and family based alternative care options, in particular foster care. While major progress has been achieved in the reform of childcare systems in the CEECIS region ever since the 1990s, analysis of statistical data from the TransMonEE Database that contains government data from 21 countries shows that reform has not yet been translated into the capacity of social protection systems to prevent family separation. 

 

To view the full report, please visit:  http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=30576&themeID=1002&topicID=1017

This edition of Insights produced by UNICEF summarizes findings and recommendations of studies on the impact and outreach of social protection systems in Albania, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. All three countries operate social assistance programmes for children and families and are in the process of establishing social services, but high rates of child placement in formal care still persist.  Although all three countries have established clear legislative frameworks for developing comprehensive social protection systems, families are still not receiving effective support because targeted social assistance programs intended to alleviate poverty are not reaching the majority of needy households and non-institution based social services are only being accessed by a small number of parents and caregivers due to lack of information and effective service delivery mechanism. Reasons identified include, lack of awareness about eligibility for assistance, applications for means-tested social assistance are too complicated, a lack of transparency and fairness about access, parents, staff and decision-makers lack knowledge about social services, centre-based social services being usually in towns and difficult for vulnerable families to reach, while weak outreach leads to low-take up by those who need it most.

Some of the interesting solutions being developed in those countries are highlighted and the authors make comprehensive recommendations relevant to many of the countries in the CEE/CIS region. Among other things, they point out that better impact can be achieved at low cost by better coordinating and integrating existing social protection interventions. They recommend using the existing infrastructure and reach of social assistance, health and education structures to extend the reach of social services and also ensuring that there is a nationally agreed minimum package of social protection services and social assistance for all who need it, regardless of where they live in the country and what vulnerabilities they face. 

 

To view the full report, please visit:  http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=30579&themeID=1001&topicID=1009

In its latest Annual Report (2011-2012), the Indian Ministry of Women and Child Development reports on progress in the child protection and welfare sector, including the implementation of the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS), a strategy adopted and launched by the central government in 2009-2010. Of particular relevance to children without adequate parental care, the ICPS specifically articulates the need to move away from over-reliance on institutional care and towards responses that support family based care, starting from interventions and policies that would strengthen "the family capabilities to care for and protect the child" to providing a range of family based alternatives, "including sponsorship, kinship care, foster care and adoption."

 

The Ministry reports that the Memorandum of Understanding to implement the ICPS has now been signed between the Government and all States/UTs in the country, except Jammu & Kashmir. Guidelines for the sponsorship of children to enable their deinstitutionalization and reintegration into their families were finalized and a pilot project conducted in 2 States (Orissa and Gujarat). The report also states that provisional guidelines for foster care or orphaned children by Kin and Kith were under testing in 3 States.  In addition, Guidelines for the provision of after care services to children leaving institutional care who are without family support were also developed in 2011-2012. Of note, however, the Ministry also provided funding in this period for 125 Specialized Adoption Agencies (SAAs) and 638 Homes of "various types", that provide "comprehensive rehabilitation services to children including food, clothing, day and night shelter, education, medical facilities to 29,518 children". Assistance was also provided to 25 Homes to improve the quality of infrastructures, and grants for the constructions of 13 new Homes were released. Further, 65 open shelters were also funded under the ICPS during the same period which provide, among other things, vocational training, bridge to education, food to children living on the streets.

 

For further information about the Integrated Child Protection Scheme, please visit:

http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=30591&themeID=1001&topicID=1006

 

To view the full Annual Report from the Indian Ministry of Women and Child Development, please visit:

 http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=30594&themeID=1001&topicID=1006

 

This new study aims to identify and assess the cost effectiveness for existing models of care for Children Affected by HIV and AIDS (CABA) in Nepal. The study performed a cost effective analysis for types of care and support models available to CABAs in order to provide program managers and childcare professionals comparative economic evidence of the cost of caring for these children. Comparative analysis for cost effectiveness was done in terms of quality and overall modes of care delivery, using government minimum standards guidelines as a framework.

 

The study identified only three types of care models prevalent in Nepal: comprehensive care model, home-based care and support, and community-based care with income generation activities. Community-based care with income generation was found to be the most cost effective care model. It imparted children with better socialization by retaining children's social and familial contexts and environments, and with professional skills through its income generating activities. However, the authors note that a single model of care cannot provide the continuum needed for these children, and other care models and safety nets should be employed to reach as many CABAs as possible in Nepal. Despite HIV/AIDS being a priority one disease in the government's health agenda, government run child care homes did not accept children with HIV/AIDS.  The authors call for the promotion of community based childcare models with income generation activities, and for the creation of a networking system that builds on the success of previous networks for the identification and placement of these children in appropriate care models.

 

To view the full report, please visit: http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=30581&themeID=1004&topicID=1025

  

This inter-agency paper was written by Family for Every Child, Better Care Network, Consortium for Street Children, Save the Children, SOS Children's Villages, and World Vision, for submission to the United Nations consultation: 'Health in the Post-2015 Development Agenda.'  The paper demonstrates the interdependence between goals on health and child survival and the protection and care of children and argues that for the mutual benefits of both these areas, the framework that will replace the MDGs in 2015 should both continue to include a focus on health and child survival, and encompass particular goals and indicators on children's protection.

 

Maternal health and HIV have major impacts on child protection outcomes. The continuing rates of maternal mortality leave children growing up without a mother. Whilst these boys and girls are often cared for by fathers or extended family, they can be both less likely to survive and more vulnerable to child protection risks. The vast majority of children outside of parental care in the developing world are looked after by their families, most commonly grandparents. Despite their best efforts, a lack of external support means that older caregivers are not always able to provide the best care their grandchildren need to survive and thrive. The paper asserts that improving the quality of alternative care will make MDG targets on infant mortality and nutrition more achievable. Many children placed in alternative care experience poor care quality that it threatens their survival. The authors argue that it is imperative for future health and survival goals to include targets reflecting equity in access to health care, especially for the children without adequate care and protection, and a post-MDG framework that encapsulates prevention of violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect of children as well as provision for a safe family environment. 

 

To view the full report, please visit: http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=30582&themeID=1000&topicID=1002

Spotlight on recently adopted Concluding Observations by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in its examination of State Party reports, with a particular focus on sections addressing Family Environment and Alternative Care.  

 

In this edition, we highlight four countries examined during the 61th Session of the Committee held from the 17 September to 5 October 2012: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Namibia, and Albania.

 

To access the Concluding Observations on Bosnia and Herzegovina, please visit:

http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=30527&themeID=1001&topicID=1006

 

To access the Concluding Observations on Canada, please visit:

http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=30526&themeID=1001&topicID=1006

 

To access the Concluding Observations on Namibia, please visit:

http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=30528&themeID=1001&topicID=1006

 

To access the Concluding Observations on Albania, please visit:

http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=30580&themeID=1001&topicID=1006

 

PEPFAR, in partnership with USAID's AIDSTAR-Two Project and the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) of South Africa, is announcing the launch of a new resource, Supporting and Strengthening Child-Caregiver Relationships on Tuesday March 26 2013 at the Hotel Palomar in Washington, DC. 

 

Countries are making efforts to professionalize their social service workforce. In some cases, this means introducing regulations, such as requiring exams, licenses and professional development courses to practice social work. A number of questions arise as to the benefits and challenges of this approach, including who should be regulated, what type of education and training they should have, along with what to do with the number of para professional workers who expend a great deal of time and work in social service related efforts.

 

The webinar will offer an opportunity to hear from two experts in this area who are leading national social work associations and councils: Phillip Bohwasi, Chairman, Zimbabwe Council of Social Workers and Tata Sudrajat, President, Indonesian Association of Professional Social Workers and Family Based Care Senior Program Manager, Save the Children. Participants will have the opportunity for discussion with the speakers as well as other participants through the webinar format.

 

For more information about this upcoming webinar and how to participate, please visit:

http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/Events.asp