BCN Newsletter: 5 April 2013 

 

Welcome to the latest edition of the BCN Newsletter! 

 

This edition starts with an annoucement about the much anticipated New York launch event of the handbook, Moving Forward: Implementing the 'Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children' that will take place on Thursday, April 11, 2013! 

 

We continue our Spotlight on the Sofia Conference that was held in November 2012 by highlighting key presentations by country delegations and experts providing critical learning from the Eastern European and Central Asia region.

 

Also in this edition,

  • An important new study from the UK looking at family stress factors and their relationships to children's outcomes;
  • A comprehensive report on violence in State residential institutions in Kazakhstan;
  • We also take a look at a recent global developments in Social Protection with major implications for the ability of vulnerable families to care for their children: the recently adopted Recommendation by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on Social Protection Floors; and its first World Security Report presenting data from around the globe on social security.
  •  Our country care reviews continues with highlights on the Committee on the Rights of the Child's care related recommendations to Austria, Liberia and Andorra.

And of course, many upcoming events, conferences, webinars and job opportunities!

Questions? You can reach us at contact@bettercarenetwork.org. Thank you for your continual subscription and partnership in promoting positive and appropriate alternative care options for children!

  

All the best,

The BCN Secretariat

 
IN THIS ISSUE
NY Launch of the Moving Forward Handbook
Spotlight on SOFIA Part Two
UK: Family Stressors and Children's Outcomes
Kazakhstan: Violence against children in State residential institutions
ILO Recommendation on Social Protection Floors
ILO World Social Security Report 2010/2011
In the Media: Ghana, Russia and USA
CRC Concluding Observations
New Webinar
Job Posting
General Information
IN A FEW WORDS:
  

"It was never written, it was never spoken out, but this place was for children to be kept until they die."

BBN Newsnight, 2 April 2013. Russia: Are efforts to help thousands of "abandoned" children being resisted?

 The New York Launch of Moving Forward: Implementing the 'Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children'

The Permanent Mission of Brazil to the United Nations in collaboration with UNICEF, the NGO Committee on UNICEF Working Group on Children without Parental Care, and the Better Care Network are hosting the launch of the handbook, Moving Forward: Implementing the 'Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children,' on Thursday, April 11, 2013, 3:00-4:30pm at Labouisse Hall, UNICEF House, 3 UN Plaza, New York City. The handbook was developed to provide further guidance on implementing the Guidelines at a country level. Hundreds of professionals from within Governments, NGOs, UN agencies, and academia have fed into the development of this tool, which includes promising practices from over 60 countries and has been field tested in Argentina and Malawi.

The event will introduce the following speakers:

  • Ms. Regina Maria Cordeiro Dunlop, Deputy Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations
  • Mr. Makmur Sunusi, Senior Advisor to the Minister of Social Welfare of Indonesia
  • Ms. Marta Santos Pais, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on Violence against Children
  • Ms. Susan Bissell, Associate Director, Child Protection, UNICEF
  • Ms. Jennifer Davidson, CELCIS & co-author of the Handbook

For further information about this event, please visit:  http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/Events.asp

 

 SPOTLIGHT ON SOFIA (PART TWO)

Country Presentations

In our last newsletter we began a focus on a major ministerial conference that took place in Sofia, Bulgaria on 21 and 22 November 2012 on ending the placement of children under three in institutional care. This conference 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.  

This week, we highlight the presentations made at the conference by country representatives and experts from this region, but also academics and practitioners from outside the region:

NEW RESEARCH

United Kingdom: Family Stressors and Children's Outcomes  

This study from the Childhood Wellbeing Research Centre, an independent research center with funding from the United Kingdom Department for Education, identifies which family stress factors and parental behaviors are associated with positive and negative outcomes for children at the age of 7 and whether stressful life events experienced in childhood are associated with negative outcomes in adolescence. A literature review was carried out to highlight existing associations between family background factors, parental behaviors, and children's outcomes, followed by analysis of two longitudinal data sources from England.
  
The analysis confirmed that child poverty is closely associated with negative performance on all five outcomes examined with children exhibiting poor non-verbal, verbal, and math skills, lower Key Stage (KS) 1 attainment, and more behavioral difficulties. A child's longstanding illness or disability also contributed to negative outcomes in all five areas for the children at the age of 7. Some other risk factors that impacted three or more areas of the outcome include the higher number of siblings, father's illiteracy, and higher frequency of discipline. The mother's higher level of education was consistently associated with positive outcomes in all five areas. When poor children were compared to non-poor children, poor children with more grandparental care performed better than expected at KS1 than their counterparts, indicating the importance kinship care and its positive impact despite the poor economic condition of the family. In regards to teenage outcomes, the study found that stressful events associated with lower KS3 attainment and negative wellbeing include domestic abuse, victimization or abuse outside of family, homelessness or being placed in alternative care settings like foster care. Young people who experienced homelessness or had been placed in foster care early in life (before 7) had continuing and worsening emotional wellbeing from ages 10 to 13 and those who became homeless or placed in care after age 10 had lower emotional wellbeing than their peers.
  
 

NEW RESEARCH

Violence Against Children in State Run Residential Institutions in Kazakhstan  

This study on violence against children in state-run residential institutions in Kazakhstan was conducted by the national Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights and UNICEF. Data was collected from six different types of state run- residential institutions for children from 3 regions using surveys with children (9-18 years old) and staffs, and interviews with young people (17- 23 years old) who had left the care of these institutions and were living in state- run youth homes. The study focused on five types of violence- bullying, harsh verbal abuse, psychological abuse, and physical abuse - and four different types of neglect - nutrition, clothing, medical, and supervision. The findings reveal that violence in these institutions, among children and by staff, is a serious problem. Nearly 43% of children in shelters and 50% of children in orphanages and institutions for children with deviant behavior reported witnessing violence among children. In addition, 26% of children in shelters, 35% in orphanages and 41% in institutions for children with deviant behavior reported witnessing staff use violence against children.

Interviews with young people who have left these institutions depict an even starker reality of violence, with reports of psychological and physical abuse as common, and the use of practices such as being locked up in small rooms or meat refrigerators in isolation for prolonged periods of time, or being sent to psychiatric hospitals as a form of punishment for a range of reasons, including non-compliance and fighting. The study also revealed low levels of trainings for staff on identifying and reporting violence against children, pervasive lack of knowledge about code of conduct and disciplinary procedures to respond to the violence, and high level of support among staff about the use of corporal punishment (25% to 30%). The report contains wide ranging recommendations on the prevention, reporting and monitoring of violence and the prevention of institutionalization, including through the development of alternative systems of family based care and community based services.

To access the full report, please see:

  

NEW STANDARDS

Social Security for All: The ILO Social Protection Floors Recommendation

This International Labour Organization (ILO) brief introduces a new international standard adopted in June 2012, the

Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 (No. 202), that provides guidance to member States in building comprehensive social security systems and extending social security coverage by prioritizing the establishment of national floors of social protection accessible to all in need. The Recommendation was adopted nearly unanimously by government, employer, and worker delegates of the ILO's 185 member States.

Of particular relevance to children's care, the recommendation focuses on ensuring coverage for the unprotected, poor, and most vulnerable, including workers in the informal economy and their families. It aims to ensure effective access to essential health care and basic income security throughout the life cycle, by establishing national social protection floors that should include at least: basic income security for children, providing access to nutrition, education, care and any other necessary goods and services; basic income security for persons in active age who are unable to earn sufficient income, in particular in cases of sickness, unemployment, maternity and disability; basic income security for older persons (with particular relevance to kinship care); and access to essential health care, including maternity care. Such guarantees should be provided to all residents and all children through the most effective and efficient combination of benefits and schemes in the national context, with regular national monitoring. Examples provided include child and family benefits, maternity benefits, disability benefits, survivors' benefits but also universal benefit schemes, social insurance and social assistance schemes, negative income tax schemes and employment support schemes. 

To access the full brief, please see:

http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=30608&themeID=1001&topicID=1007

To access the full text of ILO Recommendation No.202, please see:

http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=30609&themeID=1001&topicID=1007

Further information about Social Protection Floors is also available at the new website of the Social Protection Floor Initiative, a coalition of 19 UN bodies, international financial institutions and 14 development partners, including bilateral donors, development banks and international NGOs that cooperate and coordinate their activities at national, regional and global levels. 

To view the website, please visit: http://www.socialprotectionfloor-gateway.org/index.html

NEW REPORT

ILO World Social Security Report 2010/2011: Providing coverage in times of crisis and beyond

This report from the International Labor Organization, the first in a series of the World Social Security Reports, presents the knowledge available on social security coverage in different parts of the world, identifies existing coverage gaps and examines the scale of countries' investments in social security. Finally, it focuses on social security responses in the context of the economic crisis. Although social security is a human right, only a minority of the world's population actually enjoys that right, while the majority lacks comprehensive and adequate coverage. More than half lack any type of protection at all. In Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, the number of people with access to even the most rudimentary protection is estimated to be less than 10 per cent.

 

Social Security is defined in this report as "all measures providing benefits, whether in cash or in kind, to secure protection, inter alia, from (a) lack of work-related income (or insufficient income) caused by sickness, disability, maternity, employment injury, unemployment, old age, or death of a family member; (b) lack of access or unaffordable access to health care; (c) insufficient family support, particularly for children and adult dependants; and (d) general poverty and social exclusion. As such, social security can play a critical role in supporting vulnerable families, including through the provision of child and family benefits, access to maternal health services and paid maternity leave, but also basic income support to older and disabled care givers. As part of this comprehensive review, the authors note serious imbalances in the allocation of resources to social security in countries with lower incomes, high poverty rates and large informal economies. Not only are the resources allocated low, but in addition, the structure of expenditures does not match obvious patterns of social priorities. In particular, near negligible resources were allocated to income support measures such as cash benefits to families and children, to those unemployed or the poor, while contributory social security schemes dominate although they cover only a minority of the population in those countries.

 

To access the full report, please see:
 

 IN THE MEDIA

Ghana, Russia and USA

Ghana: Social Welfare Department Defines Conditions for Placing Children in Orphanages (Ghana News Agency, March 15, 2013)
  
The Deputy Director of Ghana's Department of Social Welfare, Child Right Promotion and Protection spoke at a press conference on the conditions needed for children's placement in institutional care and the importance of ensuring children are cared for in their families. She emphasized that poverty should not be an excuse to separate children from their families and place them in orphanages but rather seen as a signal for the need to provide appropriate support to the family. She also highlighted that 80 percent of children living in orphanages had families and could have been supported to live in their communities. Noting the harmful impact of long-term institutional care on children's development and socialization, she urged stakeholders who take decisions on children requiring alternative care to avoid unnecessary delays so that children do not wait too long in institutions.
  
Also at this press conference, the Deputy Director for Department of Social Welfare and Justice Administration noted the important increase in inter-country adoptions in Ghana, raising concerns about its improper use. She added that there were ongoing discussions about Ghana ratifying the Hague Convention on Inter-country adoption, and that the Ministry had issued a directive requiring all agencies involved in such adoptions without authority to close down or face legal action.
  
To read the full article, please see:

 http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details_news.asp?ID=30653&themeID=1001&topicID=1006

 

USA: The Foster Care System, What Parents Wish We Knew (NPR, March 21, 2013)

This new radio report from National Public Radio (NPR) challenges some of the misconceptions about fostering, including that people foster for the money or that foster parents "must be saints to take in other people's children". Two main speakers, a foster parent for over 15 years to more than 40 children, and a Professor at the University of Richmond School of Law share their insight and experiences about fostering in the US context.

The two speakers highlight through personal anecdotes the many positive impacts foster parents and families can leave on children, including by supporting family reunification and adoption. Both, however, also share their concerns that the U.S. foster care system is overburdened and in need of much improvement, especially in terms of better involvement by children in the decisions around their care. System overcrowding is another major concern with about half a million children in the country's foster care system, 80% of them as a result of neglect which is closely associated with poverty. Moreover, children are moved around too often without receiving adequate support. Case workers and social service workers are not necessarily well-equipped and trained to handle many of the crisis situations foster children face. According to the speakers, foster care done right, with adequate social support for foster families, can improve the lives of foster children and their relationship with their biological parents.  

To listen to this report, please visit:

 http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details_news.asp?ID=30654&themeID=1002&topicID=1013 

Russia: Are efforts to help thousands of 'abandoned' children being resisted? (BBC, April 2, 2013)

BBC Newsnight reports on efforts to reform Russia's institutional care system, with a government programme to move tens of thousands of children out of institutions and into family homes through foster care and domestic adoption running into strong resistance from those benefiting from the State funding attached to these institutions. An estimated 300,000 children in Russia are in state residential homes at any one time, but estimates differ widely. The government says there are 118,000 "orphans" in children's homes, most with living parents but rejected by them often as a result of having a medical problem or disability, with doctors encouraging this on grounds that the state can better care for them.

The reports highlights that these institutions often provide a minimal standard of care, with little attempt to stimulate or educate children with special needs. Campaigners are pointing out that despite increased in State benefits for foster carers, so much money goes into children's homes (over $53,000) per child per year that officials are fighting to retain them. Efforts by local organizations and individuals working to reform the system and encourage children's placement into families are leading to important changes for some children, but the report notes that financial incentives, corruption and the closed nature of many of these institutions are blocking efforts towards more systematic reforms.

To read the full article, please see:

 http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details_news.asp?ID=30690&themeID=1002&topicID=1017

COUNTRY CARE REVIEWS

Care related Concluding Observations by

the Committee on the Rights of the Child

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 three countries examined during the 61th Session of the Committee held from the 17 September to 5 October 2012: Austria, Liberia, and Andorra.

 

To access the Concluding Observations on Austria, please visit:

 http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=30688&themeID=1001&topicID=1006

 

To access the Concluding Observations on Liberia, please visit:

 http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=30687&themeID=1001&topicID=1006

 

To access the Concluding Observations on Andorra, please visit:

  http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=30689&themeID=1001&topicID=1006

 

UPCOMING WEBINAR

OVC Support Webinar Series

Strengthening the Social Service Workforce from the Bottom-up: 

Lessons from Child and Youth Care Workers and Isibindi Model in South Africa

This OVC Support Webinar Series will be held on April 23, 2013, 8:30am-10:30am EST (Washington, D.C.) and 2:30-4:30pm (South Africa). The webinar will offer an opportunity to hear from experts who will describe the process behind the scale-up of this cadre of community-based child and youth care workers, including the rationale for is expansion and recommendations for others on how to plan and operationalize a similar program. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss with the speakers as well as other participants through the webinar format. The speakers include Zeni Thumbadoo, Deputy Director, National Association of Child Care Workers, Lucy Jamieson, Senior Advocacy Coordinator, Children's Institute, University of Cape Town, Kathy Scott, National Training Manager, National Association of Child Care Workers. They will address the following questions:

  • What is the history of child and youth care work in South Africa?
  • Why was this cadre created, what kind of training/qualifications do they receive, and what services do they provide?
  • How are they regulated, managed and supported?
  • What plans have been put in place to scale up and sustain the program?
  • What are some of the lessons and recommendations that may enable other interested countries to replicate and adapt successful processes in their own context?

The webinar can be accessed by using the following link any time after April 22, 2013, 8:30am US EST:

https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?password=M.8412DFD81EC72D0287952D0642FFBB&sid=2011113 

Please contact ovcsupport@msh.org with any questions.    

NEW EVENTS

REPSSI Regional Psychosocial Support Forum 2013

Following the success of the 2011 Regional Psychosocial Support Forum held in Johannesburg, South Africa, REPSSI is pleased to announce the 2013 edition of the Regional Psychosocial Support Forum. The forum will be on October 29-31, 2013, at the Kenyatta International Conference Center, Nairobi, Kenya. The event will be co-hosted by REPSSI and African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN). The theme of the forum will be Mainstreaming Psychosocial Support in Child Protection: linking evidence and practice.

REPSSI encourages experts in the field of psychosocial support to submit their abstracts for any of the tracks of the three broad themes of Policy, Program, and Systems, Interventions, Evidence, and Psychosocial Issues, and Measuring Psychosocial Support.

Further information about the forum and its presented tracks can be found at the following link:

 https://repssi.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=91&itemid=138

CONSULTANCY AND JOB POSTINGS

Advocacy Officer, Plan International's Liaison Office to the United Nations Headquarters, New York

Plan International's Liaison Office to the United Nations Headquarters in New York is currently recruiting an Advocacy Officer who will support the Head of Office to implement the One Plan UN Strategy at the UN and the organization. The One Plan aims at contacting key UN decision makers and Member States to increase Plan's visibility and recognition and gain political support for children's rights as well as to influence UN outcomes and contribute to a lasting environment in which the rights of children are respected, protected, and fulfilled. The Advocacy Officer will also strengthen collaboration and build partnerships with the UN, its related entities, and civil societies and carry out responsibilities of advocacy and communications related to other sections of the One Plan UN Strategy, including disabilities, youth economic empowerment, youth participation, and the post 2015 development agenda.

Application deadline is April 18, 2013.

 

Children and Violence Evaluation Challenge Fund Programme Manager, Network of European Foundations (NEF), Brussels, Belgium

The Network of European Foundations (NEF) is recruiting a Programme Manager for the Children and Violence Evaluation Challenge Fund initiative. The initiative aims at reducing violence against children by funding rigorous evaluations of violence prevention and child protection programs in low- and middle-income countries. These evaluations contribute to expand the evidence base and inform better programs and policies to eradicate violence from the lives of children.

The Programme Manager will be responsible for the management and operational coordination of the programme. She or he will implement and follow-up on the operational aspects of the Fund's programme work. She or he will report to the Steering Committee of the Fund (composed by representatives of the donors) and will work under the supervision of the NEF Executive Director.

Application deadline is April 21, 2013

  

Plan UK's Policy and Research Manager, Advocacy, Campaigns, and Communications Department, London, United Kingdom

Plan UK is recruiting a Policy and Research Manager who will create robust, relevant, and timely research and policy output for the organization, closely working with the Programme Department and technical experts on Gender, Education, and Youth Economic Empowerment. As the Policy and Research Manager, he or she will work collaboratively across the organization's internal and external stakeholders. He or she will also shape policy positioning, lead the delivery of key policy change objectives, and ensure the organization delivers robust and relevant research outputs in order to achieve change.

Application deadline is April 22, 2013

For further information about these postings, please visit:   

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

 

GENERAL INFORMATION

 

The newsletter participants, currently 3,240 in total, are working on issues related to the care and support of vulnerable children across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas.  The purpose of the newsletter is to enable members to exchange information on matters of mutual concern. If you would like to share a document, raise a specific issue, or reach out in any other way to the Network, please send the information to us at contact@bettercarenetwork.org.  In the interest of keeping messages consolidated, we will manage announcements on the newsletter and send out a few messages each month.

 

We would like to involve as many people as possible who are concerned with better care issues in the Network. Please advise anyone who would like to be added to the newsletter to send us a message at contact@bettercarenetwork.org with"newsletter request" in the subject line. Alternatively, visit the homepage of the Better Care Network website at http://www.bettercarenetwork.org and click on the upper right box where it says, "click here to sign up for our email announcements." Thank you.