| BCN Newsletter: 30 August 2013 |
|
|
|
Welcome to the latest edition of the BCN Newsletter!
In this edition, we highlight recent research, tools and policy briefs relevant to children's care, including:
- UNICEF has launched a new campaign to End Violence against Children, with a powerful new public service announcement.
- A comprehensive National Survey of Institutions for children in Rwanda.
- Findings from research in Community based Child Protection systems in Uganda.
- New research on attitudes towards Foster Care as an alternative to institutional care in Jordan, with learning for the region as a whole.
- The new Foster Care scheme in Goa, India: the government policy behind it.
- A new campaign by the South Asia Alliance of Grassroots NGOs and an online petition by Butterflies: A child's right to a family.
- The 2013 KIDS COUNT data provides detailed state by state picture on the situation of children in the USA and their well-being, including their family life.
This edition's FOCUS is on SOCIAL TRANSFERS and the potential they have to support families to address the impact of poverty and social exclusion, with important implications for children's care.
- UNICEF's new Working Paper on Social Transfers and Child Protection;
- Ghana: an evaluation of household size on cash transfer utilization;
- Kazakhstan: an evaluation of social sector programmes including cash transfers that begins to look on their impact on children's care;
- And This American Life asks: should we just give people money?
Also,
- Our Country Care Reviews continue with highlights on the Committee on the Rights of the Child's care related recommendations to Rwanda, Slovenia and Uzbekistan.
And of course, we have the latest news, 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 A FEW WORDS:
"The mystery surrounding deinstitutionalisation has been demystified, as this pilot proved that moving children from institutions into family and alternative care is not only possible but also has better outcomes for children."
Hon. Aloisea Inyumba, the Minister of Gender and Family Promotion of the Republic of Rwanda, National Survey of Institutions for Children in Rwanda
|
|
|
|
MEDIA CAMPAIGN
End Violence Against Children PSA | |
On Wednesday, July 31 2013, UNICEF launched its "#ENDviolence against children" campaign, including a one-minute powerful public service announcement (PSA) featuring well-known film actor and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Liam Neeson. The video, which evokes multiple scenes of violence against children without showing the children or the action, calls for its viewers to "make the invisible visible", reminding us that "violence against children is everywhere. But people turn a blind eye. It's hidden behind closed doors. It's invisible."
The campaign's website includes a description of the initiative, some facts on child abuse, a map of the countries with whom UNICEF is working on this campaign, an image gallery, web stories, videos, a social media forum, the campaign's partners, and information on how to get involved to help end violence against children.
To visit the website, please click on the link above or visit:
http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details_news.asp?id=31564&themeID=1004&topicID=1029
|
|
RESEARCH
National Survey of Institutions for Children in Rwanda
|
In March 2012, the Cabinet of the Republic of Rwanda approved the National Strategy for Child Care Reform, the first phase of which specifically aims to ensure the closure of 33 institutions and placement of all 3,323 children and young adults living in them into alternative care. A vital first step in the process was to obtain an accurate picture of the current institutional system and the children living within it. For this reason, Hope and Homes for Children, in partnership with the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion (MIGEPROF), conducted a national survey covering all 33 institutions for children without parental care registered with MIGEPROF with the exception of one institution, Mpore PEFA, which was in the process of being closed through a pilot deinstitutionalization project. The survey was intended to gather comprehensive quantitative data about all children living in institutions, gather qualitative data from a sub-sample of children concerning their personal experience of living in institutions, gather data about the institutions and their staff, and to identify existing interventions in the priority areas of the reform process.
Among its key results, the study found that the majority of children (64.7%) had entered the institutions during the first seven years of their lives, with almost 40% of children aged 0-3 years at the time they were placed in the institutions. Over one quarter of the total population of children in institutions is over 18 years old, many well into their 20s, and the oldest aged 43 years. Shockingly, the average length of stay was over 13 years. The occupancy of the institutions at the time of the research ranged from 8 to 566 children, with 9 institutions having well over 100 children. Over half of the 33 institutions were founded by faith-based organizations (18 institutions), a majority by local rather than international organizations. The most common reasons given for children being placed in the institution included death of one or both parents, abandonment, and poverty. The study makes comprehensive recommendations including that all children be moved to family-based care, with the youngest children to be moved out as soon as possible. It also suggests that family separation prevention services must be supported and developed at the community-level and that children be supported in their transition to independent living after leaving care.
To read the full report, please visit:
http://www.bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=31605&themeID=1001&topicID=1011
And for more on Rwanda and care reforms, see below for Rwanda's Country Care Review under the UN CRC
|
|
RESEARCH
Community Child Protection Systems in Uganda
|
This comprehensive report describes the process, findings and recommendations of the baseline survey for a project titled, "Building and Strengthening Community-Based Child Protection Systems in Busoga and Acholi sub-regions" commissioned by ANPPCAN. Field work for this mixed-method baseline study was conducted in two districts (Jinja and Kitgum). A total of 394 children aged 5-17 were interviewed for the quantitative aspects of the research. In addition, 62 children and 111 community members participated in focus group discussions and 22 key informants received in depth interviews, in order to obtain qualitative information. Among key findings, nearly half of the children (49%) indicated that child abuse is a serious problem in their community. Eighty-five percent of the children in both Kitgum and Jinja districts had experienced at least one form of physical violence. Respectively, 46.2% and 84.3% of the children had experienced some form of sexual and emotional violence in the last 12 months prior to the survey. Only 53% of the children reported they could definitely refuse /reject sexual advances, by making appropriate, assertive, and persistent verbal responses. 31% of children were not aware that strangers were not the only perpetrators of child abuse, and over 40% did not know where to report or the procedures for reporting child abuse.
The study identified three important traditional practices that related positively to child protection and wellbeing: "It took a village to raise a child", with child care rearing considered a communal responsibility; Extended family and the nurturing of children, with extended families traditionally playing a more pronounced role in child nurturing, care and protection than is the case now; and Idiomatic expressions, taboos and proverbs, that promoted child protection through emphasizing taboos and telling scary stories that deterred children from doing certain things. It also explored parenting practices, including parental monitoring and supervision, parent- child communication, and parental discipline strategies, and found that although caregivers employed a repertoire of strategies to monitor their children, the most common discipline strategy used is physical punishment (51.2%). The Study also found that most of the protection and response services are provided within the realm of the community-based and informal child protection system, the functionality of which is fraught with several challenges. Based on these findings, several recommendations for strengthening community-based responses for child protection are suggested. These include the need to: strengthen the capacity of families to protect and care for children, build children's capacities for self-protection, strengthen and complement the capacity of key community-based child protection actors, and promote more effective linkages between the formal and informal child protection mechanisms.
|
|
RESEARCH
Foster Care as a Viable Alternative to Institutional Care in the Middle East: Community Acceptance and Stigma Across Type of Placement in Jordan
|
This paper describes a study that assessed the attitudes of people in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan toward the implementation of foster care as an alternative to institutions for children. According to the paper, many middle and low-income countries continue to utilize large institutional settings as the predominant model of alternative care for children, despite growing evidence that these settings are detrimental to children's development. Middle Eastern children and youth who have been institutionalized often experience a high degree of stigma upon returning to their communities and often struggle with making friends and finding employment. However, family foster care as an alternative to institutionalization is not a commonly accepted practice in the Middle East and it is believed that the stigma of foster care placement may act as a barrier to the implementation of non-kin foster care programs. The Jordanian Ministry of Social Development (MoSD) and UNICEF partnered with the Community-Family Integration Teams (C-FIT) group to develop alternatives care arrangements for children, and is moving towards the implementation of kinship and non kin models of foster care. Ensuring that the new programs and interventions are culturally congruent and acceptable to the community is essential as cultural stigma associated with foster care could negatively impact service utilization.
The authors of this study sought to examine the local attitudes surrounding foster care and institutional care models in the Hashemite Kingdom, determining the potential acceptance of alternative care programs. The researchers used an experimental vignette design, surveying a sample of 111 adults in Amman who were presented with vignettes which varied as to whether the 14 year-old boy in question was described as raised in an orphanage, with a relative in a kinship foster placement, or with a non-kin foster family. The participants answered a series of questions about their acceptance of the child, stigma that the community might attach to the child, and potential outcomes for the child. The researchers found no differences across the acceptance and stigma questions between the kinship and non-kin foster conditions of the child. The two foster care options presented to the participants were found to be at least as acceptable as the current institutional models across all domains, and in some cases less stigma was attached to children reared in foster care. The adults surveyed were also more likely to accept the child going to school with, or being friends with, their children if the boy was presented as being in foster care rather than an institution. The authors conclude that the results represent the first evidence of public acceptance of foster care as a model of care in Jordan. These potentially changing attitudes may inform the process of local stakeholders implementing alternatives to institutional care on a meaningful and sustainable scale in the Kingdom and regionally. To access the abstract of this article, please visit: http://www.bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=31658&themeID=1002&topicID=1013
|
|
NATIONAL POLICY
GOA, INDIA: The Foster Care Scheme- Vatsalya
| |
Last month we featured a news item highlighting the decision by the state cabinet of Goa in India to approve a foster care scheme to assist children deprived of parental care and in need of protection. The scheme, titled 'Vatsalya', is to grant a foster care allowance of 2,500 rupees (approx. $42) for an individual up to 21 years of age. The government has issued an official document setting out the purpose of the foster care scheme, which children are eligible to be fostered, who can become a foster parent, and what procedures must be followed under the scheme. Worth noting in particular, is that the foster care scheme can apply to care by a family member or relative under a kinship arrangement, and that the primary consideration in deciding whether to place the child with kin or in an unrelated family will be a determination of the best interest of the child. The document also underlines that foster care in a family is "widely recognized as a preferred alternative to institutionalization".
The scheme is to be administered by the Child Welfare Committee, in accordance with the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000, and two Child Care Coordinators will be appointed to work under it. They will conduct assessments of the potential foster families, including through home visits, meetings with family members and other key community members, and will be responsible for developing also a Child Study Report. The Child Welfare Committee will be taking decisions on the basis of these assessments, designating the foster parent as a 'fit person' under the scheme, and stipulating the terms of the placement, including conditions, required training or orientation, and the duration of the placement. The timeframe can range from emergency or short term placements to long term placements until the child reaches 18, but these can also be extended until the young person turns 21. Annexed to the guidelines are also the various forms to be used to complete the assessment report of foster parents, the child study report, the order of foster care placement, and the format for periodic report under the foster care placement.
|
|
NEW CAMPAIGN
South Asia Alliance of Grassroots NGOS and Butterflies Petition:
A Child's Right to a Family
| |
An estimated 43 million children in South Asia are growing up without one or both of their parents due to the impact of poverty, disability, HIV/AIDS, armed conflict, natural disasters and migration. For children separated from their families, the 139 organizations of the South Asia Alliance of Grassroots NGOs (SAAGN) launched the campaign "My Caring Family is My First Right" in June 2013. As part of the campaign, Butterflies, a registered voluntary organization working with street and working children in Delhi, is supporting a new online petition that calls on governments in the region to respect a child's right to a family.
The campaign asks the governments of India, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka to make all available efforts to prevent the separation of children from their families. Butterflies Chief Executive Rita Panicker said: "We feel that the family remains the place where children's rights can best be fulfilled and states have a responsibility to provide special protection and assistance to preserve this institution." The campaign also calls on governments to provide care to those children who have already been separated from their families and left without adequate care. To promote the launch of the campaign, Butterflies and other local NGOs held a drawing and photography workshop with children who were asked about how they perceive the notion of family. The Butterflies' petition and signatures will be presented to government representatives who will gather at a SAAGN International conference being held in Kathmandu at the end of August 2013.
To read more about the petition and the campaign, please visit:
http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details_news.asp?id=31629&themeID=1005&topicID=1031
|
|
NATIONAL DATA ON CHILDREN
USA: Kids Count Data Book 2013
|
The 2013 KIDS COUNT Data Book provides a detailed picture of how children are faring in the United States. In addition to ranking states on overall child well-being, the Data Book ranks states in four domains: Economic Well-Being, Education, Health, and Family and Community. This year's Data Book presents recent trends, generally comparing data from 2005 with data from 2011, often the most recently available. The national trend data compares how the country's children were faring mid-decade, prior to the economic crisis, with how they are doing in its aftermath. State rankings focus only on the most recent data. The report examines data on topics such as child poverty rates, children not attending pre-school, children without health insurance, children in single-parent families, and more. The report offers an analysis across the dimensions of race and geographic regions, as well as state-to-state comparisons. It also includes a guide for using the Kids Count Data Center website to search for relevant data.
Overall, the report finds that there have been modest but hopeful signs of recovery and improvement for children and families in the US. However, the report indicates that the gap between children growing up in strong, economically secure families who are embedded in thriving communities and children who are not continues to widen, especially as African-American and Latino children continue to fall disproportionately into the latter group. The report concludes with a brief statement highlighting the need for early intervention and smart investment in programs that support children and families to promote wellbeing across the four domains.
The full report and individual state profiles are available for download on the Kids Count website or by using the following link: http://www.bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=31389&themeID=1001&topicID=1011
|
|
FOCUS ON SOCIAL TRANSFERS
UNICEF Working Paper: Social Transfers and Child Protection | |
This comprehensive new Working Paper published by the UNICEF Office of Research and the Brooks World Poverty Institute, examines the direct, indirect, and implementation impacts of social transfers on child protection outcomes in low- and middle-income countries. The term 'social transfers' is defined as regular, reliable and direct transfers in cash and/or in kind to households in poverty and deprivation. Social transfers are typically implemented to reduce poverty and promote economic and social inclusion. This study focuses on the ways in which social transfer programs promote the welfare of children, specifically by improving child protection outcomes such as the prevention and reduction of the damaging effects of: family separation, child labor, trafficking, child marriage, violence, abuse, and exploitation of children. The paper offers suggestions for utilizing, and enhancing, the connections between social transfer programs and child protection strategies to improve outcomes for children. In analyzing 79 impact evaluation studies covering 45 social transfer programs in 28 countries, the authors have found that social transfers directly affect child protection outcomes, positively or negatively, when child protection is explicitly incorporated into the design and implementation of the program, or when the objectives of the program impact the adult caretakers' provision of care to children. Findings also suggest that social transfers can indirectly affect child protection outcomes by impacting the economic stability of the child's family. Additionally, the authors conclude that the implementation of social transfer programs impacts child protection outcomes when it contributes to the capacity of child protection agencies and other public organizations to protect children from violence, abuse, and exploitation.
Several indicators that are relevant to family separation - including children in formal or informal care, child-headed households, and unaccompanied children - were explicitly mentioned in the program evaluations of social transfers reviewed in this report. The paper found that social transfers impact family separation in several ways, especially through their effects on mitigating the impact of migration and conflict on children. Social transfers can prevent family separation by allowing parents to avoid involuntarily migration from rural to large urban areas as job seekers, and allowing parents to spend more time with their children. However, social transfers can also promote family separation by providing opportunities for parents who are willing to leave their children to pursue work in larger urban centres or by helping children to accumulate more human capital, increasing the likelihood that they will leave their homes in search of better employment opportunities. Overall, the paper finds that cooperation, integration, and partnership between social transfer programs and child protection agencies can enhance agencies' ability to effectively promote the protection of children. Therefore the authors argue that there is an urgent need for further research on this topic and that a systems approach emphasizing the creation of a protective environment for children, will enhance the connections between social transfers and child protection outcomes.
|
|
Effects of Household Size on Cash Transfers Utilization for Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Rural Ghana |
Ghana's Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) program was implemented in 2008 to provide social protection to vulnerable groups, such as orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). The program was first piloted in 2008 with 1,654 beneficiary households in 21 districts, began expanding in 2009 and 2010, reached 68,000 households in 2012 and is expected to increase to 165,000 households across Ghana by 2015. This qualitative study explored how household size influenced the extent to which the basic needs of OVC were met through this program. In most households in Ghana, family members are deeply rooted in family solidarity and engraved in the culture of sharing. As a result, in large-sized households, sharing the cash received among targeted and other children, as well as other vulnerable persons could suggest that the targeted children will not benefit much and this could have implications for the impacts of the LEAP program. This study, therefore, is intended to explore beyond the existing literature to examine the effects of household size on cash transfer utilization for beneficiary orphans and vulnerable children.
For this study, a purposive sampling method was used to recruit 21 households caring for OVC. In-depth interviews were conducted with 21 caregivers and 10 OVC who were all double orphans- lost both parents- and were living with relatives who were their caregivers. The findings indicated that households, which were made up of different members of the extended family operated as single units and therefore cash transfers were utilised for all children (both LEAP beneficiary and non-beneficiary) who resided in the households of caregivers. The caregivers indicated that it was difficult to isolate beneficiary children from non-beneficiary children since they were all members of the household and all should benefit from resources transferred to the household. This suggests that household size influenced the spending decisions of caregivers even though the cash transfer was conditional. In practice, the cash transfer failed to meet the conditionality requirement because the money was used to meet the needs of non-LEAP beneficiary children as well. Based on the findings, the authors conclude that cash transfers will have the intended impact on beneficiaries if traditional family living systems and practices are taken into consideration in the design and implementation of national social protection programs.
|
|
External Evaluation of the BOTA Foundation's
Social Sector Programmes in Kazakhstan
|
The BOTA Foundation was established in 2008 with the aim of improving the lives of children, youth and their families suffering from poverty in Kazakhstan through investment in their health, education and social welfare. Oxford Policy Management (OPM) has conducted two rounds of qualitative evaluations of three poverty-reduction and human development programmes run by the BOTA Foundation: the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Programme, the Social Services Programme and the Tuition Assistance Programme. The $65 million CCT programme provides short-term cash handouts to poor households with children of pre-school age, children with disabilities, pregnant and lactating women and teenage school-leavers. To evaluate the CCT, OPM also conducted a two-round quantitative survey and has completed a costing study across all programmes. It completed the impact evaluation and evaluation of BOTA's operations and targeting performance using a randomised control trial with a baseline survey in 2011 and a follow-up survey of 2,300 households in 2012. Each report includes a description of the methodology and results of the fieldwork as well as conclusions and recommendations.
Among the care-relevant findings of the studies, OPM has found that the BOTA programme, combined with State social, health and education services, appears to be having, depending on the family, either a neutral or a largely positive impact on care provided to children at home, but the consistency and extent of this impact across programme areas appears to be dependent on the knowledge and skills of individual volunteers and the length of time a household has been enrolled. The reports also found that BOTA provides grants to NGOs working in particular areas, such as support to 18-year-old care leavers who may have no job and no home; parenting support to care leavers who have had their own children at a young age; support to "social orphans" - children who are living with their families but whose needs are being neglected and who are not receiving adequate care and protection; services to support children who are being abused in their families; and services that involve the elderly, for example orphans visiting the elderly once a week and spending time with them. However, applicants may not be aware that BOTA is willing to fund and actively encourage such projects.
All six qualitative studies, along with the baseline survey and other reports, are available on the Oxford Policy Management website or by using the following link: http://www.bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=31562&themeID=1001&topicID=1009
|
|
Oxford Policy Management Brief
Predicting the Cost and Impact of Cash Transfer Programmes:
The Power of Micro-Simulation Tools |
Cash transfers to households are becoming an increasingly common policy instrument for reducing poverty and economic and social exclusion in a range of countries and contexts. According to this Briefing Note by Oxford Policy Management, many of today's cash transfer programs operate as donor-funded pilot studies which are not always modelled at the design stage to estimate their cost and impact on household poverty when run at scale. Basic 'microsimulation' tools, widely used in developed economies since the 1960s, are therefore necessary in order to make the calculations needed to model the effects of social welfare reforms or tax reforms, and can also be applied to cash transfer schemes in low- and middle-income countries. The Briefing Note describes a simple 'microsimulation' tool to determine at the outset whether launching a cash transfer programme will have an affordable impact on poverty.
The microsimulation tool uses household survey data to predict the costs and poverty outcomes of cash transfer programmes under different scenarios before any programme is launched. It can also simulate how the benefit will be distributed among households with different consumption levels or different household composition - something that is not possible with tools that use only macro-level data, such as national population data. Additionally, the tool can be elaborated and run within a few days in any country in which household survey data of a reasonable quality are available, using widely available statistical software. The Briefing Note explains the key steps required to use the tool. These include: deciding the scenarios to be modelled; obtaining the micro- and macro-level data; creating variables in the household survey dataset that act as markers for each scenario; and modelling the effect of the programme using the household survey data. According to the note, using a basic simulation tool policymakers can determine whether a cash transfer programme is likely to be an effective or affordable part of social protection. When combined with other tools such as a political economy analysis or an assessment of institutional capacity to deliver the programme, this approach can provide an even more powerful early indication of the programme's potential success before significant resources are committed.
To read the full note, please visit: http://www.bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=31563&themeID=1001&topicID=1008
|
|
PODCAST
The Charity That Just Gives People Money
|
And we wrap up this edition's Focus on Social Transfers, and the potential they have to strengthen families facing poverty and social exclusion to care appropriately for their children, on a lighter yet challenging note.
The well known radio show This American Life has collaborated with Planet Money to investigate the work of a charity called GiveDirectly. Instead of funding schools or wells or livestock, GiveDirectly has decided to just give money directly to the poor people who need it, and let them decide how to spend it. The team goes to Kenya to speak to beneficiaries of the scheme and others in their communities. The podcast explores whether this method of charity works, and why some people think it's a terrible idea. It also investigates the evidence on the work of other development aid programmes aimed at lifting people from poverty, including through livestock and life skills trainings, and asks the controversial question of whether we really know what works best to help families out of poverty, and what the challenges are to finding that out.
The piece is 28 minutes and is the second part of the podcast called "I Was Just Trying To Help", available to stream for free at: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/503/i-was-just-trying-to-help
|
|
COUNTRY CARE REVIEWS
Rwanda, Slovenia and Uzbekistan
|
In this issue, we highlight the care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child during its 63rd Session held from 27 May to 14 June 2013, with a particular focus on sections addressing Family Environment and Alternative Care.
To access the Concluding Observations on Rwanda, please visit:
To access the Concluding Observations on Slovenia, please visit:
http://www.bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=31601&themeID=1001&topicID=1006
To access the Concluding Observations on Uzbekistan, please visit:
http://www.bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=31602&themeID=1001&topicID=1006
Coming up!
The 10th Session of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is due to be convened in Geneva from 2-13 September 2013. The States Parties reports that will be examined are:
- Australia
- Austria
- El Salvador
And the Committee will consider the list of issues to be discussed in the examination of the State Parties reports of:
- Azerbaijan
- Costa Rica
- Sweden
The 64th Session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child is due to take place from 16 September to 4 October 2013 in Geneva. The State Parties reports that will be examined are:
- China (also Optional Protocol on Children in Armed Conflict-OPAC)
- Kuwait
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Monaco
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Tuvalu
- Moldova (Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children-OPSC)
- Paraguay (Also OPAC and OPSC)
|
|
IN THE MEDIA
|
Poland: Baby on sale -Illegal adoptions in Poland, The Economist, 26th July 2013.
According to the article, there are roughly 2,000 illegal adoptions in Poland every year, though no official data exist.
The Polish Foster Care Coalition's official adoption statistics reveal that from the total number of 2,466 adoptions in Poland in 2005, only 678 had been conducted via adoption centers and there is a lack of information on how the other 1,788 adoptions occurred. The author describes the process of these illegal adoptions: a mother publishes an ad in the newspaper, interested potential "clients" create fake e-mail accounts in order to get in touch with the "seller" of the baby, they strike a deal and the prospective parents of the sold child pay for the pregnant woman's accommodation, food, clothes and medical services. Once the baby is born, the biological mother will declare to the civil registry office that her "patron" is the biological father of the baby and will relinquish custody to her child through a court process.
Marek Michalak, commissioner for children's rights, has expressed his concern about these "underground adoptions" to the Ministry of Justice but they have been unresponsive, claiming that the statistics provided by the Polish Foster Care Coalition were unreliable as they do not account for adoptions that take place within families. However, cases of these illegal adoptions make frequent news headlines in Poland. Beata Dołęgowska, chairman of Child-Adoption-Family, attributes the high occurrence of illegal adoptions to the social welfare system which does not provide enough economic support to families living in poverty, thus creating an impetus for mothers to "sell" their babies. Furthermore, couples seeking to adopt will often opt for these illegal adoptions because of the lengthy timeframe for legal adoptions, which typically take about two to three years. In order to address this issue, Mr Michalak is calling for a reform of the adoption law which would bar biological mothers from appointing anyone but a relative as a foster parent for their babies.
To read the full article, please use the following link:
http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details_news.asp?id=31627&themeID=1002&topicID=1014
UK/Cambodia: Orphanage volunteering 'part of the problem', The Telegraph, 30th July 2013.
A UK firm that hosts "ethically-minded" tours has recently dropped 10 itineraries from the tours it offers due to "ethical reasons," according to the article. These tours, which offered participants opportunities to volunteer in orphanages, are being shut down because the firm believes that "orphanage volunteers, despite their best intentions, are part of the problem rather than the solution for children living in poverty throughout the world," according to the firm's marketing assistant. Despite overwhelming evidence of the detrimental effects of institutionalization on children, says the author, the number of orphanages has increased in many regions. These increases have often occurred alongside booms in tourism which suggests that "well-meaning" volunteers may be contributing to the problem, rather than encouraging the search for alternative solutions. The article points out that Siem Reap, Cambodia, gateway to Angkor Wat and a town with a population of only 100,000, now has 35 orphanages. The practices of many of these orphanages are also often troubling. One orphanage in Cambodia reportedly parades its children through the streets at night holding placards reading "help our orphans." Throughout the developing world, it has been uncovered that many children who are placed in orphanages have at least one living parent and that the orphanages they are placed in are often reliant on overseas donors and tourist funding. The article suggests that, rather than providing much help to children, orphanage volunteers are often perpetuating a "never-ending cycle of abandonment."
To read the full article, please use the following link:
http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details_news.asp?id=31628&themeID=1003&topicID=1023
More information about the situation of orphanages in Cambodia and efforts to address the impact of tourism on the growth of residential care, is available on a website set up by a group of people living and working in Cambodia. To access that information, please visit: http://www.orphanages.no
Pakistan: Abandoned babies given away on Pakistani TV programme, BBC News, 1 August 2013.
Two baby girls were given over to new adoptive parents live on a television program in Pakistan. The program, "Amaan Ramzan," airs during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and its host is known to give away prizes such as cars, motorbikes, household electronics and, now, babies. The host claims that the babies were not given away as a ploy for ratings, but to unite children in need of a home with new parents looking to welcome them. According to the article, the two infants were found abandoned in the city of Karachi and were taken in by a local charity. The adoptive parents were vetted by a private charity prior to the show's airing, in a process that took less than two weeks (a typical timeframe for adoptions in the area). But child welfare agencies in the region worry about maintaining confidentiality when adoptions occur in front of such a wide audience. Furthermore, some child welfare advocates are taking issue with the manner in which the girls were given to their adoptive parents. "The baby was given like a car, laptop, or motorcycle. It's an insult to the baby and the parents. It should have been done quietly," said Seema Jamali, assistant director of child welfare for the Sindh provincial government. The live TV adoption also calls attention to the adoption process in Pakistan. According to the article, the babies were adopted without any state regulation, which is how most children are given new homes because adoption does not exist under Islamic law. Sharjeel Memon, information minister for Sindh, reported to the BBC that he believes it is time to make the adoption process more transparent and to establish a proper legal framework for it.
To read the full article, please visit:
http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details_news.asp?id=31606&themeID=1002&topicID=1014
Global: Children's homes- The nanny state, The Economist, 17th August 2013.
This article reviews trends in the use of institutional care for children and highlights that a global shift away from its use is underway, although considerable challenges remain and some countries continue to "buck the trend". There are a host of reasons that children around the world may be placed in institutions and the institutions may serve different purposes. However, according to this article, there is a commonality: the number of institutions globally is in decline. In Romania, the number of children living in institutions has dropped from more than 32,000 in 2004 to about 9,000 in 2012. In Rwanda, the number of orphanages has declined from over 400 in 2008 to only 33 in 2012 and the government has promised to close them all by 2014. And Georgia has also seen a decline in orphanages. In 2003 it had 41 institutions; now it has three. Additionally, other countries and governments are beginning to look into alternatives to institutionalization. For instance, the US government has pledged to help children worldwide stay within families or family-like care.
The article states that institutional reform is essential for three reasons: (1) the evidence is clear that institutionalization is detrimental to children's development, (2) orphanages often prevent efforts to keep children in family care - up to 90% of children in orphanages have living parents, says Georgette Mulheir of Lumos, a British campaign group - and, (3), institutions are economically costly. The article highlights some of the solutions and alternatives to institutionalization, such as offering more support to families and, for those who truly have no available family or those with severe disabilities, creating smaller group homes of no more than 12 children with long-term staff who provide more individualized care. The article also provides some examples of the challenges to systemic reform. Institutions may be a lucrative business for some who will not want to see them shut down, and offering foster care and adoption as alternatives to orphanages requires governments to properly vet prospective carers and parents. In some countries, these challenges lead to an increase in, or a continued commitment to, institutionalization. However, many more are moving towards deinstitutionalization, which the article argues is a positive step.
To view the full article, please use the following link:
http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details_news.asp?id=31632&themeID=1002&topicID=1017
|
|
EVENTS
|
7th International Foster Care Research Network Meeting - "Foster Care in Europe: What do we know about outcomes and evidence?"
The International Foster Care Research Network, in collaboration with Fondazione Emanuela Zancan Onlus, International Association for Outcome-based Evaluation, and Fondazione Paideia Onlus, and under the patronage of the Municipality of Padova, will be hosting its 7th annual network meeting in Padova, Italy from 9 to 11 September, 2013.
Topics to be discussed during the meeting include: challenges and perspectives of foster care in Italy, reunification, permanence in long-term foster care, meeting the needs of children in foster care with trauma, and more. Participants will have many sessions and workshops to choose from.
For more information on the meeting, and to download the registration form, please use the following link: http://www.bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details_news.asp?ID=31560&themeID=1002&topicID=1013
Relaf Seminar 2013: "Strengthening the advances. Creating tools for the accomplishment of the Right to live in a family and in a community".
A reminder to all that the 2013 Relaf Seminar will take place in Guanajuato, Mexico, from the 3-4th October 2013. There is still place for those wishing to attend!
For more Information, please visit: http://relaf.org/sem2013_en.html
|
|
CONSULTANCY AND JOB POSTINGS |
Save the Children: Programme Manager- Child Protection
Save the Children is currently seeking an experienced Project Manager with specific experience in implementing humanitarian child protection programmes and in applied research in the field. This is an excellent opportunity for the right person to play a pivotal role in the anticipated 'Measuring Separation in Emergencies' project, to be hosted by Save the Children on behalf of Child Protection Working Group.
The project aims to improve the sector's capacity to measure the scale and nature of separation in emergencies through the development of practical, methodologically -sound tools which will enable more successful fundraising, timely evidence-based advocacy, and better informed program design and implementation.
Contact Duration: 18 months
Location: London
Closing Date 1 September 2013
For more information and to apply please visit: https://jobs.savethechildren.org.uk/vacancy/228/description
UNICEF: Consultancy Services to look at the current system actions to prevent violence against children
UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND (UNICEF) in New York is seeking proposals for Consultancy Services for UNICEF to look at the current system actions to prevent violence against children in education and alternative care settings in Cambodia and identify system change actions that will improve it in order to prevent, and respond to, violence in these settings.
The purpose of this RFPS is to conclude a Corporate Contract with the successful proposer(s). UNICEF will enter into a Corporate Contract with the successful proposer(s) who shall provide the required services stated in Annex I under the terms and conditions attached.
For more information on the request for proposal, please visit: https://www.ungm.org/Notices/Item.aspx?Id=26194
The submission deadline is 2 September, 2013 at 10:00am Eastern time (US & Canada)
Coordinator of the Intercountry Adoption Technical Assistance Programme (ICATAP)
The Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) is seeking a Coordinator of the Intercountry Adoption Technical Assistance Programme (ICATAP) for a period of 12 months, full time at The Hague beginning in October or November 2013. He or she will work in the area of Intercountry Adoption and International Child Protection Law and be part of a team, under the direction of the Principal Legal Officer with primary responsibility for the Hague Convention of 29 May 1993 on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption.
Responsibilities include: coordinating the implementation of ICATAP, follow-up of current programmes, updating the priority list of target States, assessing the situation in relation to intercountry adoption in target States, developing action plans, and more. Requirements of the position include: excellent oral communication and diplomacy skills, excellent legal drafting skills, a minimum of three years of legal work experience in or primarily with developing countries in the field of international child protection, experience with organising and providing training and technical assistance to child protection professionals, and a university degree in law. Candidates should also posses excellent command (both spoken and written) of one of the working languages of the Hague Conference (i.e., French or English), preferably as a native language, as well as a very good command of the other. For more information, please visit: http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=vacancies.details&vid=3
Application deadline is 15 September 2013
|
|
GENERAL INFORMATION
| |
The newsletter participants, currently 3,356 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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
