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In this edition of the newsletter, BCN highlights recent research, tools and policy briefs relevant
to children's care.
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"I was playing outside, and suddenly I saw everyone running and buildings falling down. I was so scared, and my mother came and picked me up."
- Aaram Sai, age 7, from "Nepal earthquake: Strangers wanted her little boys"
"'I didn't know who they were and why they wanted to take care of my sons,' Kanchi says. She said that the strangers offered to adopt her boys, Aaram Sai, 7, and Sri Krishna, 11. 'I said, no! I don't want to live separate from my sons. I don't know if they approached any more families here.'"
- Kanchi, mother, from "Nepal earthquake: Strangers wanted her little boys"
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BETTER VOLUNTEERING, BETTER CARE
RESPONSE TO THE RECENT EARTHQUAKES IN NEPAL
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At 11:56 a.m. on April 25, 2015, Nepal was hit by a massive earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale. The number of dead has been estimated at over 8,000. A second quake measuring 7.3 caused further casualties and has left those trying to rebuild their lives even more scared and vulnerable.
For partners in Nepal working with children, the concern is not only for the immediate safety and physical wellbeing of children affected by the tragedy, but also their chronic vulnerability at such times. Next Generation Nepal released a statement of their concerns that the current situation would accelerate the trend of institutionalization and family separation - supported by those from other countries donating to orphanages, and potentially arriving in the coming months to volunteer.
Members of the Better Volunteering, Better Care Global Working Group have been active in trying to spread awareness of this issue in the media, the volunteer travel sectors, and other areas where they have influence. We have collected an overview of some of the coverage below. We encourage any readers who are in a position to support this message through their own networks to do so. Please email [email protected] for more information, connections, or resources.
UNICEF Nepal has produced a "What you should know" FAQ sheet on orphanage volunteering in Nepal which can be used to encourage people not to donate to orphanages in Nepal.
Next Generation Nepal (NGN) is providing regular updates about their work on the ground with vulnerable children, and have produced a press release about the situation, "Post-Earthquake, NGN Focuses on New Anti-Trafficking Effort," that can be referenced in any advocacy material. You can also listen to the episode of BBC Newshour, " Obstacles to Nepal relief effort," which includes an interview with Martin Punaks from NGN talking about the situation.
In a blog post entitled "Nepal earthquake could lead to a rise in institutional care," Family for Every Child highlights how the earthquake could see a rise in institutional care and calls for anyone supporting the situation in Nepal to prioritise families, not orphanages in relief efforts.
Eric Hartman from Globalsl.org - who strives to encourage positive international service practice in universities in the USA - has highlighted the efforts of actors in Nepal to discourage post-quake volunteering with vulnerable children, and also gives some guidelines for prospective volunteers on how to choose responsibly when it comes to selecting a volunteer placement. Read his blog post, "Global Development Professionals' Advice: Don't Serve with Children in Nepal."
Claire Bennett from Learning Service, who lives and works in Nepal, has been generating a great deal of interest and debate with two impassioned pieces on responding to the disaster and supporting vulnerable children. Read her piece about donating to orphanages here. Read her piece about volunteering in Nepal here.
Other media coverage includes:
Nepal's Children at Risk as the Sharks Circle Orphans after the Quake
The Australian, 9 May 2015
Nepal Earthquake: Further Crisis For Children
Friends International, 6 May 2015
Want to help the children of Nepal? Don't fuel the orphanage industry
London School of Economics, 5 May 2015
Nepal earthquake: Strangers wanted her little boys
World Vision, 2 May 2015
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SAVE THE CHILDREN AFRICA-WIDE PROGRAM LEARNING EVENT ON CHILDREN WITHOUT APPROPRIATE CARE
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The Government of Ethiopia, civil society and UN agencies joined Save the Children in reviewing progress, sharing insights on best practices, and identifying ways to move forward in promoting community and family-based care for children in Africa.
The stakeholders, including Better Care Network, met at an Africa-wide Program Learning Event organized by Save the Children under the theme, "Shaping our care reform work across Africa," which brought together country, regional and global experts.
The three-day conference, which kicked off on 20th April 2015, built knowledge and skills to achieve Save the Children's global child protection breakthrough 'All children thrive in a safe family environment and no child is placed in harmful institutions'.
Watch the video recap of the event here.
To view the agenda, sessions summary, and highlighted presentations and resources from the event, please click here.
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FOCUS ON CHILDREN AND MIGRATION
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This edition's thematic focus highlights recent research, publications, and updates on the topic of children and migration, particularly as it relates to the care of children.
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This report provides a general background to the demographic makeup of the population of unaccompanied minors who have migrated to Sweden, including an examination of their educational and employment characteristics.
This paper explores the impact of temporary labour migration of parent(s) on school attendance of children between 6-14 years and their dropping out from school through an analysis of cases from both ends of the migration stream in India - children accompanying their migrant parents and children left behind.
This report examines the policy challenge in the United States of balancing protection of children with enforcement of immigration law in the recent unaccompanied child migration "crisis" in the US.
This paper provides an overview of the violence perpetrated by gangs and other criminal organizations in Mexico and Central America which compels many children to flee their communities. The paper also describes the US government's obligations to protect unaccompanied children upon arrival, and good practices of other governments relating to the protection of child migrants and refugees.
This report is aimed at synthesizing key concepts and standards regarding the protection of the rights of migrant children and adolescents in the Northern Triangle of Central America.
This rapid evaluation, conducted by RELAF in partnership with Save the Children and UNICEF, looks into public policies and services developed by governmental and non-governmental institutions to tackle the problematic issues that affect migrant children and their families in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico.
This article from the Migration Policy Institute examines the impact of labor migration on children who are left behind in Moldova and Ukraine, from an economic and social lens, and with particular attention to gendered implications.
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Understanding the Situation
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Attachment & Hope of Institutionalized and Reunified Children in Ghana
This poster provides a brief overview of research conducted in Ghana to examine how institutionalized children's hope for the future may be impacted by perceived social attachments.
Growth and Development among Children Living In Orphanages of Odisha, an Eastern Indian State
This study was aimed at assessing growth and developmental outcomes of children living in orphanages in Odisha, India aged birth to 72 months and to make recommendations for "possible remedial measures" for addressing poor growth and developmental outcomes for children in institutions.
The Effects of Relatedness, Age and Orphan Status on Child Discipline
This one-page presentation outlines the research questions, data, methods, results, literature review, discussion and implications of a study that looked at the effects of a child's relationship to head of household, age, and orphan status on the severity of discipline they receive in Ghana, Iraq, Costa Rica, Vietnam, and Ukraine.
Public Perceptions, Beliefs and Experiences of Fostering and Adoption: A National Qualitative Study in South Africa
This qualitative research explored perceptions, beliefs, and experiences of adoption and fostering among a national sample of childless adults, biological parents, kin and non-kin fostering parents and prospective and successful adopters in South Africa.
Towards a Theory of Upbringing in Foster Care in Europe
This article reports on a preliminary exploration of fostering across 11 European countries, reflecting different care and education traditions.
A Closer Look: Informal Child Care Arrangements and Support in California
This brief from Mathematica Policy Research presents findings from the Informal Caregivers Research Project on informal caregivers' and parents' networks in the US. The research focuses on child care arrangements and sources of support and information related to caregiving.
This paper investigates how enhanced support for foster parents may reduce the number of replacements experienced by children in foster care and the extent to which replacements are associated with family (kin) vs. non-family foster parents in Norway.
This study explored the recurrent nature of child abuse and trafficking in Nigeria occurring in places the media has termed 'baby factories.' The paper aims to provide guidance on preventative approaches, using counselling as a tool.
This study examines the relationship between economic resources, psychosocial well-being, and educational preferences of AIDS-orphaned children in southern Uganda.
In this executive summary, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada provides an introduction to the use of residential schools for aboriginal children in Canada, presents an overview of the Commission's activities, describes the history and legacy of these residential schools, and outlines the challenges of reconciliation, including 94 recommendations, or "calls to action" for reconciliation in the field of Child Welfare among many others.
A Sense of Belonging: Understanding and improving informal alternative care mechanisms to increase the care and protection of children, with a focus on Kinship Care in East Africa
This report presents research conducted by Save the Children in East Africa. The aim of this research was to build knowledge on endogenous care practices within families and communities, especially informal kinship care, in order to increase the care and protection of children. The research on kinship care was implemented in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Zanzibar.
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A Child's Right to a Family: Deinstitutionalization of Child Welfare in Russia as Ideology and Practice
This paper, presented at the XVI April International Academic Conference on Economic and Social Development in Moscow on 8 April 2015, outlines a research project analyzing ongoing foster care reform in Russia in the context of the country's new family policies.
USAID/DCOF - Three Country Child Care Reform Exchange Workshop Report
USAID, through its Displaced Children and Orphans Fund (DCOF), supported a sub-regional workshop held in Kigali, Rwanda on March 23-26, 2015 designed to provide opportunities for exchange and to develop connections among personnel of the five care reform projects of USAID/DCOF in Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda, as well as representatives of the three governments.
Manifesto For Ethical Intercountry Adoption
The International Social Service (ISS) has launched its Manifesto For Ethical Intercountry Adoption. The Manifesto seeks to promote ethical practices by all adoption stakeholders to better protect children, whether in the receiving country or country of origin, including inter alia, biological parents, adoptive parents, professionals and government representatives.
This brief from the Future of Children Journal, a collaboration of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and the Brookings Institution, outlines the current state of the Child Welfare System in the United States, particularly federal funding to individual states' child welfare systems and how flexible funding can improve foster care services.
This downloadable children's book, accompanied by a caregiver guide, is written for the children affected by the Ebola crisis, their caregivers and communities. The children's book addresses the themes of fear of Ebola helpers, how to prevent infection, and how to navigate death and grief, stigma and discrimination.
"I'm Just Like You!" How to Talk with Children About Ebola
This caregiver guide, which accompanies an illustrated children's book, is written for the caregivers of children affected by the Ebola crisis and provides tips for talking to children about Ebola.
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This report summarizes the discussions and activities held at Eurochild's 11th Annual Conference, co-hosted by Hope and Homes for Children in Bucharest, Romania on 26-28 November 2014. The event, which focused on "better public spending for better outcomes for children and families," brought together representatives from civil society and government as well as researchers, other professionals, and young people themselves from 36 countries in Europe.
Grandfamilies: The Contemporary Journal of Research, Practice, and Policy Volume 2, Issue 1
This issue of GrandFamilies: The Contemporary Journal of Research, Practice and Policy includes several articles related to kinship care in the United States.
This protocol describes an ambitious experimental evaluation of a universal group-based parenting support program, the Family Startup Program (FSP), currently implemented large scale in Denmark; an evaluation that has not yet been made either in Denmark or internationally. The program is designed to support at-risk families and prevent separation.
This article examines an alternative approach to child protection which consists of community-driven, bottom-up work that enables nonformal-formal collaboration and alignment, greater use of formal services, internally driven social change, and high levels of community ownership. The article offers a case example of a community-driven program in Sierra Leone.
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In this issue, we highlight the care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities at its 13th Session held from 25 March - 13 April 2015, with a particular focus on sections addressing children's care.
Click below to read the Country Care Reviews for the following countries:
Cook Islands
Croatia
Czech Republic
Dominican Republic
Germany
Mongolia
Turkmenistan
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BBC World Service, 10 June 2015
Bangalore Mirror, 6 June 2015
The Phnom Penh Post, 2 June 2015
The World Post, 15 May 2015
NPR, 11 May 2015
Times of India, 7 May 2015
SOS Children's Villages Canada, 30 April 2015
Pune Mirror, 7 April 2015
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22-24 June 2015, Arlington, VA, USA
2-4 September 2015, Cape Town, South Africa
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JOB POSTINGS & CONSULTANCY OPPORTUNITIES
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