http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8404-9033
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ABSTRACT
In response to immense challenges facing children in out-of-home care in all parts of the world, there is a growing international trend towards the development of family-based placements for children in out-of-home care, away from large-scale institutions. This development of family-based care within a range of care options is recommended within the international Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children (the Guidelines), which were welcomed unanimously by the United Nations General Assembly in 2009. This paper offers an overview of these guidelines’ key principles, and considers the complexities that arise in efforts towards their implementation. Drawing on the literature, supported by research that informed Moving forward (the implementation handbook on the Guidelines) and illustrated by practice examples from across global regions, the authors examine three fundamental challenges in States’ efforts to implement the Guidelines’ ‘suitability’ principle, namely: de-institutionalising the care system; financing suitable family-based care and supporting the suitability of kinship care. The paper critically reflects on de-institutionalised systems and practices, and the cross-cultural assumptions about suitable foster and kinship care that emerge in efforts towards de-institutionalisation; it aims to spark new thinking on strategic ways in which alternative care is planned and delivered, to impact on future practice.
RÉSUMÉ
Face aux énormes défis auxquels sont confrontés, partout dans le monde, les enfants pris en charge en dehors du foyer parental, il est de plus en plus admis, au niveau international, qu’il faut privilégier leur placement dans un cadre familial à celui dans une grande institution. Le poids à donner au développement d’environnements familiaux parmi l’éventail des options de prise en charge est mis en exergue dans les Lignes directrices relatives à la protection de remplacement pour les enfants (les Lignes directrices), approuvées par l’Assemblée générale des Nations Unies en 2009. Dans cet article, nous passons en revue les principes-clé de ces Lignes directrices et analysons la complexité de leur mise en œuvre. L’étude se base sur les travaux publiés, les recherches qui ont alimenté le manuel ‘En marche vers la mise en œuvre des Lignes directrices’, et des exemples d’initiatives concrètes sur tous les continents. Les auteurs examinent trois défis fondamentaux qui se posent aux Etats qui souhaitent respecter le ‘principe du caractère approprié’ des mesures de prise en charge, tel que prôné par les Lignes directrices: la désinstitutionalisation du système de prise en charge; le financement d’une prise en charge adéquate en milieu familial; le soutien à la prise en charge informelle dans la famille élargie. Ce travail analyse de façon critique les systèmes désinstitutionalisés et les pratiques associées, ainsi que les suppositions transculturelles au sujet de la prise en charge dans une famille d’accueil ou au sein de la famille élargie, qui sous-tendent maintes initiatives visant à promouvoir la désinstitutionalisation. L’objectif est de stimuler une réflexion innovatrice sur les stratégies à adopter dans la planification et la mise en œuvre de la protection de remplacement pour les enfants, afin d’influer sur l’évolution des pratiques en la matière.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
Jennifer C. Davidson is Director of the University of Strathclyde’s Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children (CELCIS), a research and policy implementation centre promoting better quality public care experiences for all children at risk/ in need of alternative care. At the heart of her work is the relationship between children’s rights discourse and children’s lived experiences, and the mechanisms to achieve sustainable change from international rights to national practice in children’s services. Jennifer’s experience spans Canada, the United States and the UK, where she has held leadership positions and served on national and international committees related to children’s services; she was the Director of the Moving forward project.
Ian Milligan has written extensively on alternative care, and acted as a consultant to the Scottish and UK governments. In recent years he has led the CELCIS international work, contributing to Moving forward, the implementation handbook on the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children, and leading or, coordinating, service evaluations, knowledge exchange and training projects in Turkey, Budapest (ChildHub), Kosovo, Albania and recently Tajikistan. In recent years he has continued to publish academic papers and reports and addressed UNICEF regional conferences in Tbilisi, Kiev and Sarajevo and contributed to national social services conference in Arad, Romania and Istanbul.
Neil Quinn is Reader in Social Work and Social Policy and Co-Director of the University’s Centre for Health Policy. He has a specific expertise in social work, health and human rights and his work focuses on migration, mental health, homelessness and looked after children. He is leading a national research programme on the right to health for marginalised groups, part of the Scottish National Action Plan (SNAP) human rights group on health and social care, an advisor to the World Health Organisation on mental health rights and co-author of the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children handbook.
Nigel Cantwell is a Geneva-based international consultant on child protection policies who has been working on the human rights of children for over 35 years with international NGOs and UNICEF, including as head of the ‘Implementation of International Standards’ unit at UNICEF’s Innocenti Research Centre in Florence, 1998–2003. Focusing increasingly on safeguarding children’s rights in inter-country adoption and alternative care, he has carried out numerous field assessments of adoption and alternative care systems worldwide. He played a lead role in developing and drafting the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children and was the Lead Consultant for the Moving forward project.
Susan Elsley is director of her own research, policy and development agency focusing on children’s rights and well-being. She is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at CELCIS at the University of Strathclyde and is a co-author of Moving forward – Implementing the guidelines for the alternative care of children.