Alternative Care Mechanisms in Jharkhand: Analysing the Implementation Barriers; Its Potential to Prevent Family Separation and Strengthening Family-based Care of Vulnerable Children in Jharkhand

2021 ◽  
pp. 234930032110211
Author(s):  
Sumantra Mukherjee ◽  
Subhadeep Adhikary ◽  
Neepa Basu
Keyword(s):  
Foster Care ◽  
Institutional Care ◽  
Care Program ◽  
The State ◽  
Implementation Barriers ◽  
Current Form ◽  
Family Separation ◽  
Alternative Care ◽  
Care Guidelines ◽  
Family Based

The required operational framework of a community-based care mechanism as envisaged under the Revised Integrated Child Protection Scheme and the National Plan of Action for Children 2016, fails to both prevent and effectively respond to the vulnerabilities of children in need of care and protection. Resonance of such unplanned community programming shifts the focus towards institutionalisation of children, thus grossly violating ‘institutionalization as a measure of last resort’, one of the fundamental principles governing the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015. The act critically justifies the need to empower vulnerable families to care for children and re-emphasises the preventive role in ensuring family-based care or keep children in alternative care setting. The alternative care (sponsorship and foster care) guidelines in Jharkhand was launched in 2018. Since then, it has been found that the state is struggling to implement it. Though there has been some progress in the sponsorship scheme implementation, the kinship and foster care remains completely neglected. Child in Need Institute (CINI) is partnering with Hope & Homes for Children (HHC) since 2017 for pushing the agenda for deinstitutionalisation of children through a two-pronged approach of model creation and district-level technical support to the ICPS system. Working closely in the communities in preventing family separation, led to the understanding that there is a huge need to address the structural gaps for implementing the alternative care guidelines in true spirit. The purpose of the article is to do a systematic analysis of the implementation of the alternative care guidelines in the state and map out the implementation bottlenecks/barriers (systemic, structural and operational), hindering its smooth implementation. Besides that, the article will also try to establish a causal linkage between implementation of alternative care guidelines and dependency on institutional care, thus reflecting the potential of such mechanisms in promoting deinstitutionalisation. The research methodology will be a mix of qualitative and quantitative tools. Tools like content analysis of the key informants’ interviews and case studies will be used to understand the implementation barriers. A quantitative analysis of the secondary data on sponsorship scheme implementation will be done to analyse the gaps. Besides that, the experiences of children and their parents who have been linked with alternative care will also be analysed. District stakeholder consultations in 2 districts will be done to enlist the recommendations for the state. Thus, the key research question that would guide this article are: (a) What are the barriers to implementation of the alternative care program in its current form? and (b) What are the changes that should be made in the guidelines and its implementation process? The article will thus be an advocacy tool for influencing the state government for enhanced priority and investments in alternative care program and reduced focus on institutional care.

scholarly journals Is the deinstitutionalisation of alternative care a ‘wicked problem’? A qualitative study exploring the perceptions of child welfare practitioners and policy actors in Thailand

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (5) ◽  
pp. 626-639 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin M Rogers ◽  
Victor Karunan
Keyword(s):  
Foster Care ◽  
Child Welfare ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Cultural Barriers ◽  
Wicked Problem ◽  
Alternative Care ◽  
Policy Actors ◽  
Policy Problem ◽  
Policy Challenge ◽  
Family Based

This study examined deinstitutionalisation in Thailand. Qualitative interviews were conducted with a total of 27 child welfare practitioners and policy actors to explore their perceptions of Thai alternative care provision. Findings show that participants perceive deinstitutionalisation as a complex policy challenge. Some felt that the institutions were necessary in order to meet demand, while others felt that cultural barriers prevent a shift to family-based approaches, such as foster care. However, data suggest that it would be difficult to characterise deinstitutionalisation as a ‘wicked policy problem’ as participants were hopeful for change, citing increased family- strengthening policies alongside efforts to implement foster care.

“The right of the state to interfere is unquestioned”

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Birk
Keyword(s):  
Child Care ◽  
Foster Care ◽  
Institutional Care ◽  
The State ◽  
Dependent Child ◽  
Dependent Children ◽  
The Right

This chapter examines efforts to remedy the problems with farm placements. It looks at the state boards of charity, visiting agents, and courts as examples of methods used to improve placing out. As the state boards worked to legitimize their expertise and county officials tried to improve the care given to dependent children, work remained to standardize care and encourage placements. State boards recommended a second initiative in addition to better oversight of institutional care to secure more placement homes and supervision for children: hiring state visiting agents to supervise placed-out children. This chapter explores how the two-pronged issue of mistreatment of children in placement homes and the resulting efforts to increase supervision ultimately forced placers and visitors to make a number of proposals, including a return of direct aid and more involvement by the courts. It also considers the rise in paid foster care and how it affected all facets of dependent child care.

Home Thrive ScaleTM: Case Management Tool Towards Preventing Family Separation and Ensuring Children Thrive in Family-based and Alternative Care Options

2021 ◽  
pp. 234930032110424
Author(s):  
Audria Choudhury
Keyword(s):  
Case Management ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Family Separation ◽  
Alternative Care ◽  
Complex Process ◽  
Family Based ◽  
Set Up

Case management can be a complex process where multiple factors must be considered for the safety and well-being of a child in any care option. Miracle Foundation’s proprietary Home Thrive ScaleTM is a strengths-based assessment tool that makes it easier to identify strengths, risks and address areas of support within a family home over time. A home’s safety is measured based on five well-being domains—family and social relations, health and mental health, education, living conditions and household economy—with the child and family’s thoughts at the core. Intervention options are then offered to put assessments into action. The tool serves to both prevent family breakdowns and reintegrate children from institutions back into families (or other family-based or alternative care options). Here, we provide an overview of the tool, including its purpose, set-up and functionality within a case management system. The use of the tool is illustrated with the COVID-19 situation in India where masses of children were rapidly placed from institutions back into families without preparation.

scholarly journals An empirical assessment of the Healthy Early Childhood Program in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Felipe Garcia Ribeiro ◽  
Gisele Braun ◽  
André Carraro ◽  
Gibran da Silva Teixeira ◽  
Denise Petrucci Gigante
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Rio Grande ◽  
Care Program ◽  
The State ◽  
Early Childhood Program ◽  
Rio Grande Do Sul ◽  
Childhood Program ◽  
External Causes ◽  
Family Based ◽  
Evidence Of Impact

Abstract: We investigate the effect of a family-based primary health care program (Healthly Early Childhood Program) on infant mortality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. We estimate infant mortality’s counterfactual trajectories using the differences-in-differences approach, combined with the use of longitudinal data for all municipalities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Our main result is that the program reduced the number of deaths caused by external causes. The length of exposure to the program seems to potentiate the effects. For the number of deaths by general causes, there is no evidence of impact. Our findings are consistent with the nature of the program that aims to improve adults care with children. The Healthly Early Childhood Program is effective in reducing the number of avoidable deaths in infants.

scholarly journals “Je denkt altijd dat het jou niet zal overkomen…” : Het belang van biologische ouders in pleegzorg

Pedagogiek ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-190
Author(s):  
Lieselot De Wilde
Keyword(s):  
Foster Care ◽  
Foster Children ◽  
Institutional Care ◽  
The State ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Family Preservation ◽  
Biological Parents

Abstract “You always think it won’t happen to you…” The importance of biological parents in foster careEuropean societies still struggle with the question of how to deal best with, and organise care for, those children who for various reasons need to be placed out of their home. Foster care is currently preferred over institutional care when children are in the care of the state. This evolution towards a manifest choice for foster care is defended as being more in ‘the best interests of the child’. During the last decades a shift towards a child’s perspective away from a family-preservation perspective is noticeable. However, we do not know what this shift means for biological parents of foster children. We therefore examine whether the attention to the needs of children is at the expense of the rights and identity of the biological parents. Does strengthening the rights of one party entail a curtailment of rights for another party? Or can we possibly reconcile various interests?

Policy implications for young people leaving care in China

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoyuan Shang ◽  
Karen R. Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Institutional Care ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
State Control ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Alternative Care ◽  
Family Based

This chapter reviews how the Chinese and international communities are sharing understanding about good practice in alternative care while children are growing up, particularly by prioritizing long-term family-based support. They are also changing alternative care practices to support children during their childhood and as they reach young adulthood, so that they are prepared emotionally and practically to live independently as adults in the same ways as their peers, away from state control. The chapter also looks at the policy and practice changes in China for the generation of young people who grew up in state care over the last 20 years, when alternative care was beginning to shift away from institutional care and recognize the rights of children and young people to an inclusive childhood and adulthood.

The LPI as an Effective Ground-level Strategy for the Deinstitutionalisation and Quality Alternative Care of Children

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-182
Author(s):  
G. A. Wasana Sudesh
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Institutional Care ◽  
Change Agents ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Effective Strategy ◽  
Alternative Care ◽  
Success Stories ◽  
The Government ◽  
Family Based

Deinstitutionalisation and quality alternative care is a topic that is widely discussed in search of policies, strategies and good practices. This issue affects all children directly or indirectly. It is very pertinent to the South Asia region. Children who are in institutional care require deinstitutionalisation process that involves both prevention and a range of alternative care options that are community-based, family-based or family-like care. The Local Process Initiative (LPI), which was implemented in the Devinuwara Divisional Secretariat Division (DSD) in the Matara District of Sri Lanka, is an effective strategy that demonstrates deinstitutionalisation and quality alternative care. SOS Children’s Villages of Sri Lanka in seven locations including Devinuwara DSD since 2017 have carried out the LPI process successfully. It has generated positive outcomes especially in terms of strengthening the ground-level state mechanism for deinstitutionalisation and alternative care for children. The divisional secretary is the lead person in the ‘locational circle’ formed in this process, which composes of a range of field-level government officers involved in childcare and community development as they are the first point of contact for issues related to children and families. The government officers are considered the ‘change agents’, and their empowerment is at the centre of the LPI strategy and its success. From the LPI process in the Devinuwara DSD, it is expected to develop a model to avoid family separation. In here, it is expected to develop a ground-level deinstitutionalisation and a quality alternative care strategy which incorporate solutions from biological, psychological and sociological perspectives to build confidence of stakeholders on deinstitutionalisation and quality alternative care for children, and document evidence including success stories in order to support deinstitutionalisation and quality alternative care of children. This article offers an LPI process in the Devinuwara DSD as an effective strategy for the deinstitutionalisation and quality alternative care of children in South Asia.

scholarly journals Developing family-based care: complexities in implementing the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 754-769 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer C. Davidson ◽  
Ian Milligan ◽  
Neil Quinn ◽  
Nigel Cantwell ◽  
Susan Elsley
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Care ◽  
Family Based

scholarly journals US Immigration Policy and the Case for Family Unity

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 417-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoya Gubernskaya ◽  
Joanna Dreby
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Family Separation ◽  
The Us ◽  
Family Based ◽  
Mixed Status Families ◽  
Mixed Status ◽  
Family Unity

As the Trump administration contemplates immigration reform, it is important to better understand what works and what does not in the current system. This paper reviews and critically evaluates the principle of family unity, a hallmark of US immigration policy over the past 50 years and the most important mechanism for immigration to the United States. Since 1965, the United States has been admitting a relatively high proportion of family-based migrants and allowing for the immigration of a broader range of family members. However, restrictive annual quotas have resulted in a long line of prospective immigrants waiting outside of the United States or within the United States, but without status. Further policy changes have led to an increasing number of undocumented migrants and mixed-status families in the United States. Several policies and practices contribute to prolonged periods of family separation by restricting travel and effectively locking in a large number of people either inside or outside of the United States. On top of that, increasingly aggressive enforcement practices undermine family unity of a large number of undocumented and mixed-status families. Deportations — and even a fear of deportation —cause severe psychological distress and often leave US-born children of undocumented parents without economic and social support. A recent comprehensive report concluded that immigration has overall positive impact on the US economy, suggesting that a predominantly family-based migration system carries net economic benefits. Immigrants rely on family networks for employment, housing, transportation, informal financial services, schooling, childcare, and old age care. In the US context where there is nearly no federal support for immigrants' integration and limited welfare policies, family unity is critical for promoting immigrant integration, social and economic well-being, and intergenerational mobility. Given the benefits of family unity in the US immigrant context and the significant negative consequences of family separation, the United States would do well to make a number of changes to current policy and practice that reaffirm its commitment to family unity. Reducing wait times for family reunification with spouses and children of lawful permanent residents, allowing prospective family-based migrants to visit their relatives in the United States while their applications are being processed, and providing relief from deportation and a path to legalization to parents and spouses of US citizens should be prioritized. The cost to implement these measures would likely be minor compared to current and projected spending on immigration enforcement and it would be more than offset by the improved health and well-being of American families.

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