In November, I mentioned my excitement at learning that Eurochild was planning to start a research project to see whether it would be possible to come to definitions of alternative care provisions that would make data comparable across Europe. The reason why this got me so excited, is that when I was doing the research for Alternative Care for Children Around the Globe (which you can download HERE), the main problems I ran into were lack of data gathered on vulnerable children and data not being comparable between – and sometimes even within – countries.
So much has been happening over the past months that I did not get around to mentioning this project. However, it has been launched and I am delighted to have been involved in it from the start. As a Eurochild member with expertise in Children in Alternative Care, I was invited to express my interest in joining the project’s Research Advisory Group at the start of the year.
I did not hesitate to become a part of that group and since March, I have been actively involved in what has been named the DataCare Project (you can find Eurochild’s description of the project HERE). So actively involved in fact, that I have been given the official title of technical advisor and technical editor, within the Research Advisory Group, working closely with Maria Herczog, who is the chief scientific advisor.
Trying to map the data collection and management systems of 28 countries is a daunting and complicated project. However, I think it has the potential to really increase our insight into what data is being collected on children in alternative care in different countries, and how. That knowledge can provide the examples needed to start a discussion on how certain changes to the current way of data collection might be beneficial to relevant governments. As well as being able to show how this could be done, by pointing out promising practices identified by the research. And in the longer run, if positive changes are achieved in EU countries, this may encourage regions outside the EU to consider doing something similar.
None of this will happen overnight. Right now, the research itself is in its early stages. With the summer drawing to an end, people getting back to work soon and departments working at full capacity again towards the end of the month, we hope to be able to start the data collection phase of the project very soon.
I will do my best to provide updates from time to time, though as always I have many things on the go at once. So it will probably be a few months before you hear more about the DataCare Project in these blogs.
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