Mandated Rapid Return of Children

In a previous blog (HERE), I have mentioned the fact that pandemic restrictions have led to some countries requiring children in institutions to be sent home with little or no notice. Recently, the journal Child Abuse and Neglect published an article about research done on children living in institutions who had been rapidly returned to their families due to a government mandate as a result of measures taken to control the spread of Covid-19. The research did a survey on the circumstances of the rapid return of the children and the challenges that were encountered.

67 NGOs, working across 14 countries and involved in the rapid return of 12,494 children responded to the survey. The NGOs were given between one day and three months to prepare children and families for rapid return, and all of them reported that this was not enough time to prepare for a stable transition.

There is a lot of concern about whether families will be able to continue to take care of the children that were rapidly returned to them, as well as about whether the children will be safe in the families. These concerns exist because it had not been possible to ensure that the family had the support and resources needed to be able to take care of the children in many cases, there had been little or no time to provide training, and ongoing monitoring was not always possible. However, all respondents felt that at least some of the families would be able to continue to care for the children safely if they were given appropriate support.

The conclusion of the article was as follows:

“As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, some governments have mandated residential care providers rapidly return children and youth to their families. In many situations, compressed timelines mean proper assessment and preparation for placement change was not possible. Other primary concerns related to the practice included unresolved antecedents to original separation from family, poverty and lack of income generation, and lack of access to education. Due to the risk to child and family wellbeing, this practice is not recommended by the research team. However, when rapid return has already occurred, service providers can support children and
families via inviting their participation in case decisions, providing support to mitigate antecedents to separation, facilitating sustainable economic support, initiating communication, case management and monitoring, and aiding in the process of identifying alternative family solutions if a child’s placement becomes unsafe. As the pandemic evolves and the needs of children and families involved in rapid return become clearer, researchers should prioritize collecting data on long-term outcomes, as well as interventions that support children and families in this situation.”

The full article can be found HERE.

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