The Covid-19 pandemic has had an enormous effect on the efforts to deinstitutionalise alternative care in many countries. The interesting thing is that there have been two main effects, pulling in opposite directions. There does not seem to be a lot of middle ground at the moment.
Continue reading “Deinstitutionalisation During the Pandemic”Tag: #communityservices
Post-Pandemic Child Poverty
It is known that the current Covid-19 pandemic – in combination with the measures taken to mitigate the dangers – has very serious economic consequences, all across the world. We are expected to emerge from the pandemic into an economic recession that is worse than anything seen since the Second World War and that may even rival the situation in the 1930s. There will be widespread job losses, as well as loss of income in other ways. This situation is predicted to push millions more people – including families with children – below the poverty line. And many of those already living below the poverty line below the extreme poverty line.
Continue reading “Post-Pandemic Child Poverty”Childonomics for Recovery
In March, I wrote a blog about my discovery of Childonomics (HERE) and the potential that I see in it. When I started to think about the ways in which we need to prepare for the recovery period after the pandemic, the Childonomics methodology sprang to mind almost immediately. In a situation with which everyone is unfamiliar, where no one has a clear idea of what is needed or what would be the best road to take, Childonomics can really provide a tool to help make informed policy decisions.
Continue reading “Childonomics for Recovery”Systemic Racism and Alternative Care
Since the end of May, a spotlight has been put on how far the issues of racial inequality reach, in a way that makes it impossible to ignore anymore. However, while this spotlight and the reaction to it – all over the world – is unprecedented, the problem is not new. And the effects of racial inequality are not limited to police violence. All over the world people of minority racial and ethnic backgrounds – as well as people living in poverty – are marginalised. Anything that might help them succeed or move ahead is placed (almost) beyond their reach and then they are blamed for the situation they find themselves in. This has far-reaching consequences.
Continue reading “Systemic Racism and Alternative Care”Model for Setting Up Alternative Care System: Identifying Those at Risk
Part 19 of the explanation with the ToC: Once there are no more children in institutions, that too is not the end of the work to be done. Family-based alternative care and family strengthening do not just serve to absorb children who previously lived in institutions. These systems are in place to provide support and protection to the most vulnerable families and children in society.
Continue reading “Model for Setting Up Alternative Care System: Identifying Those at Risk”Model for Setting Up Alternative Care System: Designing Services
Part 13 of the explanation with the ToC: Using the information gathered during the initial data collection and the individual assessments of children and their family, it is possible to get an overview of what services are needed, for how many people in what locations, whether these services are already available, whether organisations are operating in the relevant locations that might be willing and able to set up and run services there for ‘your’ children to use, whether you need to provide these organisations with support to do so (and if so, what kind of support), or whether you can build on existing services yourself; and what services are needed and not present in any form, and so need to be set up from scratch, by you.
Continue reading “Model for Setting Up Alternative Care System: Designing Services”Practical Model for Implementing UN Guidelines
In February, I announced that I was developing a Theory of Change model to given an overview of the practical stages involved in implementing the UN Guidelines on Alternative Care for Children. This is applicable both for places wanting to move from institutional to family-based care or for those who are just trying to set up family-based care and family strengthening. Today I would like to present the model I came up with.
Continue reading “Practical Model for Implementing UN Guidelines”Own Family, Foster Family, Group Home
When you are moving towards family-based alternative care, the above should be your priority of ranking for placement of children. Individual assessment has to be done for every child to determine what is best in her case. However, through the whole process the thought needs to be: is there any way to return the child to her family safely, if not, can she be placed in foster care, if not, is she better off in a small group home or in a supported living placement (depending on her age and ability). In that order.
Continue reading “Own Family, Foster Family, Group Home”Arranging Services
Having spent some time, recently, looking at the need for individual assessment and how to go about it, it seems useful to address another step in the process of deinstitutionalisation, namely that of mapping and setting up services. In order for children to move from an institution into the community – whether this is to go live with their parents again, to be placed in a foster family or small group home, or to enter supported living – they are going to require the support of a range of services. This means that these services have to be present before the child is moved.
Continue reading “Arranging Services”Deinstitutionalisation Is Still Relevant in All of Europe
When people talk about the need for deinstitutionalisation, it is usually discussed as something that needs to happen ‘over there’, in ‘less developed’ countries. This creates the impression that in Western Europe, North America, and Australia and New Zealand institutionalisation is a thing of the distant past, but that is not actually true. In some places what is happening is less easily recognisable as institutionalisation because of different terminology or other cosmetic changes, while in other places institutionalisation still continues quite blatantly.
Continue reading “Deinstitutionalisation Is Still Relevant in All of Europe”