1 / 19

Better Care Network: Convener, Partner and Knowledge Broker

Better Care Network: Convener, Partner and Knowledge Broker. Ghazal Keshavarzian BCN Senior Coordinator. Many care placements are avoidable Lack of a range of care options Unwarranted removal Inappropriate decisions on type of care Reliance on inappropriate forms of care

christmas
Download Presentation

Better Care Network: Convener, Partner and Knowledge Broker

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Better Care Network: Convener, Partner and Knowledge Broker Ghazal Keshavarzian BCN Senior Coordinator

  2. Many care placements are avoidable Lack of a range of care options Unwarranted removal Inappropriate decisions on type of care Reliance on inappropriate forms of care Over-use of residential care Inappropriate conditions in residential facilities Inadequacies in foster care systems No care plan for permanency Lack of participatory processes Increasing difficulty to exit care system Lack of preparedness for independent living Lack of support and supervision of care providers Lack of resources and tools… Problems and Concerns about Practice and Policy

  3. Out-of-home care Too many problems Large number of children Very few safeguards Need for support, information sharing, building alternative care community, international standards, increased research and awareness raising

  4. Better Care Network (BCN) • WHAT: An interagency network working on the issue of children without adequate family care. • WHO: BCN Steering Committee, Secretariat, Advisory Group, Listserv Membership • PURPOSE: • To facilitate global information exchange and collaboration • BCN advocates for policy and programmatic action in order to: reduce instances of separation; increase and strengthen family and community based care; establish international standards; and ensure that residential institutions are used as a last resort

  5. Pillars of the Better Care Network BCN Steering Committee Information Exchange Increased Information Exchange, Collaboration and Advocacy for Improved Care for Children without Adequate Parental Care BCN Secretariat Technical Guidance & Research Global Networking & Convening BCN Advisory Group

  6. Information Exchange: Newsletter • BCN Newsletter Bi-monthly email announcements - guidelines, standards, situational assessments, key publications, job postings, events

  7. Information Exchange: BCN website • BCN Website, www.bettercarenetwork.org • Over 800 documents – comprehensive library on care issues • Revamped: forum for dialogue; user friendly • Website Date: January – March 2011 period • 8,527 visitors, 27,370 page views • BCN website used in 161 countries worldwide

  8. Information Exchange: Networking & Technical Exchange • Provide technical guidance and support via e-mail, phone, and in-person queries • Solicit advice of Steering Committee, Advisory Group members and other key experts • BCN Alternative Care Consultant Roster Sharing of information should be two way process

  9. Technical Guidance & Research Manual for the Measurement of Indicators for Children in Formal Care (BCN/UNICEF) • 15 global indicators for children in formal care (institutional care/foster care) • 4 core indicators: • Children entering formal care • Children living in formal care • Children leaving residential care for a family placement • Ratio of children in residential vs. family based care

  10. Technical Guidance & Research • Interagency Task Team (IATT) on Children Affected by AIDS: • (1) Expanding Social Protection for Vulnerable Children and Families: Learning from an Institutional Perspective; (2) Social Protection for Children in the Context of HIV/AIDS: Moving Towards a More Integrated Vision. • BCN Working Paper Series • Risk of Harm to Young Children in Institutional Care (2009) • Families, Not Orphanages (2010) • Cost Effectiveness of Family-Based Care (2011) • Children with Disabilities and Alternative Care (2011) • Continuum of Care Series • Set of evidence-based briefs that identify priority actions on family & community-based care • Better Care Network Toolkit http://bettercaretoolkit.org/bcn/toolkit/ • Practical resources for child care practitioners

  11. Global Networking & Convening Growing global need and interest for regional and country-level networking, capacity development trainings, best practice forums, and development platforms for information exchange…

  12. Global Networking and Convening • Regional and Global Conferences: • Family Based Care Conference in Africa (Nairobi, 2009) • The Neglected Agenda: Protecting Children without Adequate Parental Care Conference (UK, 2009) • Quality in Alternative Care Conference (Prague, 2011) • Francophone Africa Conference (Senegal, October 2011)

  13. Global Networking & Convening BCN Chapters • BCN Netherlands • Requests from Cameroon, Nigeria, China, Romania, Liberia, India, Czech Republic, UK, Mexico, Uganda, Ethiopia… Regional Alliances • East and Southern Africa Regional Alliance • Other regions?

  14. Challenges • “Getting the word out” -- a number of key stakeholders are not familiar with BCN and the evidence based research • “Getting the right message out” and “shifting the discourse”

  15. For more information… • Visit BCN website: www.bettercarenetwork.org • Visit BCN toolkit: http://bettercaretoolkit.org/bcn/toolkit/ • Sign-up for bimonthly newsletter • Contact BCN Secretariat: • Ghazal Keshavarzian: gkeshavarzian@unicef.org or +1.212.326.7384 • Kathleen Riordan: kriordan@unicef.org, +1.212.326.7104

More Related