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Master Class. Photo Here. Children and Youth in Difficult Life Situation Legal and Theoretical Framework, Best Practice and Tools Katarzyna Jarosiewicz-Wargan Almaty, 5 June 2012. Introductions. Let’s Get to Know Each Other. Content of Master Class.
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Master Class Photo Here Children and Youth in Difficult Life Situation Legal and Theoretical Framework, Best Practice and Tools Katarzyna Jarosiewicz-Wargan Almaty, 5 June 2012
Introductions Let’s Get to Know Each Other
Content of Master Class • Part I - Legal and theoretical framework • International legal instruments • Child development theories • Relevance to services for children and families • Part II – Selected best practice models and examples • Prevention of infant abandonment • Developing services alternative to institutional care • Part III – Selected tools • Standards of care • Individual service planning
Part I LEGAL AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
International legal instruments • Universal Declaration of Human Rights • (December 1948) • Civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights • Human rights - universal, indivisible and interdependent • Some rights non-derogable (e.g. to life, to freedom from torture, to recognition before the law) • Declaration obliging States to respect, protect and fulfill rights
International legal instruments • Convention on the Rights of the Child • (1989 / KAZ 1994) • Provision, Protection and Participation • 5 „umbrella rights”: to life, survival and development; best interests of the child; non-discrimination; participation; implementation with the maximum use of available resources • Convention legally binding for the State • Many UNCRC have special relevance to issues concerning children without parental care • Guidelines for the Appropriate Use and Conditions of Alternative Care (2009)
Theoretical background Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory of development (1979)
Theoretical background • Bowlby's attachment theory: • Attachment = “lasting psychological connectedness between human beings” = making strong emotional bond to a particular individual • Four characteristics: 1) proximity maintenance; 2) safe haven; 3) secure base and 4) separation distress • First to suggest a “possibility to help children by helping parents” and community role in child upbringing • Theory influenced policy and practice change on institutional care world-wide, including on individual approach and family-based care • Attachment disorder now internationally recognized as a mental health condition
Applying rights and development theories perspective Needs-based versus rights-based approach Needs-based Approach12 Rights-based Approach
Applying rights and development theories perspective Rights-based approach – right-holders and duty-bearers
Applying rights and development theories perspective Public health model of social services for children and families
Part II SELECTED BEST PRACTICE MODELS
Prevention of infant abandonment • Around 800,000 children in residential care • in 27 C/EE countries (2007) • 76,000 in institutions in KAZ (2007) • 3% below 3 years of age • More than 95% children have at least one parent who is alive and known • Main issues: single mothers, teenage pregnancies, alcohol/drug dependency, poverty, mother’s own history of abandonment/abuse, child’s real or misdiagnosed disability
Prevention of infant abandonment – the model • Steps to address the problem: • Study demographics and reasons of abandonment • Raise awareness • Create prevention/early intervention function in clinics and maternity houses • Define clear referral mechanisms and family identification procedures • Establish community services (emotional and practical support for families, mother and infant shelters, short-term foster care etc.) • Develop training programs and build capacity of frontline personnel (healthcare, social workers, community services’ staff, police) • Build coalitions, advocate for and support policy change
Prevention of infant abandonment – examples • Pilot interaction of social and medical workers • at maternity hospitals (Ukraine) – 67% of mothers changed their intention to abandon their new-borns • Emergency mother and infant shelter + family and employment counseling (Georgia) – 80% of mothers found employment and decided to keep/take back their child • Training for doctors, maternity hospital personnel and social workers on surgical treatment of infant cleft palate (Kyrgyzstan) – in 2 years no new abandonments • Support centers for parents and families of new-borns + foster care as an alternative for institutionalization (Bulgaria) – 1 infant home closed already, 8 others to be closed by 2014
Transforming Institutions, Developing Alternatives Mulheir and Browne’s Ten-Step Model
Transforming Institutions, Developing Alternatives; Examples • Assessment of all children in institutional care • as a step towards family reintegration (Slovakia) • Massive staff capacity building for transforming large-scale institutions into small family-like units (Hungary) • Development of small-group homes and other community services as an alternative to institutions (Georgia)
Part III SELECTED PRACTICAL TOOLS
Standards of care – the model • Place child/family and CRC principles • at the center of service provision • Provide basis for regulating childcare • Provide a basis for induction and training of staff • Offer framework for monitoring quality of care (incl. self-assessment by service provider) help improve quality of childcare • Should be developed through intensive consultation with users, service providers and related authorities • Can be developed and piloted locally by civil society groups eventually to be adopted nationally
Standards of care – the model • Standards should cover broad range of topics: • Information about the service, • Care plan and its revisions, • Physical environment, • Quality of care, • Staffing, • Complaints and protection • Management and administration
Standards of care – examples • Standards as a basis to define professional qualification requirements for care-takers, and design mandatory training programs (Estonia) • Childcare standards incorporated in legislation that regulates registration and licensing of service, including number of children in care and child-staff ratios (Poland) • State outsourcing childcare services on the basis of national minimum standards (Lithuania) • Standards-based monitoring/research of out-of-home care to identify improvements for children (Latvia)
Child-focused and family-centered individual service planning • Mandatory in most European countries • Done always, to the maximum extent possible, with participation of and in agreement with the child and his/her parents and family • Defines two-way responsibility – that of the child/family and that of service provider • Needs to involve multiple professionals • Based on individually assessed strengths/resources and needs of the child and family
Child-focused and family-centered individual service planning • Must have realistic short-, medium- and long-term goals • For any child in residential care, should contribute to permanency planning, with one of three outcomes: • reintegration, • foster care/adoption or • independent living • Must be regularly revised, especially for children in especially difficult situations (e.g. in residential care)
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