Developing family-based care: complexities in implementing the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children

Davidson, Jennifer; Milligan, Ian; Quinn, Neil; Cantwell, Nigel; Elsley, Susan

doi:10.1080/13691457.2016.1255591

Cited by 29 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The importance of localization within globalization has been very helpfully highlighted by the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children produced by the United Nations (2010). The Guidelines set out the implications for out-ofhome care of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC; Cantwell, Davidson, Elsley, Milligan, & Quinn, 2014;Davidson, Milligan, Quinn, Cantwell, & Elsley, 2017). Global principles are asserted which are to be followed at national, local, and individual levels: out-of-home care must be genuinely needed (the "necessity principle, " Cantwell et al, 2014, p. 49), and when it is needed, it should be provided in an appropriate manner (the "suitability principle, " Cantwell et al, 2014, p. 66).…”

Section: Global Context Of Care-leavingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Raising African Voices in the Global Dialogue on Care-Leaving and Emerging Adulthood

Breda

Pinkerton

2019

Emerging Adulthood

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Globalization of knowledge and scholarship raises the challenges of dialogue between Global North and South. Northern knowledge and voice remain privileged, while writing from the South often goes unread. This is true also in emerging adulthood and care-leaving scholarship. The special issue of Emerging Adulthood titled “Care-Leaving in Africa” is the first collection of essays on care-leaving by African scholars. It presents both care-leaving and emerging adulthood scholars from the Global North a unique opportunity to consider the implications of a rising African voice for global dialogue. This article, coauthored by scholars from North and South, argues in favor of North–South dialogue but highlights several challenges inherent in this, including the indigenizing and thus marginalizing of African experience and scholarship and divergent constructions of key social concepts. The authors argue the need for mutually respectful discourse between North and South and present specific recommendations for fostering such global dialogue.

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Section: Global Context Of Care-leavingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Raising African Voices in the Global Dialogue on Care-Leaving and Emerging Adulthood

Breda

Pinkerton

2019

Emerging Adulthood

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“…In nearly all cases, caregivers do not provide warm, sensitive, and responsive interactions with children…. (McCall et al, p. 88, in Davidson et al, 2016, p. 2)…”

Section: What Is ‘Deinstitutionalisation’?mentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Further, quality of care is not assured by default in family-based care (as evidenced in the Rwanda case below), which is not a ‘perfect’ solution devoid of gaps and challenges as Davidson et al (2016) highlight, taking foster care as an illustration. They question: Children may be cared for in one family, but to whom do they look for their identity and in which long-term family will they live their adult life?…”

Section: What Is ‘Deinstitutionalisation’?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Deinstitutionalisation and the Best Interest of the Child: The Case of Rwanda and Lessons for South Asia

Murthi¹,

Jayasooriya²

2020

Institutionalised Children Explorations and Beyond

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The ‘deinstitutionalisation’ (DI) movement, also known as ‘care reforms’, is spreading rapidly across the globe, gaining momentum with the growing understanding among both practitioners and policy makers of the harmful effects of institutionalisation on the development and well-being of children as well as the strengthening of the child rights discourse. This has led to a growing international trend towards the development of, and a strong belief in, family-based care options for children deprived of parental care, away from large-scale institutions. This trend is reflected in and supported by international frameworks guiding the care of children, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and in particular the United National Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children, which was hailed in 2009. These instruments recognise that a caring and protective family is central to a child’s development, that governments should fulfil children’s right to quality care in families of origin and in alternative care and that institutionalisation of a child should be discouraged. DI processes are, however, not simple and straightforward as there are many challenges and complexities in their cross-cultural implementation. Even though unequivocally agreed by all stakeholders that the ‘best interest of the child’ should be at the heart of such care reform processes, its actual practice can often contradict such understandings as it gets submerged in numerous other considerations, constraints and challenges. This article analyses some of the dominant DI trends prevailing at present, in particular the primacy of family-based care and the misconceptions associated with the suitability of residential care, illustrated by the experience of SOS Children’s Villages in the DI process and its outcomes in Rwanda. The analysis is premised on the framework of the UN guidelines for the alternative care of children and strives to understand whether DI as it is practised in Rwanda is aligned with the principles of ‘necessity’, ‘suitability’ and the ‘best interest of the child’ as stipulated in the Guidelines. The attempt is to draw lessons for South Asia from the success as well as the challenges faced in Rwanda, as many governments in South Asia progressively join the DI movement. It is critical for all child-focused international non-governmental organization/ non-governmental organizations (INGOs/NGOs) in Asia to understand the UNGL, learn from different experiences about the challenges of DI and prepare to engage with policy makers. One of the most important lessons from the Rwanda experience is that the ‘quality’ of care should take precedence over the ‘form’ of care, and that quality is not always guaranteed in family-based care. The shift in the positionality of the government of Rwanda and their willingness to rethink their approach to DI particularly in terms of recognising quality residential care is commendable. This needs to be taken as a precedence by other governments across the world including in South Asia—especially by those who are truly interested in ensuring the best interest of children who have lost the care of their parents.

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“…This movement acquired international visibility in 2009 with the passing of a UN resolution supporting guidelines for alternative care for children (Better Care Network, 2020; United Nations, 2009). Grounded in a concern for recognising children's rights and in research that has shown poor developmental outcomes for children raised in institutions, the UN guidelines reflect a global effort to redirect governmental and civil society support away from orphanages towards family‐based care (Davidson et al., 2017).…”

Section: From Orphanage To Family: the Global De‐institutionalisation Movementmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Haitian orphanage crisis: Exporting neoliberal family ideals in the debate on vulnerable childhoods in Haiti

Hoffman

2021

Children & Society

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In light of recent global debates over the dangers of institutionalised orphan care, a new model of family care premised on the trope of family reunification has emerged among Haitian and US faith‐based actors as the best alternative for ensuring vulnerable children's well‐being. This article offers a critical cultural reading of narratives on family reunification in Haiti in social media and advocacy discourse, revealing how this approach privileges Northern assumptions about proper parenting and family life. Not only are these ideas a mismatch with realities in Haiti, they evoke deficit constructions of family and childhood that facilitate the nation's further positioning as a subject of transnational neoliberal governmentality.

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Developing family-based care: complexities in implementing the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children

Cited by 29 publications

References 14 publications

Raising African Voices in the Global Dialogue on Care-Leaving and Emerging Adulthood

Raising African Voices in the Global Dialogue on Care-Leaving and Emerging Adulthood

Deinstitutionalisation and the Best Interest of the Child: The Case of Rwanda and Lessons for South Asia

The Haitian orphanage crisis: Exporting neoliberal family ideals in the debate on vulnerable childhoods in Haiti

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