Someone that matters. The quality of care in childcare institutions in Indonesia

This report is the first-ever comprehensive research into the quality of care in childcare institutions in Indonesia.Up to half a million children live in residential care in Indonesia, one of the highest numbers of children in residential care in the world. The country has an estimated 5,000-8,000 childcare institutions, 99% of them run by private, mostly faith-based organisations. This report provides a detailed assessment of 37 childcare institutions across 6 of Indonesia’s 32 provinces, together with an analysis of the legal and policy context within which these institutions operate. The research found that, contrary to widely held assumptions, only a small percentage of the children in institutional care were orphans (6%) with more than 90% having either one or both parents. Most of the children had been placed in these institutions by their parents, with the aim of ensuring their children get the chance to go to school. In almost all cases, proper placement procedures were not followed, and children actually received little care. The report includes recommendations on preventing unnecessary institutionalisation and on improving the quality of services and care provided by children’s institutions. It is jointly published by Save the Children, Indonesia’s Ministry of Social Affairs, and Unicef.