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Alternative care
Millions of children are living without the loving, nurturing care that allows them to be safe and grow up enjoying their childhood. Many children remain in families unable to offer them adequate care because they are too poor and lack adequate support. Other children end up in poor quality alternative care or on the street.
Save the Children recognizes that residential care can be appropriate for a small minority of children and should be available as a last resort for those children with no other options. In those contexts, regulated, safe institutions that meet agreed-upon standards can save children's lives and give them opportunities to learn and develop that they would not otherwise have. However, scientific evidence suggests that institutional care can cause significant harm to children's physical, intellectual and emotional development, with children under the age of three being particularly at risk.
Save the Children supports the development of family-based alternative care options in children's own communities for those children who cannot be with their parents. These options include foster care, kinship care and domestic adoption. The organization supports the transition away from existing institutional care services while at the same time ensuring minimum standards during the remaining time institutions provide care for children.
There is also growing international, regional and country level action towards tackling both care and protection issues via strengthening national child protection systems and reforming the care system within the broader framework.
Photo: Chloe White/Save the Children
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Fostering better care. Improving foster care provision around the world
The paper suggests that further efforts are needed to ensure that foster care is an option open to a wider range of children. Foster care leads to better outcomes for children than harmful forms of residential care, and may be a more suitable choice than
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Child Protection: Taking action against all forms of abuse, neglect, violence and exploitation (CPI Brochure)
The brochure highlights the priority areas of focus of Save the Children's Child Protection Initiative (CPI), such as (i) children without appropriate care (including neglected and/or abused children in their families, children in institutions or other fo
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Child Protection Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices in Central and Western Liberia- 2011
This report provides the initial findings of a Child Protection Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) Study commissioned by Save the Children (SC) as part of the project “Educating and Protecting Vulnerable Children in Family Settings in Liberia” (201
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10 Steps forward to Deinstitutionalisation: Building communities to support childrens’ rights
Terre des hommes Nepal Delegation Office teamed up with Hope for Himalayan Kids, to produce a hands-on manual on how to reduce the number of children in institutions and promote family-based care. The first step of the manual is building community awarene
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Children without Appropriate Care. Advocacy Messages
Standard Advocacy Messages on children without appropriate care (CWAC) developed in consultation with the Child Protection Initiative Task Group on CWAC and other field and head office experts from across Save the Children. They reflect the priorities wit
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PowerPoint presentations for the Training Manual on Children without Appropriate Care for Asia and the Pacific: The Indonesian Experience of Care System Reform [Session 6b]
PowerPoint presentation that is part of the session materials for "the Training Manual on Children without Appropriate Care for Asia and the Pacific" published by Save the Children Child Protection Initiative (CPI). It focuses on the Indonesian alternativ
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Case Study. Creating alternative safe and reliable support systems for "children left behind" in Romania
A Case Study from Romania of the tragic consequences for children who have been left behind by their families while they earn a living abroad. An alternative way to tackle the situation experienced by children whose family members go abroad to earn money
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Children without Appropriate Care: Training Manual for Asia and the Pacific
The training package "Children without Appropriate Care: Training Manual for Asia and the Pacific" has been prepared by Louise Melville Fulford for the Save the Children Child Protection Initiative (CPI). Applicable for both Save the Children staff and no
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Indonesia National Standard of Care for Child Welfare Institution
Indonesia’s National Standards of Care for Child Welfare Institutions is a crucial policy instrument, drafted in response to the recommendations of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, regulating the provision of alternative care for c
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Strengthening Child Care Services and Systems- 4th Quarterly report UNICEF/USAID Georgia
Strengthening Child Care Services and Systems documents the Governmental of Georgia's notable steps to facilitate a coordinated approach to child care reform with an emphasis on deinstitutionalization and the development of alternatives, including small s
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Child and youth participation in Finland: A Council of Europe Policy Review
The report “Child and youth participation in Finland – A Council of Europe policy review” provides a comprehensive analysis of the implementation in Finland of the right of children to participate in decisions affecting them. Taking as a starting point a
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Training of Care Caseworkers and Foster Carers
This multi-module training series for care caseworkers and foster carers includes specific guidance on: Child Rights and Child Protection Legal and Welfare System for Children in Haiti Care Placement Process, Roles & Responsibilities Child Development Ps