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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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Inuti ett Barnahus. En kvalitégranskning av 23 svenska verksamheter
Save the Children Sweden (SCS) has established and supported operations of “Barnahus”, or Advocacy Centres for Children, a model for receiving child victims of sexual abuse. Through these Advocacy Centres, SCS hopes to ensure that all child victims of vio
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The Right of Boys and Girls to a Family: Alternative care- Ending institutionalization in the Americas
A report prepared by the Rapporteur of the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights on children’s rights to family care and alternative care. The report demonstrates the integration of the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children within the Hum
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Moving Forward on Alternative Care: Assessment of the foster care pilot project in Albania
CELCIS was contracted by UNICEF Albania in August, 2013, to carry out an evaluation of the pilot foster care project (FCPP). UNICEF had contributed to funding for a foster care project which operated in Tirana and Shkodra. The operational aspects of the p
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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: 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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Out from the shadows: Sexual violence against children with disabilities
A report that sheds light on the shocking issue of sexual violence against children with disabilities. All over the world, children with disabilities are suffering from sexual violence at the hands of perpetrators who operate with almost total impunity. A
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Child Protection Initiative: Building rights-based national child protection systems: a concept paper to support Save the Children’s work
A concept paper on rights-based national child protection systems developed within the framework of Save the Children's Child Protection Initiative (CPI), which is designed to strengthen local or national child protection systems that respond to and preve
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PowerPoint presentations for the Training Manual on Children without Appropriate Care for Asia and the Pacific: The Misuse and Overuse of Residential Care [Session 5b]
PowerPoint presentation that is part of the session materials for "The Training Manual Children without Appropriate Care for Asia and the Pacific" published by Save the Children Child Protection Initiative (CPI). The presentation focuses on the misuse of
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Child carers: Child-led research with children who are carers
This research report looks at the needs of child-carers in Nigeria, Uganda, Angola and Zimbabwe. The research consisted of a literature review and participatory child-led research in one site in each of the four African countries. The report identifies a
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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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PowerPoint presentations for the Training Manual on Children without Appropriate Care for Asia and the Pacific: Supporting the Care of Children within Families [Session 7a]
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 presents an overview of the social s
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Scaling down. Reducing, reshaping and improving residential care around the world. Positive care choices:Working paper No. 1
This working paper summarizes the evidence base on residential care to promote better decision making among policy makers and child welfare practitioners, with priority given to ending residential care for children under three, and care in large scale fac