European Conference, Brussels, December 2014
Placement of children in institutions or
foster care and the best interest of the child
Bragi Guðbrandsson, Director General
The Gov. Agency for Child Protection, Iceland
Introduction
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CRC, especially on placement
International tools relevant to the topic
Preventing alternative care – “gatekeeping”
Rights of children in alternative care
Aftercare - pathways
The UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child
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Not only quantitatively but also qualitatively different
from earlier international agreement
The twofold nature of the UN CRC
 The Descriptive
 The Normative
Dynamic and proactive , generated by the basic
principle of the “best interest of the child”
A paradigm shift
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A fundamental change in our perception of
children – the 3 p´s
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Participatory rights children as bearers of
rights, active subjects and not passive objects
Protective rights needs-focused and childfriendly
Rights to provisions sufficiently comprehensive
and appropriate to maximize the development
of the child potentialities
CRC on placement
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Art 20 defines the conditions under which
placement is justified
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If the child is deprived or his/her family or
placement is in the “best interest” of the child
The state should “ensure” such placement on the
basis of national law
Alternative care
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in family environment, e.g. foster care, adoption or
“if necessary in suitable institutions for the care of
children”
Placement in institutions
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“Institutions”
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“suitable”
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From small “family type” to more complex institutions
“institutions … should conform to the standards established by
the competent authorities..” Art 3.3
Meets the needs of the individual child at a given moment of time
“if necessary”
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Necessity based on child-focused grounds
Not because “nothing else is available”
Most relevant international tools
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UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children (2009)
CoE; Rec (2005) on the Rights of Children living in
Residential Institutions
CoE Recommendations on Child-friendly Social Services
(2011)12, Positive Parenting (2006)19, on Child
participation (2012)2; the Lanzarote Convention (2010) and
the Guidelines on Child-friendly justice (2010)
General Comments of the Committee on the Rights of the
Child and Recommendations, e.g. on children without
Parental Care (Day of General Discussion 2005)
CoE Rec(2005)5 on the Rights of
Children living in Residential Institutions
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CoE standard setting: an attempt to
“operationalize”/“translate” the UN CRC
into institutional settings
A Recommendation – not a “Convention”
The Structure of the Rec.:
- Basic Principles
- Specific rights
- Guidelines and Quality Standards
Basic Principles – “gatekeeping“
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the family is the natural environment for the wellbeing of the child
preventive measures of support for children and
families should be provided as far as possible;
the placement of a child should remain the
exception and have as the primary objective the
best interests of the child
the placement should be no longer than necessary
and subjected to periodic review
Preventing alternative care
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UN Guidelines on alternative care, ch. 4
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Promoting parental care
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Preventing family separation
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Strategies aimed at children and families at risk
Promoting family reintegration
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Policies and programs to strengthen parent´s ability to care for
their children
Regular assessment and appropriate contact between the child
and his/her family with the aim of reintegration
Poverty or disability alone are never be valid
reasons for placement, Art 15
CoE Recommendation (2011)12 on Child
friendly social services, General elements
 General social services (prevention)
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Specialised social services (harm reduction)
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Comprehensive, preventive and responsive
Addresses negative impact of adversive
childhood experiences
Intensive social services (placement)
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The principle of appropriateness
Family support v.s. Child Placement
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The inverse relationship between the level of
children´s placement and family support/services is
well established
“Children at risk and in Care” CoE 2006
“Loss of Parental Care Index” (Every Child Russia,
2012 , Joanna Rogers
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Six Quantitative and qualitative indicators including
Loss of PCare, interventions and use of family services
Perceptions of children and parents and use of
services
CoE Recommendation (2006) 19 on
Positive Parenting
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Recommends that governments take all
appropriate legislative, administrative,
financial and other measures to create the
necessary conditions for positive parenting
in the best interests of the child....
Conveys key messages to Parents and
Professionals alike on evidence based, nonviolent upbringing
CoE Rec.(2006)19 Positive Parenting
Key Messages to Parents
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An attempt to “translate” the UN CRC into the
family setting:
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Nurture - corresponds to the child’s need for emotional
nourishment, love, warmth and security
Structure - refers to setting out standards of appropriate
behaviour and role models provided by parents
Recognition – refers to each child’s need to be seen,
heard and valued as a person
Empowerment – refers to the child’s sense of
competence and personal control by enhancing the
existing strength in the child
Evidence based interventions
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Examples of good practice Norwegian
experience:
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Family Group Conferences
Incredible years, (Webster-Stratton model)
PMTO (parent management training)
MST (multisystematic treatment)
MTFC (multi-treatment foster care)
MultifunC
Social Ecological Model
Community
Provider Agency
School
Neighborhood
Peers
Extended Family
Siblings
Caregiver
CHILD
Caregiver
16
MST effect on residential treatment in Iceland
Principles of Placement
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CoERec (2005)5
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the procedure…and individual care plan…including a periodic
review of the placement, shall guarantee the rights of the child,
notably the child's right to be heard
should not be longer than necessary .. the parents should be
supported .. with the aim of reintegrating the child in the family
and society;
CoE Rec. (2011)12
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When decisions of alternative care cannot be avoided, the
principle of appropriateness to the child’s needs identified by a
rigorous assessment should be the determining factor with regard
to individual decisions
The UN Guidelines on
Alternative care determination
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States should ensure the availability of a range of alternative
care options
Determination of the most appropriate form of care
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should be based on rigorous assessment, planning and review,
through established structures and mechanisms,
should be carried out on a case-by-case basis
by suitably qualified professionals in a multidisciplinary team after
consultation at all stages with the child, according to his/her
evolving capacities
Residential care should be limited to those cases where such
a setting is specifically appropriate, necessary and
constructive for the individual child
Family based care - Foster care
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Alternative care for young children, especially those
under the age of 3 years, should be provided in
family-based settings
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competent authority responsible for recruitment,
assessment, and training of foster parents and
assess and match the needs of the child with the
abilities and resources of potential foster carers and to
prepare all concerned for the placement.
Remuneration
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Allowing for devotion to the care giving role
Competence building in Foster Care
Investing in competence building crucial for
successful system of foster care
 Foster Pride - Parent´s Resource for Information,
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Development and Education
 Standardized structured framework for recruiting,
preparing and selecting foster and adoptive parents
 Pre-service, assessment
 In-service
Foster care not a magical solution
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Obstacles
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Difficulties in recruitment
Lack of supportive professional network
Intensive problems and needs can lead to frequent
breakdown of placements
Multi-dimensional needs that require professional
response and highly structured settings for a period of
time
Sometimes children prefer not to live in substituted
“family environment”
Residential care – Quality care
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CoE (2005)5; examples
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A small family-type living unit should be provided
Individual care plan based on development of the child´s
capabilities with respect to his/her autonomy
Priority given to physical and mental health as well as harmonious
individual development
Maintain child-parent contact with the aim of reintegration
Educational and proper emotional relationship with the staff
Multidisciplinary and child-friendly support
Established “Quality Standards”, including “Codes of Ethics” in
line with the CRC
Coe Rec (2005)5
Specific Rights in residential care
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To human dignity and to non-degrading treatment be
respected including the protection against corporal
punishment and all forms of abuse;
To participate in decision-making processes and the living
conditions in the institution;
To be informed about his/her rights and to make
complaints to an independent body
To privacy, including access to a person they trust and a
competent body for confidential advice
To education and vocational training under the same
condition as all other children
To play, sport, cultural activity and increasing responsibility
Coe Rec (2005)5
Aftercare – pathway plan
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A post-care individual plan
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a child leaving care should be entitled to an assessment of his or
her needs and appropriate after-care support in accordance with
the aim to ensure the re-integration of the child in the family and
society
taking into account the child’s wishes and the continuity in his or
her life path and his or her fulfillment and own needs
UN Guidelines
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Agencies and facilities should have a clear policy and should carry
out agreed procedures …to ensure appropriate aftercare and/or
follow-up
CoE Rec (2005)5
Monitoring and Accountability
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all residential institutions should be accredited and
registered with the competent public authorities on
the basis of regulations and national minimum
standards of care;
on the basis of these standards, an efficient system
of monitoring and external control of residential
institutions should be ensured;
relevant statistical data should be collected and
analysed, and research for the purposes of efficient
monitoring should be supported;
Ensuring placement
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Does the national law reflect the CRC and
commitments made by the State
Which agencies are mandated to accredit
placements, implement monitoring procedures and
collect statistics
Is an independent monitoring system in place?
Are quality standards in place or monitoring
strategies firmly based on principles of the CRC
STATE
Ministry of Welfare
The
Appeal
Committee
Government Agency
for Child Protection
The
Judicial
system
“Gatekeeping”
Standard setting
Competence building
Childrens
House
MST
PMT
LOCAL
AUTHORITIES
State Treatment
Centre for
Adolescents
Residential
Treatment
Homes
Pilot
Projects
Foster
Parents
Local Child Protection
Services
Local
Authorities
General Social
Services
Cooperation
Departments of
Social Services
school, health care
authorities, police a.o.
Standards and/or monitoring
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Specific quality standards of care
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Quality4Children (http://www.quality4children.info)
Standards implicit in national or
international laws, guidelines and
recommendations
Monitoring strategies: application by
operationalizing standards
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AudTrain developed by CBSS “Children at
Risk” ( http://www.childcentre.info/)
Lanzarote Convention - implications for
monitoring residential care
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Recruitment, training and awareness raising of persons
working in contact with children (Art 5)
 The conditions to accede to those professions
 Awareness
 Adequate knowledge
Education for children (Art 6)
The goal is to ensure an institutional „culture“ that
counteracts all forms of violence, exp. sexual abuse
Lanzarote Convention
Monitoring protection of sexual abuse
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Staff: Established procedures for the recruitment,
training and supervision:
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Screening (criminal record, personal reference check etc.)
Code of Ethics: zero-tolerance policy on abuse
Agency rules
Client information (victims or offenders)
Treatment and behaviour management
Children: Education on healthy sexuality as well as
enhancing awareness on inappropriate sexual behaviour and
sexual abuse in all it´s forms
Lanzarote Convention impact on monitoring
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All residential service providers should have
unequivocal rules on
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Mandatory reporting to the relevant authorities
Temporary suspension of suspected staff offender
pending investigation
Staff offenders will be impeached and prosecuted
The safety of the child victim should always
be the primary consideration