‘Moving forward’ to implement the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children: Deinstitutionalising responses to children with disabilities Nigel Cantwell Consultant on Child Protection Policies International conference on “Human Rights of persons with disabilities in the Balkans and Turkey” Istanbul, 9-11 October 2013

Children in the CRPD The CRPD as a whole ◦ A core HR instrument that approaches children’s rights as part of human rights while setting out certain additional targeted issues/rights such as:  Art 7.3: right to express views, with assistance if necessary Reflecting the CRC ◦ Not only CRC Art 23 but the entire treaty, as intimated in CRPD Art 7.1  ‘ensure the full enjoyment by children with disabilities of all human rights’  Thus including CRC Arts 7, 18(2), 20, 21, 25-28… Note also CRC Committee’s General Comment # 9 (2006): Rights of children with disabilities

Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children [1] Grounded in the CRC and approved by consensus at the UNGA in 2009 Provide policy orientations for ensuring the appropriate use and conditions of alternative care for all children CRC Committee already uses these Guidelines systematically in Concluding Observations CRPD Committee briefed on the Guidelines by NGO Working Group in Sept 2012, and likely will also use them as a reference…

Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children [2] Guidelines are very long: over 160 provisions, often difficult to navigate No drafting history to assist in interpretation Hence Handbook on implementing the Guidelines (‘Moving Forward’) that explains the main thrusts, analyses key issues, sets out policy implications and gives examples of ‘promising practice’ (English, French, Russian, Spanish)

Establishing ‘necessity’ and ‘suitability’ of alternative care [1] Is alternative care genuinely needed? Prioritise preventing the need for recourse to alternative care via, e.g. family support (§ 9.a) and tackling discrimination of all kinds (§ 10) Combat practices that encourage parents to place their children in alternative care If so, is the care setting appropriate for the child? If alternative care is necessary, provide a range of options, from family-based to residential settings All such care options must be suitable – on a general level (complying with human rights) and for meeting the specific needs of the child concerned

Establishing ‘necessity’ and ‘suitability’ of alternative care [2]

Promoting the ‘range of options’ The Guidelines: Highlight the vital role of gatekeeping Emphasise support to informal coping mechanisms Underscore the importance of how alternative care provision is financed Promote family-based options but… … also recognise positive roles for ‘suitable’ residential care for some children Distinguish residential care from ‘institutions’ Underline the need for a strategy to deinstitutionalise the alternative care system

The system, not the children The key aim of deinstitutionalisation is not to remove children from institutions but to remove institutions from the alternative care system Guidelines (§23): ‘alternatives should be developed in the context of an overall deinstitutionalisation strategy, with precise goals and objectives, which will allow for their progressive elimination’

Children with disabilities in care In CEE/CIS countries, children with disabilities make up between 30% and 60% of those in residential care (UNICEF 2010) Numbers seem to have barely changed since the mid-Nineties, despite general efforts to prevent recourse to alternative care as a whole and to de- institutionalise the system in particular (UNICEF 2010) The Guidelines contain several (9) provisions where children with disability or ‘special needs’ in general are explicitly mentioned but… … all provisions apply to all children always.

Deinstitutionalisation strategies for children with disabilities [1] Combatting the frequent and high degree of stigmatisation and marginalisation of children and adults with disabilities is a pre-requisite for strategy development and implementation in their regard Explain the goals of the exercise to communities, parents of children with disabilities and the children themselves, and solicit their views on their needs as well as any concerns

Deinstitutionalisation strategies for children with disabilities [2] Similarly consult with all levels of current staff of institutions Examine the extent to which staff could be redeployed within the care system, including with additional skills-training as required, once there is no further role for their facility Begin by developing alternatives to institutional placements for children under 3, including family support, day-care and respite care services, etc. and then formally banning such placements

Deinstitutionalisation strategies for children with disabilities [3] In developing foster-care options, ensure that there is first a robust support service in place for carers Set acceptable levels of compensation for specialised foster carers Establish an effective multi-disciplinary gatekeeping mechanism to determine the most suitable option for each child Foresee regular reviews of the need for, and suitability of, individual placements For more details: Handbook, pp 43-46

Finally, need for reliable data Comprehensive, trustworthy data: an essential basis for policy-making and strategising ◦ Special importance given to this in CRPD Art 31:  1. States Parties undertake to collect appropriate information, including statistical and research data, to enable them to formulate and implement policies to give effect to the present Convention. […]  2. The information collected in accordance with this article shall be disaggregated, as appropriate […] ◦ Also Guidelines § 69: ‘policies should be based on sound information and statistical data’