International Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children Policy orientations for children aged 0-3 Nigel Cantwell International Consultant on Child Protection Policies Ministerial Conference – Sofia – November 2012

Key features of the Guidelines The Guidelines (UNGA consensus, 2009): give policy orientations for implementing the CRC, for governments but also for decision-makers, service providers and other actors in the field of child protection and alternative care, aim to ensure that alternative care is used only when strictly necessary, and if so, in the most suitable setting responding to the situation and needs of the child concerned, emphasising case-by-case responses grounded in participation and best interests determination.

Guidelines on children under 3 [1] § 22 on young children In accordance with the predominant opinion of experts… Cf. Riyadh Guidelines 5.f … alternative care for young children […] should be provided in family-based settings… This implicitly excludes not only institutions but also residential care settings as a whole

Guidelines on children under 3 [2] Exceptions […] may be warranted… Case-by-case justification required Recourse to residential care if appropriate, necessary and constructive… (§ 21) Durable negative effects are not immediate … to prevent the separation of siblings… … placement of an emergency nature… … predetermined, very limited duration… … planned family reintegration or other appropriate long-term solution… foreseen.

Issues arising Context: a strategy to deinstitutionalise the system, not the children in it (§ 23) – resource allocation Ensuring a range of alternative care options (primarily family-based but including appropriate forms of residential care): vital (§ 53, 54), but also… … emphasis on preventive, family-strengthening and support services, plus gatekeeping, to avoid the real or perceived need for care placements (§ 32-52) Poverty alone cannot justify placement in alternative care (§ 15) Children with disabilities and other special needs CRC Art CRPD Art. 7: full enjoyment of all human rights As with the CRC, need to see Guidelines as a whole.