Resources Database

To maximise the potential of the European Union and realise the vision where no child grows up in institutional care, civil society organisations across EU Member States, pre-accession countries and neighbourhood countries came together under a pan-European campaign: Opening Doors for Europe’s Children. The campaign aimed to support national efforts to develop comprehensive, integrated child protection systems that strengthen families and ensure quality family- and community-based care for children, by leveraging EU funding and policy, and building capacity in civil society.

There is a large and growing body of research that demonstrates that early experiences of adversity can have harmful impacts on children’s physical, neurological, and psychological development, with effects that can persist into adulthood. This report will present an overview of the current social science literature related to the impact of out-of-home placement and family separation on the wellbeing of children who have experienced maltreatment.

The Global status report on preventing violence against children 2020 charts countries’ progress towards the SDGs aimed at ending violence against children.

This report outlines the challenges and potential back-slide in progress toward ending child labour resulting from COVID-19. To mitigate the impact and protect children's rights, several key actions and recommendations are outlined, including deeming the social service workforce as essential service providers and providing adequate funding and protective equipment for them to carry out their work.

Basic psychosocial support skills are at the core of any Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) intervention. Such skills are also indispensable for many others involved in the COVID-19 response, whether they identify as an MHPSS provider or not. Thus, this guide is meant for all COVID-19 responders.

This document aims to support in determining feasibility of permanent placement and expedite family-based care in families in which children were placed quickly and without proper preparation during COVID-19 lockdown. The goal is for children to remain in their placement after the lockdown ends, if possible, or move to other family placement such as kinship or foster care as appropriate. That means completing the paperwork/procedures for placement, and avoiding readmission to child care institution (CCI) after lockdown ends.

This briefing paper by the "Joining Forces" coalition of ChildFund, Plan International, Save the Children, SOS Children's Villages, Terre des Hommes and World Vision details the increasing impacts of violence, GBV and MHPSS on children and issues messages to governments and donors on actions they can take, including recognizing child protection and MHPSS as an essential service.

This document provides key considerations and practical guidance for case management actors and coordination groups supporting child and adolescent survivors of sexual violence (child and adolescent survivors) in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It builds on existing guidance developed by the interagency Child Protection (CP) and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) communities.

This document focuses upon the situation of orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) in Tanzania and describes the current status of Social Welfare Workforce Strengthening for OVC in the country. The report provides an overview of: 1) Tanzania’s social welfare system and how it supports OVC, 2) the social welfare workforce for OVC, 3) the challenges faced by the workforce for OVC, and 4) the efforts to address those challenges.

This Core Competency Framework has been developed for all disciplines, professions and staff groups undertaking a clinical role within NHS Scotland. The twin aims of the framework are (1) to describe the key areas of child protection work that are common and core across all disciplines, professions and staff groups with a clinical role, and (2) to describe the recommended core knowledge and understanding necessary to support these areas of work.

This guide has been designed to strengthen the competencies of child protection actors. The first part of the guide is intended for those who train child protection actors and is based on a child protection competency matrix. It presents the training methodology to strengthen essential knowledge, attitudes and skills, including the information and tools needed to facilitate the learning and development of child protection actors.

The child protection workforce strategy aligns with the department’s Strategic plan 2017–2018 and People strategy 2020. It draws on a broad range of data and insight. The consultation approach and analysis of data has provided the evidence base for our strategic aim for the child protection workforce, as well as underpinning the child protection workforce strategy framework. This strategy flags the department’s intent to deliberately invest in building a child protection workforce that is best placed to deliver on the reform agenda and to meet the future needs of the community head on.

A home visiting needs assessment tool has been developed with several key areas of focus, including on training, supervision and career development. This tool includes questions as an opportunity to reflect on the accessibility and relevance of existing training and supervision for home visitors and supervisors in the program, along with career advancement opportunities.

The Child Protection team in the UNICEF Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECARO) designed a brief online survey to take stock of what national authorities are doing to adjust national child protection systems and services in the Wake of COVID 19. This report aims to synthesize the responses across the region; support national and international child protection agencies, organizations and authorities to identify promising practices, challenges, risks and opportunities; and promote exchange of experience and practices across the region and globally.

This guidance should be considered for children who currently live in a residential setting, including those who have been placed in residential care before and after the onset of COVID-19 pandemic.

As part of this resource, there is also an excel spreadsheet for Virtual Monitoring Guidance.

This guidance should be considered for:

1) Children who live with their family or other family environment within a community setting, who may be vulnerable, or at-risk of separation. This could also include siblings of a child who lives in residential care.
2) Children who have been recently reunified with their families from residential care including children who were rapidly exited from residential
care facilities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Children are at heightened risk of becoming separated from their families during the pandemic. Additionally, spontaneous closure of residential care institutions can result in mass and poorly planned reunifications, often into unprepared families, without monitoring, putting children at great risk for protection violations and re-separation. The below tips should be considered to ensure gatekeeping procedures continue to remain effective or in some cases are strengthened during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some COVID-19 prevention measures have abruptly cut children off from positive and supportive relationships they rely on when in distress, including at school, in the extended family, and in the community. Children’s rights to safety and protection as outlined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action are threatened.

The Reflective Field Guide aims to contribute to fostering more authentic community engagement in humanitarian child protection action. It encourages honest reflection and discussion about current programming, what strong community participation could look like, and what child protection practitioners can do to facilitate higher levels of community-driven programing.

This document is intended to provide guidance on how to support the social service workforce and empower them to safely serve children, families, and communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.