Resources Database

This document calls on public authorities to take steps to prevent separation and implement adequate care and protection measures during COVID-19.

This toolkit is intended to support frontline providers and program managers in decision-making for placement of care of children impacted by emergencies. It offers guidance on the types of services needed, child protection considerations, monitoring and reviewing care planning and reunification processes. 

In the event of an outbreak in your community, as a parent/caregiver, your first concern is about how to protect and take care of your children and family. Knowing important information about the outbreak and learning how to be prepared can reduce your stress and help calm likely anxieties. This resource will help you think about how an infectious disease outbreak might affect your family—both physically and emotionally—and what you can do to help your family cope.

This document offers guidance on adapting and/or developing services and programming to continue to best serve children and families throughout the rapidly changing times of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly on conducting virtual monitoring of children, families, alternative care placements and residential care facilities.

Women, the elderly, adolescents, youth, and children, persons with disabilities, indigenous populations, refugees, migrants, and minorities experience the highest degree of socio-economic marginalization. Marginalized people become even more vulnerable in emergencies.

By understanding these issues, we can support the capacity of vulnerable populations in emergencies. We can give them priority assistance, and engage them in decision-making processes for response, recovery, preparedness, and risk reduction.

This Interim Guidance is intended for field coordinators, camp managers and public health personnel, as well as national and local governments and the wider humanitarian community working in humanitarian situations, including camps and camp-like settings, who are involved in the decision making and implementation of multi-sectorial COVID19 outbreak readiness and response activities – the Guidance is therefore relevant for all Humanitarian Clusters and their partners.

This resource provides guidance to Save the Children and its related programs on mitigating the impacts of COVID-19 for vulnerable groups. It includes guidance on child protection, child participation, MHPSS, child safeguarding and integration of services.

This report is a compilation of four years of research from desk reviews to try to determine numbers and current situation of children in alternative care.

The OFDA-funded READY Initiative developed this checklist for INGOs/NGOs working in humanitarian response, primarily to use in regional/country level Outbreak Preparedness Planning Workshops.

Children in particular are vulnerable during infectious disease outbreaks for a variety of reasons.

This note aims to provide practical support to Gender-Based Violence (GBV) practitioners to adapt GBV case management service delivery models quickly and ethically during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Given the increase in reports of GBV, ensuring that women and girls can access GBV support services remains a critical and lifesaving activity. At the same time, maintaining the health and wellbeing of GBV case workers and contributing to rigorous efforts to stop the pandemic are of critical concern, presenting a challenge to traditional modes of GBV service delivery.

Work with social service systems to ensure continuity of critical services that may take place in schools such as health screenings, feeding programs or therapies for children with special needs. Address Mental Health/Psychosocial support needs Encourage children to discuss their questions and concerns. Explain it is normal that they may experience different reactions and encourage them to talk to teachers if they have any questions or concerns. Provide information in an honest, age-appropriate manner. Guide students on how to support their peers and prevent exclusion and bullying.

Information on service delivery via remote group psychosocial support sessions, types of entry points for case management, and methods for establishing safe and confidential case management entry points.

Social work in East Africa is confronted with myriad social and structural problems. The heritage of imported theories and concepts from the West is still affecting education and practice. The profession lacks resources and has only limited influence on social policies. Since 2010, a multi-phase, research-focused project called PROSOWO has been running in order to bring the professionalization of social work on the agenda. In this article, empirical data are discussed with regard to developmental and indigenized social work in these countries.

Evidence-based management is emerging in the helping professions in response to heightened demands for public accountability and organizational performance. This paper defines evidencebased management and reviews its origins in the health care and business sectors and its recent incorporation into the social work profession. A case study describes the efforts of one social service agency to use evidence-based management to improve the performance of its child welfare and mental health programs.

Little research literature exists integrating ethics, supervision, and rural/small community practice. This paper reports results of a study conducted by a joint student-faculty team. The study engaged supervisors in rural and small communities in two Midwestern states in semi-structured interviews. Interview data were then used to develop guidelines for BSW students about what constitutes ethical supervisory practice in rural environments.

This report presents the endline performance evaluation of the Strengthening Public Sector Social Services Systems in Ethiopia (SPSSSSE) project, funded by USAID and implemented by the Ethiopian Society of Sociologists, Social Workers and Anthropologists (ESSSWA). This evaluation contributes to understanding of mechanisms and results in context of SPSSSSE efforts to support improved quality, reach, and effectiveness of social services through workforce development.

The objective of this study is to ascertain what is known about the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of supervision in child welfare in relation to outcomes for consumers/service users, staff and organizations. The evidence base for the effectiveness of supervision in child welfare is surprisingly weak. An agenda for research based on a framework for the development and evaluation of complex interventions is proposed.

Child welfare agencies need to identify and implement effective strategies to recruit and retain well-qualified staff that has the knowledge, skills and commitment to provide services to our nation’s most vulnerable children and families.

This paper provides a selection of models and approaches to workforce development that are of relevance to NSW non-government community sector (the sector). The intention is to provide a brief summary of existing options to assist us in developing a preferred model for the development of a workforce development strategy for our sector. 

In this respect this paper aims to provide a descriptive summary (rather than an analysis) of current models, as well as stimulate thinking and discussion.