Children in Residential Care and Alternatives
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Good practice CHILDREN AT RISK GUIDELINES for people working with children Children in Residential Care and Alternatives CHILDREN AT RISK GUIDELINES: VOLUME 5 AUTHORS Glenn Miles – Children at Risk Advisor, Cambodia Paul Stephenson – Child Development Advisor, Tearfund EDITOR Fiona Anderson – Freelance writer CHILDREN AT RISK GUIDELINES Contents Preface 4 SECTION 1: Introduction 5 What are families? 7 Who are the orphans? 8 What is residential care? 9 What kind of children are in residential care? 11 What are the alternatives to residential care? 14 SECTION 2: Framework for Good Practice 17 1 Building relationships 19 2 Parental responsibilities 19 3 Working at different levels 19 4 Identifying needs and priorities 20 5 Children’s participation 22 6 Children in context 23 7 Advocacy 25 8 Child-sensitive indicators 28 SECTION 3: Case Studies 29 Rainbow Home, Christian Care for Children with Disabilities, Thailand 32 The Valley of Blessing Educational and Beneficent Association, Brazil 35 Eglise Trinité Internationale, Burundi 38 VOLUME 5: CHILDREN IN RESIDENTIAL CARE AND ALTERNATIVES 2 CHILDREN AT RISK GUIDELINES Inkuru Nziza Church, Rwanda 42 Home of Joy, Christian Growth Ministries, Philippines 45 Dar El Awlad Boys Home, Lebanon 49 SECTION 4: The Reflective Question Tool 53 SECTION 5: References and Resources 61 What to read 63 Who to contact 66 How to order 68 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Tearfund UK would like to thank the Laing Trust for their generous financial support on this project, and the following people for reading and commenting on the draft version: Jonathan Baddock, Near East Home, Lebanon Henry Bell, Near East Home, Lebanon Kate Bristow – Programme Development Team, Tearfund Graham Fawcett, Psychologist, YWAM, UK Jonathan Fisher, Tearfund Board/UK Department of Social Services Flor Jaotjot, Christian Growth Ministries, Philippines Meg Lindsay, Centre for Residential Child Care, UK Rose Mukankaka, AMU, Rwanda Sheila Melot, Freelance Editor Mick Pease, Leeds Social Services Lea Peters, ETI, Burundi Patrick Phillips, Advisor BESO, Senior Social Services Officer, UK Rachel Poulton, OP worker, Laos ex-Zaire John Stamp, Dept of Social Services, UK Silas Tostes, Valley of Blessing, Brazil Gundelina Velazio, Psychologist, Philippines Ian de Villiers, Viva Network Adrian Watkins, Intermission, India/EMA, UK Keith White, Childcare Network Dan Young, LAM/Viva Network VOLUME 5: CHILDREN IN RESIDENTIAL CARE AND ALTERNATIVES 3 CHILDREN AT RISK GUIDELINES Preface What are the principles of good practice in the area of Child Development and how can we implement them? This series sets out the basic principles of Tearfund’s Child Development Policy, and then seeks to apply them in different contexts. Here in Volume 5 we look at children in residential care and some of the alternatives available. We recommend that you use this framework in conjunction with the Tearfund Child Development Study Pack (for details of how to order the study pack and other volumes see the final page). The study emerges from comprehensive field research and dialogue and has been reviewed by a variety of experts and practitioners. The authors hope and pray that you will find it useful and practical, and that for all who are working with children it will help you in changing children’s lives for the better. Glenn Miles and Paul Stephenson January 2001 A note about GLENN MILES is Tearfund’s Children at Risk Facilitator for Cambodia, involved in the authors developing partnerships with organisations, training and research with children at risk. He has researched sexual exploitation in India, Sri Lanka and Thailand. He has over ten years experience in child health and welfare focused on South and Southeast Asia, and he has two children of his own. PAUL STEPHENSON currently works as Tearfund’s Child Development Advisor. He has seven years experience of development and relief in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe, and has a background in education, community development and programme evaluation. Copyright Tearfund’s learning materials and case studies may be adapted and reproduced for use, provided the materials are distributed free of charge. Full reference should be given to Tearfund and the relevant authors within the materials. NOTE The terms First and Third Worlds, developed and developing countries have been used interchangeably throughout the text as commonly accepted terminology for industrialised and developing countries. VOLUME 5: CHILDREN IN RESIDENTIAL CARE AND ALTERNATIVES 4 Good practice CHILDREN AT RISK GUIDELINES for people working with children SECTION 1 Introduction Contents What are families? 7 Who are the orphans? 8 What is residential care? 9 What kind of children are in residential care? 11 What are the alternatives to residential care? 14 VOLUME 5: CHILDREN IN RESIDENTIAL CARE AND ALTERNATIVES 5 CHILDREN AT RISK GUIDELINES VOLUME 5: CHILDREN IN RESIDENTIAL CARE AND ALTERNATIVES 6 CHILDREN AT RISK GUIDELINES Introduction 1 WHAT ARE FAMILIES? The family means different things to different people. How it is defined will depend on world view, background and experience. The family means The extended interdependent family structures which feature in much of the Biblical different things to narrative are far more similar to rural families in developing countries than to the different people. fragmented nuclear family of Europe and North America. Hebrew families in the Old Testament were grouped together in houses. These houses were united by marriage and kinship to form clans; several clans constituted a tribe and the confederation of tribes made up Israel. An interdependent Hebrew household comprised between fifty and a hundred people. In the New Testament, Paul describes the church as a family. The early church met in households. Those baptised, according to Paul, have been adopted by God (Romans 8:15-17, Galatians 3:26-4:6). Their siblings are other Christians. Their inheritance is the community of believers (Mark 10:28-31). But although the family took precedence over all other relationships, it was not closed or introspective. Hospitality was extended as if to near and distant relatives. The New Testament church was to reach out to the Gentiles and to everyone, even to enemies. The family structure of modern times, both in the more developed and in developing countries, can vary considerably. As Christians we must be careful not to judge a family by its appearance and consider it to be ‘unsuitable’ without considering what the essence of a family is. Relationships rather than structure have a greater impact on the ability of children to grow spiritually, emotionally and socially.1 God created the covenant marriage relationship so that a couple can bear the ‘fruit’ of children. These children are then able to receive individual unconditional acceptance and love in adult-child relationships. This is portrayed in the story of the prodigal son which reflects the unconditional love of the heavenly father. In the context of this unconditional love, children can be brought up to love God and serve others. As ‘fallen’ beings, our parenting is often inadequate. Yet children are often resilient and, for all its failings, the parent/caregiver relationship can sustain and nurture the child and help him or her to grow. 1 Katz (1997). VOLUME 5: CHILDREN IN RESIDENTIAL CARE AND ALTERNATIVES 7 CHILDREN AT RISK GUIDELINES Not all children, however, are resilient enough to cope with damaging family behaviour in its extreme form. Some can become psychologically and even physically traumatised as a result. They may then need to be removed from their family environment. In a small number of cases children may be unable to face living in a family home so that even alternative foster care may not be appropriate. See Children at Risk Guidelines 1: Children and Family Breakdown for more discussion on the family. WHO ARE THE ORPHANS? Scripture makes specific mention of the needs of widows and orphans. Both the New and Old Testaments refer to responsibilities towards orphans and the fatherless. God is seen as the defender of the fatherless (Deuteronomy 10:18, Psalm 10:14, 68:5, Jeremiah 49:11, Hosea 14:3) and the covenant community are encouraged to be compassionate to them (Exodus 22:27). The Israelites were strongly encouraged to aid orphans or take them into their families (Job 29:12, 31:17). The early church continued concern for orphans, expressed in James 1:27 where a ‘pure and faultless’ religion was characterised by those who ‘look after orphans and widows’. Historically, most Historically and geographically, even in extremely difficult circumstances, most ‘orphaned’ ‘orphaned’ children are absorbed into their extended families, however tenuous the children are relationship, and also into other families in their communities without the absorbed into involvement of any outside agent. their extended But as traditional religious and cultural values break down – and this is particularly families. true in urban settings – people may be more reluctant to adopt children. This was shown to be true in a survey conducted in Thailand by Christian Care of Children with Disabilities (CCD), see SECTION 3, and Handicap International. Certain cultures may feel they have evolved in such a way that adoption is no longer a feasible strategy. However, other commentators believe that there will always be families able and willing to adopt and foster children. Where secular society is slow to do this, Christians should take a lead, challenging attitudes and working to ensure that children are matched with families.2 2 Pease (1998) and Poulton (1995). VOLUME 5: CHILDREN IN RESIDENTIAL CARE AND ALTERNATIVES 8 CHILDREN AT RISK GUIDELINES WHAT IS RESIDENTIAL CARE? Residential care Residential care can be defined as ‘a group living arrangement for children in which care is group care by is remunerated by adults who would not be regarded as traditional carers within the generally wider society’.3 However, this definition has been criticised because some institutions unrelated involve ‘self’ remunerated people in charge and others such as monasteries (eg Buddhist persons.