ICB: Institutionalised Children Explorations and Beyond
On March 14th, 2014, Udayan Care launched a bi- annual academic journal 'Institutionalised Children: Explorations and Beyond' (ICEB), to discuss the state of care of children in institutional and alternative care. The journal's regional focus is on the eight South Asian countries - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. So far, 11 issues of the journal have been released. Our 12th issue, with a focus on 'Caregivers', will be released in September 2019. We are also presently accepting papers for our March 2020 issue on 'Deinstitutionalisation: Policies, Strategies, Practices and Implications for South Asia'.
SCOPE OF THE JOURNAL
ICEB is an international, multi-disciplinary, peer-reviewed academic journal on Alternative Care for out-of-home-care (OHC) children and young persons, focused on the South Asia region. Published electronically and in print version, twice a year (March and September), every issue of ICEB presents the following: original research papers and good models of care practices, comprehensive desk review papers, editorial and foreword, expert opinions, important reprints, interviews, and book and movie reviews. Along with addressing issues that can influence policy reforms, decision-making and improve practices and standards of care, the content of ICEB also addresses limitations in research, knowledge and counselling practices currently prevalent in the region. In essence, ICEB sees itself as a forum for studies, discussions, debates and research on issues that would lead to better practices of care, improving mental health issues, and encourage the integration of OHC children and young persons, including the differently-abled, into the mainstream and thus to their inclusion in civil society. The scope includes encouraging studies on these issues by universities and hospitals, together with clinics, young professionals and those in the field of care giving, especially in the non-governmental not-for-profit-sector. The belief is that such education and sharing of knowledge and experiences would lead to more dynamic prevention models as well as rehabilitation models.
Address: A - 43, Block A, Chittaranjan, New Delhi, Delhi 110019
SCOPE OF THE JOURNAL
ICEB is an international, multi-disciplinary, peer-reviewed academic journal on Alternative Care for out-of-home-care (OHC) children and young persons, focused on the South Asia region. Published electronically and in print version, twice a year (March and September), every issue of ICEB presents the following: original research papers and good models of care practices, comprehensive desk review papers, editorial and foreword, expert opinions, important reprints, interviews, and book and movie reviews. Along with addressing issues that can influence policy reforms, decision-making and improve practices and standards of care, the content of ICEB also addresses limitations in research, knowledge and counselling practices currently prevalent in the region. In essence, ICEB sees itself as a forum for studies, discussions, debates and research on issues that would lead to better practices of care, improving mental health issues, and encourage the integration of OHC children and young persons, including the differently-abled, into the mainstream and thus to their inclusion in civil society. The scope includes encouraging studies on these issues by universities and hospitals, together with clinics, young professionals and those in the field of care giving, especially in the non-governmental not-for-profit-sector. The belief is that such education and sharing of knowledge and experiences would lead to more dynamic prevention models as well as rehabilitation models.
Address: A - 43, Block A, Chittaranjan, New Delhi, Delhi 110019
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Abstract of Papers; March 2019 Issue by ICB: Institutionalised Children Explorations and Beyond
and address it at its nucleus. While in recent times several media publications came out strongly against incidences of CSA reported in various child-care settings in Asia, and as a reactive action the state initiated investigations, it is also a fact that incidences of CSA in families remain rampant and under-reported. According to recent assessments, a child is sexually abused every 15 minutes in India. The questions arise; why do such incidences happen and what is the level of preparedness in preventing such occurrences in alternative care programs? It clearly points out the systemic failure and poor understanding on requirement of specific strategic processes in child care settings. Although this is an assumption, it can also be substantiated with relevant analysis on implementation of different standards related to child safeguarding, especially in alternative care.
the present mechanisms in place to protect children from abuse. The United Nations Convention
on the Rights of the Child acknowledges that the family is the natural environment for the
development and well-being of children. However, historically, children throughout South Asia
have suffered homelessness, neglect and deprivation due to factors such as broken homes, lack of
financial resources, physical and sexual abuse, and the age-old tradition of migrating parents in
search of a better life, leaving children in the care of others often unable or unwilling to provide
long-term care and attention. With such numbers, child care during the last decade has gained its
due attention. A specific set of resolutions were placed by the United Nations and various
Governments for alternative care, to address protection and shelter for children whose rights were
being violated. Yet, disturbing malpractices and absence of monitoring and evaluation were discovered
across child care institutions in South Asian nations including India, Nepal and Afghanistan, with
reports confirming CSA. To ensure protection of children from institutional abuse, there is an
urgent need to review the existing laws in terms of their efficacy to protect children and feasibility
in implementation. The present study suggests possible solutions, by trying to understand
standardized and effective models of care systems and mechanisms. This will further help us delve
into areas where law and policies in South Asia can be compared with regards to alternative care; to
understand gaps, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and thereby generating policy
suggestions for alternative care.
and address it at its nucleus. While in recent times several media publications came out strongly against incidences of CSA reported in various child-care settings in Asia, and as a reactive action the state initiated investigations, it is also a fact that incidences of CSA in families remain rampant and under-reported. According to recent assessments, a child is sexually abused every 15 minutes in India. The questions arise; why do such incidences happen and what is the level of preparedness in preventing such occurrences in alternative care programs? It clearly points out the systemic failure and poor understanding on requirement of specific strategic processes in child care settings. Although this is an assumption, it can also be substantiated with relevant analysis on implementation of different standards related to child safeguarding, especially in alternative care.
the present mechanisms in place to protect children from abuse. The United Nations Convention
on the Rights of the Child acknowledges that the family is the natural environment for the
development and well-being of children. However, historically, children throughout South Asia
have suffered homelessness, neglect and deprivation due to factors such as broken homes, lack of
financial resources, physical and sexual abuse, and the age-old tradition of migrating parents in
search of a better life, leaving children in the care of others often unable or unwilling to provide
long-term care and attention. With such numbers, child care during the last decade has gained its
due attention. A specific set of resolutions were placed by the United Nations and various
Governments for alternative care, to address protection and shelter for children whose rights were
being violated. Yet, disturbing malpractices and absence of monitoring and evaluation were discovered
across child care institutions in South Asian nations including India, Nepal and Afghanistan, with
reports confirming CSA. To ensure protection of children from institutional abuse, there is an
urgent need to review the existing laws in terms of their efficacy to protect children and feasibility
in implementation. The present study suggests possible solutions, by trying to understand
standardized and effective models of care systems and mechanisms. This will further help us delve
into areas where law and policies in South Asia can be compared with regards to alternative care; to
understand gaps, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and thereby generating policy
suggestions for alternative care.
International adoption is one of the world’s most successful child welfare interventions; it has helped children avoid turmoil in fractured families, orphanages,
and inadequate foster homes. And so the fate of “gap children”-the approximately 111,000 children who would have been adopted by Americans if the 2004 rate had
held steady-is far from certain. Many of these children live in countries where data is either uncollected or distorted for political purposes, making it impossible for
experts to account for the would-be adoptees.
It is possible that fewer children have been relinquished by birth families, or that domestic adoption levels in some countries have increased over the last ten years.
But in the absence of reliable data, it is just as likely that gap children now languish in orphanages and foster homes, live on the streets, or have died due to inadequate care or untreated medical conditions. In any case, international adoption remains a crucial option for helping such children in need, so policymakers need to determine the real causes behind international adoption’s plummeting numbers.
proper family & social support and employable life skills are at the higher risk. SOS Children’s Villages, Sri Lanka has realised the significance and the need to prepare youth for leaving care which is the crucial ingredient of a successful alterative care system. A percentage of 65 young persons, who were systematically integrated to the society after being in SOS care, are satisfied
with the process of integration, where 85% stated that the education that is formal, informal and non-formal received is sufficient to find a better employment. Young persons who received vocational training had more advantage in initiating successful self-employments than others (SOS Children’s Villages Sri Lanka, 2011). Further, the family roots esteemed in SOS concept have given young person’s confidence to associate with society as a normal person as they have a mother,
brothers and sisters and a home of their own. However, imparities in law and implications in education system create discrimination for young person’s coming from alternative care (SOS Children’s Villages Sri Lanka, 2014), and the complications of biological and psychosocial factors of young persons create scenarios where the individualised process of integration is required. Furnishing young person’s with employable skills, proving a family environment to grow and
effective process on integration to society with psychosocial support will provide young persons
the empowerment to become independent and live a productive life after care.
individual factors, social relationships, and institutional support that are necessary for a successful
transition to young adulthood. Such models may be applicable to at-risk populations, including
youth in institutionalised care. Institutional care is a documented risk factor for adverse social and
mental health outcomes; however, studies have documented common factors that promote positive
development among institutionalised youth. The purpose of the current article is to assess the
relevance of Western youth development models to adolescents in institutional care in India. The
authors review three frameworks for positive youth development, present a critical literature
review on youth in institutional care, and situate results within relevant cultural, historic and
socioeconomic contexts in India. Youth development models are used to synthesise findings, and
potential implications are illustrated with a case example of an exemplary institutional care setting
in India. When situated within the larger socioeconomic, historical and cultural contexts, international
literature and Western youth development models may serve as a potential resource for practitioners
and institutions working with youth in alternative care.
and debated at policy and execution level from the last two decades. Numerous studies have been
conducted in developing countries to critically evaluate existing regulations, policies and schemes
on child-care provision. The focuses of these studies were largely on the interventions through
laws and schemes. However, very little studies were conducted on care facilities available for the
Tibetan children living in exile. This article explores the vision of the newly elected Tibetan
government-in-exile to provide quality child care at the care centres so as to obtain the larger goals
of social transformation by taking into account the broader social and cultural context in which the
care is provided. The study is based on field observation undertaken in Tibetan settlement in
Dharamshala and interviews conducted with Tibetan government officials, child-care providers
and community representatives to collect primary data.
possible between the under-privileged mass in our country, both children, young adults, the
elderly and the old. The postmodern condition, into which we all are inevitably inducted, often
gives rise to the newborn, with various problems. These include the big number of babies who are
detected to be mentally retarded (MR) or children with intellectual disabilities (ID). The privileged
classes try to give systematic care which helps the families to cope with the event, usually with
a better sense of acceptance. The problem however is never cured. The sorry class, on the other
hand, grabs the opportunity to put such children in homes, which have a system of continuous
care and help. Most of these homes are state sponsored or Non-Governmental Organizations
(NGOs). The third section of the annexure of IPOP (Integrated Program for Older Persons), a
central sector scheme, undertaken by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government
of India, states that steps need to be taken to ‘build and strengthen inter-generational relationships,
particularly between children/youth and older persons’ (Ministry of Social Justice and
Empowerment, 2010). This revised scheme is effective from 1.4.2015. Keeping in mind the big
cities of India (I choose to discuss about homes in West Bengal with Kolkata and Chandernagore
as examples), it would be safe to say that homes of different sorts are functional and are directed
to serve people with a specific problem. The homes for the MR and the ones for the abandoned
are hence often at warring fronts; they do not want to function in tandem because of owing to the
confusion that would result in doing so. The homes for boys and girls - MR and otherwise, face
hurdles which are often difficult to resolve, due to lack of manpower and funds.
His presence and expertise on raising awareness and sensitising people on existing laws, implementing them and bringing justice for children not just in Bangladesh but also in other countries around the globe, has been greatly appreciated by the participants, practitioners, volunteers as well as the organisers. Therefore, we have
invited him to share more of all his knowledge in the present interview.
That is the rosy picture of adoption that most of us would like to believe. It is true to some extent that orphaned or abandoned children who are taken up for adoption fare much better in life than those children who spend their entire childhood in centres for orphaned and abandoned children. However, one major thing that we tend to overlook, as prospective adoptive parents or as ardent supporters of adoption, is the difficulties that are present in this process, both for the children that are adopted, as well as for the adoptive parents.
Tina Traster’s book, Rescuing Julia Twice: A Mother’s Tale of Russian Adoption and Overcoming Reactive Formation Disorder, provides us with an articulate and honest insight into some of these various challenges. Traster and her husband, Ricky, after several attempts to conceive a child, finally decide to adopt one from a Russian, more specifically Siberian, orphanage in their late-forties. The book describes Traster’s journey, beginning with her arrival at the desolate town of Novosibirsk in cold Siberia to meet Julia, the little baby girl that she will be adopting, and the challenges she faces in bringing her up after she discovers that her baby girl suffers from Reactive Formative Disorder (RAD), a common ailment found in adopted
children as a result of the early trauma suffered by them due to the separation from their birth parents. It is an insider’s account of the trials and tribulations that adoptive parents experience and have to struggle with, a perspective that we do not get to read or hear about because of the halo created around adoption, and more so, around the people who choose adoption. It is a book that should be read by people prepared to encounter a not-so-rosy picture of parenthood, where a mother struggles to find
herself as a parent, a mother who spends months in guilt and shame for not being
The film begins with a conversation between caregivers at the eponymous facility Short Term 12. Mason, a caregiver, is narrating to Nate, a caregiver on his first day of work at the facility, a rather challenging experience he had with a child who ran away on his first day. The conversation is joined by colleagues Grace and Jessica. He shares that he was on gate duty, a position assigned to talk children out of leaving due to a legal right that permitted children to leave the facility if they wished. Before the story concludes, suddenly, a child named Sammy runs out of the facility
hysterically towards the gate, whom the caregivers rush to catch hold of. When caught, he abuses them maliciously for some time, trying to be free of their grasps, when Grace reassures him that it was okay and that he just needed to get it out of his system. He continues abusing them for a while and eventually calms down. Nate was stunned by the experience, something that was rather normal at the facility, brought out by Mason acknowledging to the group that Sammy got quite far this time. This is one among the many scenes in the film that reflects on the challenges of caring for children and youth with trauma, and the exceptional skills required for
such a role.
The caregivers move in to the facility and Grace, along with handing over some induction forms to Nate, clarifies the nature of his role stating “Remember, you are not their parent or their therapist; you are here to create a safe environment, that is it.” While she thus highlights the boundaries of their role as caregivers, as the film progresses, it becomes evident that for caregivers whose priority is the welfare of
Research and discussion on alternative care for children has burgeoned over the past decades, developing our understanding on its forms, functions and impacts. Some of the adverse impacts of institutional care on children and youth found by research has steered the more recent global shift towards deinstitutionalisation and family strengthening, to ensure that children receive the best possible care. While these efforts have been commendable and are much required, it can be observed that much of the literature encircles the children in care, with too few studies and debates taking into account the caregivers.
Caregivers in the context of alternative care, be it foster care, kinship care, small group home care or care in institutions and orphanages, play an unparalleled role in supporting the children. They take on multiple responsibilities, such as the physical and emotional health and well-being of children, ensuring their proper care, protection and guidance, nurturing their talents and strengths, and overseeing all the requirements
for children to grow and develop well, including their education, accommodation, food, social interactions and life skills. They are essentially the mother, father, friend and guide to the children, all rolled into one. Yet, it is worrying how little has been studied about the impact of the work they do, and the often unacknowledged need to ensure caregivers’ well-being, which directly informs the quality of the support extended by them. National and international laws address the needs of children in
Caregivers are sometimes the best friends or big brothers/sisters of children. These caregivers play with the kids like their own, make happy moments, enjoy together and create memories for each other. The caregivers become attached so much with the kids that they do not even think of changing their job, and if they must due to circumstances, try to come back as much as possible. I remember this kind of situation where one caregiver left and came back after just months. When I saw him I asked him, “What drives you back to us?” He replied “I was getting a good salary there but internal satisfaction was not there; I was missing all of you and the great attachment that I have with you all”. This shows that children not only become bonded with each other, but also with the caregivers. “Love with Care” is what most of us children are in need of. Love and care are the factors that create a very strong bond with our home caregivers. Sometimes, the caregivers show so much love and care for children that the children start loving caregivers as their parents and start calling them Mummy or Papa.
I am personally very much attached with my home caregivers. I love to sit with them, talk about my life and learn about theirs. I feel very relaxed after sharing my life stresses with them; I feel heard. When they share their experiences of life with me, I feel I am quite blessed for not having too many distressful situations. One thing I personally like the most is that our caregivers generate the sense of belongingness and are ever-willing to extend their helping nature. They teach us
for quality care, in ways acceptable to local child rearing traditions; how to help staff change their mindsets from being institutional employees to develop skills as local innovative community experts; and finally, how to motivate enough families and communities to include children and
youth without parental care. To provide organisations with low-cost solutions, the Fairstart Foundation develops blended learning packages in a two-year cooperation with partner organisations. After joint research to map an organisation’s needs, Fairstart designs a six month instructor’s
online classroom for staff groups. As part of the curriculum, each student trains a local group of caregivers, using Fairstart’s program USB in local language and culture versions. In Fairstart partnerships, 540 staff from organisations in 26 countries graduated as instructors, and have so far
trained the caregivers of more than 35,000 children and youth in care, indicating the relevance of the blended learning approach for partners. Further research is recommended.
examined using a regression model. Most of the directors believe that the position of a residential caregiver should become a profession with formal training and licensing, and that the job requires high standards of personal attributes and professional skills. Some directors were ambivalent due
to the nature of the job, which they reported requires young and highly motivated workers, who can establish a close relationship with the children. This study discusses the possibility that accreditation and professionalisation of the role of the caregiver working in residential facilities in Israel could provide a solution to the difficulties and challenges faced by caregivers in the group residential care model, and two working models are proposed.
alternative care are referred by court order or through probation office. These children are placed in foster care homes and children’s homes to ensure their safety and security. The focal view point of this study is to identify the ramifications of the socialisation process on institutionalised girl children. The main objective of this study is to examine the social relationships of institutionalised girl children and its impact on their overall socialisation process. The study used a qualitative research methodology to gather primary data through case studies, semi-structured interviews,
observations and key person’s interviews. The findings of this study disclose the need for introducing effective solutions on the socially deprived institutionalised girl children towards child-friendly
policymaking, providing quality institutionalised care and suggesting alternative care options to ensure the best interest of children in Sri Lanka.
review is to analyse the existing published studies regarding these caregivers’ relationships, with a focus on programs in South Asia. The review analysis is also based on first-hand experiences shared by the caregivers working with children in alternative care in India. These findings are based on focused group discussions with caregivers working with children in child care institutions, group foster care and aftercare settings, along with available literature reviews on the same. This research will help in guiding the policies for better child care, with a focus on developing the child–caregiver relationship, while also addressing and resolving concerns in the relationship dynamics of caregivers with other staff and the organisation.
critical resource in providing group-home services, and the organisation has successfully recruited and retained caregivers over the past 11 years. This study uses a review of the organisation’s personnel files and interviews with staff of 5 years or more, to understand the challenges and the best strategies for recruitment and retention amongst caregivers working with children with disabilities. Referral bonuses, transparent compensation, paid leave and workplace safety were the factors identified as favourable to recruitment and retention among caregivers at SCH.
prevalence of 10 adverse childhood experiences of child caregivers, using survey results for teachers as a control group. This comparison indicates that caregivers in South India have more ‘ghosts’ from their own childhood that are likely to adversely affect their caregiving. This situation suggests
the need to develop compensatory actions to help the child caregivers – some of which are identified in this article – so that the children in their care will experience ‘angels’ during their childhood that will promote their emotional growth and their own future parenting.
significant past trauma, depression and anxiety outcomes. Exploring the coping strategies as well.
Observation Home for Boys II, Delhi. The third interview was conducted with Mr. Deepak Sharma, Honorary Director and Mentor Father of Udayan Care’s Jagshanti Ghar in Greater Noida. The responses from the interviews, although conducted separately, have been brought together per question to enable easier reading.