Concluding thoughts

In this video, Jennifer Davidson shares with you concluding thoughts and summarises some of the main themes we have covered over the six weeks of the course

We have considered a large amount of material along the way regarding how we think about and respond to children at risk of losing, or those without, parental care. We have spent time considering the content of the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children and what the guidance means for those who have responsibility for developing and implementing child protection and child care systems.

We have learnt about the “necessity” and “suitability” principles and explored their meaning both as concepts as well as how they should be used in practice. Listening to children, young people, practitioners, and policy makers from different countries has meant we were provided with the opportunity to think about, not just what is good practice, but how we can ensure it is contextually relevant.

From all the topics we have explored over the past six weeks, there are numerous questions we could ask now. So rather than provide an extensive list we will limit ourselves to three key questions:

• Thinking about the “necessity” principle, now you have completed the course, do you think differently about the task of preventing unnecessary use of alternative care?
• Thinking about the “suitability” principle, do you think more could be done in your country, to improve alternative care for children and if so, what?
• How can we ensure all decisions are always made in the best interest of children?

Please share your answers in the discussion below. Please remember to be mindful of confidentiality and the right to privacy of other people.

Remember, you can “like” comments if you agree with what’s been said or if you have found something particularly interesting, or you can “reply” to comments to initiate a conversation.

Thank you so much for all your contributions!