How should children and families be reintegrated?
What does reintegration of children and families mean? Recently issued ‘Guidelines on Children’s Reintegration’ published by an inter-agency group on children’s reintegration has been widely accepted within the international care community. It outlines three levels of intervention:
- Work with the child and family
- Work with the wider community, including with schools
- Policy change
This guidance on reintegration builds on several existing care policies, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and provides a set of guiding principles along with models for assessments and leaving care plans.
1 Work with the child and family
The guidance highlights the steps to be taken when working with children and families on the reintegration process, including:
- Assessments to establish whether reunification is possible and in a child’s best interest
- Tracing families if contact has been lost
- Ensuring root causes that led to original separation have been/are being addressed
- Taking the time necessary to facilitate careful preparation of children, their families, and their community
- Facilitating initial contact between a child and their family with all necessary supervision and support
- Continuing with support for the reunification process until the correct time a child is able to live full time with their family
- Offering follow-up support and monitoring after a child returns to their family until it is considered possible to end such support.
2 Work with the wider community
Working with schools and communities involves supporting them to:
- Monitor child wellbeing
- Tackle any possible stigma and discrimination
- Building community support for families and children.
3 Policy change
Creating an environment and systems that are supportive to children’s reintegration include:
- National laws, policy, strategic plans, regulations, guidance, and standards that provide a remit for quality reintegration processes
- Availability of all financial and other needed resources
- Provision of sufficient numbers of well-trained child welfare workers who understand and, can effectively support, children’s reintegration
- Data collection, monitoring and evaluation systems to track progress and inform policy and planning.
It is important to ensure full and meaningful participation of a child in all aspects of planning for and undertaking of a reintegration process.
Getting Care Right for All Children: Implementing the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children
Getting Care Right for All Children: Implementing the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children
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