Getting care and protection right for children on the move

You may be a border guard or immigration official. Perhaps you are a social worker working for the government or a non-governmental organisation. You might be a volunteer, a foster carer or a guardian. Maybe a residential care worker, teacher, health worker, judge, lawyer or translator. You may be a youth worker, a community support worker or someone with responsibility for developing policy and legislation. Indeed if you have any responsibility for unaccompanied and separated children – and other children on the move who are at risk of harm – you will have a role to play in contributing to their care and protection.

Over the next few course steps we will think about the importance of identifying unaccompanied and separated children. We will also be exploring the tools and processes of case management that can help us develop and implement care and protection plans for them. A process that is also applicable to accompanied children on the move who might be at risk of harm.

This week we will work step-by-step through the different actions as illustrated in the diagram below from the Global Protection Cluster (2014) Interagency Guidelines For Case Management And Child Protection.