Abstract
Foster Care/Out-of-Home Care
The number of children taken in by children’s homes in Mumbai are expected to spike now that the lockdown has eased, and people face financial difficulties, children separated from their families during the migrant exodus and those who had returned to their parents only temporarily come back. Children coming in during the lockdown are quarantined in specially demarcated shelter homes. Experts also feel local governments must ensure survival essentials to reach families so that parents don’t have to leave the children in institutions. ‘It has to be considered that not all children from impoverished families may need shelter based rehabilitation. Families may need the child at home but with sponsorship. The government should also start activating sponsorship programmes under the Juvenile Justice Act and Rehabilitation Alternative Care. The district child protection units should also be further strengthened. Family strengthening at the time of the crisis is envisaged under the Integrated Child Protection Scheme’, said Priti Patkar, social worker and co-founder of the NGO, Prerana. (Borwankar, V., & Samerve, R. (2020, June). Mumbai children’s homes prepare for post-lockdown surge in numbers.
A snapshot of the availability and coverage of data on children living in residential and foster care from 142 countries covering more than 80 per cent of the world’s children were gathered. Utilizing these country-level figures, it was estimated that approximately 2.7 million children between the age of 0 and 17 years could be living in institutional care worldwide. The article also presents regional estimates of the number of children living in residential and foster care. Only 88 countries had available foster care data, covering a period between 2006 and 2017, representing just 25 per cent of the world’s children. Across all regions, it was more difficult to locate reliable data on children in foster care than on those in residential care. In South Asia, for instance, where data on the number of children in residential care were identified for all countries, only one (Sri Lanka) had data for the number of children in foster care. (Petrowski, N., Cappa, C., & Gross, P. (2017). Estimating the number of children in formal alternative care: Challenges and results. Child Abuse & Neglect, 70, 388–398.
UNICEF Cambodia and its partners are responding to the needs of children in residential care during the COVID-19 pandemic by banning new admissions of children into any residential care facility; visits by any external people to orphanages were suspended; the supply team so far has distributed more than 35,000 soaps and sanitizers to care facilities; in collaboration with the government and partners, UNICEF developed case management guidelines to be followed and hotline phone numbers have also been distributed to all caregivers, which they can use to call counsellors for psycho-social support. UNICEF can take some satisfaction that Cambodia’s move towards de-institutionalisation has yielded results. In 2015, there were more than 26,000 children in about 600 residential facilities; and before that, there was no available data for assessing the full scale of the orphanage system. Over the last 3 years, thousands of children have returned home to their families. (Khadka, S., & Sem, B. (2020, May). Caring for children left behind in residential care during COVID-19 throughout Cambodia. UNICEF.
New research led by Melissa and EY partner Mark Galvin based on COVID-19 infection rates and carer demographics suggests that 20 per cent of existing foster carer households could become affected by the virus through carer infection alone. This could affect placements for some 8,500 children in foster and kinship care. As 88 per cent of foster carers are over the age of 40, they are particularly vulnerable to more severe COVID-19 symptoms. Not all carers who contract the illness will be unable to provide ongoing care, but many children are likely to require support and alternative accommodations during this time. However, even if health concerns make finding foster carers more challenging during the crisis, an ensuing economic recession may not exacerbate the situation further. (Melissa Kaltner. (2020, April). For children in foster care, the coronavirus pandemic could be extremely destabilising.
Just after stay-at-home orders became a norm for most of the country, one national poll found that over 25 per cent of the responding young adults from foster care ages 18–24—in the critical aging-out phase—were experiencing heightened food insecurity; nearly 40 per cent were forced to move or were in fear of having to move; and nearly 33 per cent said they had enough money for a week or less of living costs. (Suriano, J. (2020, May). What happens when you age out of foster care during a pandemic? The Nation.
The impacts of COVID-19 on vulnerable children and families in the community, in particular those who reside in, or are likely to enter, the foster care or ‘out-of-home care’ (OOHC) system is often disregarded. The impacts include increased risk of placement instability due to reduced ability to monitor child protection risk, carer illness, reduced support service accessibility, reduced family contact and delays in court assessment. These issues are likely to create increasing pressure on the OOHC system in the months ahead, as children are exposed to maltreatment for longer periods of time prior to child protection intervention and existing placements are subject to instability driven by COVID-19’s impacts. There exists an opportunity to ameliorate this risk; evidence highlights that when unemployment is higher, more members of the community elect to provide foster and kinship care. In light of this, there exists a unique opportunity for carer recruitment to meet arising need for child protection placements in the coming months to support wellbeing outcomes for children in need of care. (Galvin, M., & Kaltner, M. (2020, April). Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on out-of-home care in Australia.)
Adoption
In a circular issued by Sanjay Barshilia, Director CARA, all SARAs, DCPUs and SAAs have been informed of an extension in the in-country adoption process in light of the ongoing COVID pandemic. The circular details that the timeline for filing petitions in court for adoption cases, where matching has already been undertaken, will now take place till 30 June 2020 or till the date the registry of courts reopens, whichever date falls later. The circular is in continuation to earlier circulars issued on 3 April 2020 and 28 April 2020 by the same authority. To end, the circular adds that the referral of children to PAPs is suspended till further orders are issued. (CARA. (2020, May). Extension in timelines related to the in-country adoption process, due to the Prevailing Situation (COVID-19). Government of India. http://cara.nic.in/PDF/Circular_Incountry.pdf)
The Ministry of Women and Child Development has digitised the entire adoption process from the last four years. This has brought in transparency and streamlined the process, the lack of human intervention has resulted in a different set of conflicts: Adoption agencies have minimal interaction with the parents; minimal emphasis on adequate counselling either for parents or children that potentially lead both parents and the child to end up in conflicting situations. The online system is also pan-Indian, allowing inter-state adoption. This creates linguistic and cultural challenges, which neither the parents nor the child is equipped to handle. Prospective parents who come with high expectations either about the appearance of the child or about their performance in school tend to get disappointed. Owing to this, as many as 275 such children had been returned to the system across states between April 2017 and March 2019, according to an RTI filed by Karnataka social workers. (Sastry, S. H. M. (2020, Jan). Adoption: Online, but without a soul? Deccan Herald.
Deinstitutionalisation
The global policy of deinstitutionalisation (DI) of child welfare travelled was translated and institutionalised in two post-Soviet countries—Russia and Kazakhstan. These countries share a Soviet legacy of child welfare systems dominated by residential care and have recently introduced similar DI reforms based on the global child rights framework. However, despite similar institutional legacies and post-Soviet conditions, the DI reforms have produced different outcomes in terms of the scope and pace of the institutionalisation of DI policy. In Russia, the DI of child welfare has been a fast-moving and sweeping reform, while, in Kazakhstan, the implementation of DI has been an incremental and gradual process. We argue that the institutionalisation of the DI policy in two post-Soviet contexts was an outcome of the interplay between structural factors and the agency of policy actors who translated global DI ideology into domestic policy discourses. (An, S., & Kulmala, M. (2020, May). Global deinstitutionalisation policy in the post-Soviet space: A comparison of child-welfare reforms in Russia and Kazakhstan. Global Social Policy.
A study by Leyla Ismayilova received a grant to adapt and evaluate strategies for mitigating mental health issues among children leaving orphanages and residential institutions in Azerbaijan. The research team will rigorously evaluate which of three different approaches could best assist children reintegrating from institutions with their families: (a) a group-based programme helping families strengthen their supportive parenting skills and understanding the role of trauma in managing child behavioural problems, (b) screening and connection to mental health services and (c) an asset-based economic programme providing savings accounts for children to help their families save for education, housing or small business start-ups. It will also build multidisciplinary teams and will train local mental health clinicians in preventive family-focused and trauma-informed approaches. Using a theory- and data-driven approach to develop and evaluate country-specific solutions accounting for local cultural factors could improve the services and policies for children from institutions. (Koppes, S. (2020, May). Using science to improve deinstitutionalization outcomes for children in a post-Soviet country. SSA Magazine.)
Childcare Sector: Funding and Donations
Childcare institutions have seen a drop in funding as well as donations in the form of food items and other resources. Corporate companies are making their employees work from home, and there are no CSR activities. Many of the donors make donations after interacting with children, which is totally prohibited these days. Few orphanages are dependent on donations for their rations, lack of which is forcing them to send the children back to their relatives for a few months till the issue pertains. Keeping children engaged indoors has become a challenge. The Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has asked CWC members to minimise exposure to children, all orders to be given through mail and Skype to be used for interaction with children and staff. (The Hindu. (2020, March). Orphanages see a 50% drop in donations.)
In a joint report by Barnardo’s, the Children’s Society, Action for Children, the NSPCC and the National Children’s Bureau, the charities warned the pandemic will exacerbate existing problems in underfunded local authorities. They said as available funding for children’s services has fallen by £2.2 billion over the last decade, councils are now unable to intervene early due to budget issues. The charities said between 2010–2011 and 2018–2019, local authority spending on early intervention services dropped by 46 per cent. Barnardo’s chief executive, Javed Khan said, ‘We have long warned about the “perfect storm” facing children’s social care, and the gap between demand and resource will widen further as a result of coronavirus. Now there is a new wave of “hidden” children, falling into poverty, experiencing domestic abuse and tipping the existing crisis in mental health into catastrophe’. (ITV, 2020, May). Invest in children’s services to prevent post-coronavirus crisis, charities warn. ITV News.
New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics report reveal that, despite small gains in May, the childcare industry has lost 326,000 workers since February—roughly 31 per cent of all jobs across the sector nationwide. Behind those lost jobs are more than 100,000 closed childcare programmes that may never reopen and millions of children who may not have a trusted provider to return to when their parents head back to work. The sector’s devastation disproportionately harms workers and families of colour, entrenching and exacerbating long-standing racial and gender inequities in childcare. Women of colour are overrepresented in the childcare workforce, meaning that it will be disproportionately black, Latina and Native women who are grappling with the loss of wages as programmes shutter. Advocates have called for at least $50 billion in direct, designated federal funding to mitigate the fallout for providers and families. So far, relief bills have failed to deliver the level of support the system desperately needs. For some parents, particularly mothers, the loss of their childcare provider will keep them out of the workforce entirely. Congress can take the first step by passing the Child Care Is Essential Act. (Ulrich, R., & Robbins, K. G. (2020, May). The Coronavirus crisis has cut the childcare sector. The Hill.
Violence Against Women and Children
Studies show that child labour is linked to financial setbacks in a family brought on by illness or loss of employment for a parent. They could also become vulnerable to child traffickers who may promise the parents a better life for the child with the prospect of income in cities. Economic hardship is also a major factor in the increase in child marriages. The State must step up vigilance on the plight of children affected by the COVID-19 fallout. Governments must expand the midday meal scheme even if they are out of school, as Kerala has done as insurance against their being forced into the labour market or marriage. India must now plan for the fact that normal school life will not resume soon. Many may not go back into the school system at all. With the substantial economic package, the prime minister mentions demography as a pillar of the government’s revival plan. The infusion of capital into efforts to push back the pandemic and get the economy moving must include children’s rights and security as a fundamental pillar. (Panicker, L. (2020, May). Opinion: Protect Children from the Fallout of COVID-19. Hindustan Times.
The increase in reported cases of GBV and violence against children since the start of the COVID-19 crisis is driven by several factors. Families in highly pressured situations may also resort to child labour, transactional sex, FGM and child marriage. Removing children from a protective environment such as school further exacerbates these risks. The United Nations (UN) and the Government of Kenya launched a flash appeal this month, seeking $267 million to respond to the most immediate needs of over 10 million people during the pandemic. At the county level, ‘dignity kits’ will be distributed to the most affected areas. These kits contain sanitary pads, soap, whistles and flashlights so women and girls can protect themselves from violence and maintain a level of dignity during the crisis. The gaps in violence prevention and response existed in Kenya before COVID-19. This crisis magnifies these gaps as resources and access to services become even more strained. (Mutavati, A., Zaman, M., & Olajide, D. (2020, May). Fighting the shadow pandemic of violence against women and children during COVID-19. UNSDG.
COVID-19 and Children’s Rights
This Human Rights Watch report outlines key human rights risks to children related to the COVID-19 crisis and steps that governments should take to protect children’s rights in the pandemic, mitigate its devastating effects and benefit children after the crisis is over. (
Governmental Intervention in Childcare Institutions (COVID-19)
In the last couple of years, the Government of India had been embracing the ‘global trend’ of rehabilitating such kids into their own homes, by empowering poor households so that they can provide for their own kids. ‘80% CCIs we work with have not sent children home as advised by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) through its notification dated 29 March. This, however, differs from state to state’, pointed out Satyajeet Mazumdar, Head of Advocacy at Catalysts for Social Action. Mazumdar also explained that those CCI kids who turn 18 this year will be deinstitutionalised. They will have a tough fight ahead. They may have to settle for cheap manual labour jobs instead of getting vocational training as, in a post-COVID-19 world, the opportunities for jobs will shrink considerably. Apart from children at CCIs, minors who lived in observational homes have also been asked to return to their families, pointed out Soledad Herrero, Chief of Child Protection, UNICEF (India); however, that rehabilitation too has been riddled with infrastructural challenges. (Dey, S. (2020, May). No country for them? Orphans, child labourers ‘invisible & uncounted’ collateral victims of Covid-19 crisis. News18 India.
The Supreme Court judgement in Re Contagion of COVID 19 Virus in Children Protection Homes, Suo Motu Writ Petition (Civil) No.4 of 2020 details measures to be taken by Child Welfare Committees, Juvenile Justice Boards and Children Courts, state governments with regard to children in state care, directions to the person in charge of CCIs and all other staff, set up of new national helpline on COVID19; Childline 1098 continues to operate, preventive and responsive measures for CCIs, measures for children under foster and kinship care and guidance of measures to ensure the wellbeing of children (CNCP and CiCWL). (
The SOP covers the guidelines covered by the recent directives and circulars issued by the department for prevention and control of COVID-19 in the CCIs located in the NCT of Delhi. The guidelines are in accordance with the Suo Moto Writ Petition (Civil) No. 4 of 2020, issued by an Apex Court on 3 May 2020. The document covers the following in detail: child centric distancing norms, respiratory etiquettes, hygiene practices and lockdown awareness at an institutional level; training, sanitisation, education and security of the staff working at these institutions; provision of utility and services to ensure availability of clothing, bedding, dietary and general items; screening procedure, medical support and procedure after diagnosis; capacity building of staff and encouraging child participation; maintenance of health and mental wellbeing. The SOP had been further copied to all childcare institutions in NCT of Delhi, district officers/District Child Protection Unit and Child Welfare Committee. (Department of Women & Child Development. (2020). Standard operating procedure for child-care institutions to prevent COVID-19 infections. New Delhi: Government of NCT of Delhi. http://www.wcddel.in/pdf/SOPforCorona11April.pdf)
Minister of Women, Children, and Senior Citizen, Parbat Gurung, interacted with children during Save the Children and Community Information Network’s (CIN) ‘Ministers with Children’, a campaign designed to elevate the voices of children in COVID-19 discussions, with the aim to make elected representatives and policymakers more accountable towards the need and challenges of children in Nepal. The minister in an hour-long live radio broadcast from the Community Information Network (CIN), broadcast from 300+ community FM stations, interacted and answered questions posed by children on COVID-19 and its effect in their lives. Speaking about the campaign, Bandana Risal, the Interim Country Director of Save the Children in Nepal expressed that the ‘Ministers with Children’ national campaign resonates to Protect a Generation, Save the Children’s global response strategy to prevent, mitigate and respond to the COVID-19 crisis. (Save the Children. (2020, May). ‘Ministers with Children’ campaign brings children’s voices in the forefront of COVID-19 discussion.
Made up of more than 40 countries, Asia defies easy categorisation. In too many countries, state regulatory controls are becoming increasingly restrictive, particularly for advocacy and other groups engaged in independent civil society activity. Recognising these restrictions has become more important considering COVID-19, as effective public health responses are being hampered by regulatory burdens on civil society. In restricting civil society, governments in Asia are using a wide range of regulatory tools; laws that impede the formation or registration of civil society organisations; prohibition of the operation of unregistered groups; and burdensome reporting requirements and regulatory scrutiny of foreign organisations. At the same time, we also witness countervailing trends: procedural safeguards in the registration context, growth of domestic giving and philanthropy and economic activities and social entrepreneurship. Based on these trends, ICNL recommends that governments should facilitate the formation and establishment of CSOs, provide for voluntary registration and streamline registration procedures, strengthen the independence and professionalism of registration bodies, remove territorial limitations on the activities of registered organisations, simplify termination and dissolution rules, refrain from or reduce invasive supervisory approaches, remove or reduce foreign funding restrictions, facilitate philanthropic giving and facilitate, within appropriate limits, the ability for CSOs to engage in economic activities. (Sidel, M., & Moore, D. (2020). The law affecting civil society in Asia. International Center for Not-for-Profit Law.