Webinar on Deinstitutionalizing the Alternative Care System for Children: The implications for the social service workforce

Summary: Webinar co-hosted by Better Care Network and the Global Social Service Workforce Alliance on Deinstitutionalizing the Alternative Care System for Children: The implications for the social service workforce with learning from Rwanda and Moldova

Participants of this webinar will have the opportunity to learn from experts in Rwanda and Moldova about their experiences with the deinstitutionalization of alternative care systems for children, or the shift from institutional care to family-based care.  Deinstitutionalization is a complex process involving much more than closing institutions and moving children to family settings.  It involves the development of a range of family-based alternative care and the transformation or development of social service systems that embrace a child-centered approach.  This reform occurs within a framework of new laws and regulations, shifts in social norms, reorganization of financial and human resources and the establishment of new regulatory systems.

The effectiveness of this process relies on a well-planned, well-trained and supported workforce.  It can involve task shifting and training workers in institutions to take on new tasks, supporting local authorities and decision makers as they oversee the new system, and developing new cadres of community-based workers to provide critical support to families to ensure children receive quality care. These workers also provide key supports to families to help to prevent the future institutionalization of children.

Presenters will provide information on the deinstitutionalization process in their respective countries, identify challenges and highlight specific approaches taken to put in place and train local professionals and para professionals to ensure quality support for children and their families.

Speakers:

• Dr. Stela Grigorash is the Director of Partnerships for EveryChild Moldova supporting the Moldovan government to deinstitutionalize and close large-scale residential institutions, develop a system of child and family preventive and protective services and inclusive education for children with special educational needs.

• Silvia Lupan  joined UNICEF Moldova in 1997 and has been working as a UNICEF Child Protection Officer since 2002, coordinating interventions and providing technical assistance to government counterparts in the field of child care reform as part of wider reform in the social protection sector.

• Dr Delia Pop is the Director of Programmes at Hope and Homes for Children.  Born and educated in Romania, Delia is a medical doctor who has committed the last 15 years to working with children in the institutional care system and families at risk of separation.

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