An empowerment perspective on social work interventions in the protection of vulnerable children

The impact of para-professional social workers and community health care workers in Côte d'Ivoire: Contributions to the protection and social support of vulnerable children in a resource poor country

According to the general Census of Population conducted in December 2003, the Central African Republic population is 3 895 139 million. According to this Census of Population, Persons with disabilities are 50 636, that is 1,3 % of the total population; the most prevalent forms of disabilities include partial paralysis, sensory disabilities such as deaf. The Central African Republic signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), as well as its Optional Protocol on 11 October 2016. The CRDP was ratified on 11 October 2016 by the Central African Republic government. The Constitution of the Central Africa Republic contains no provision dealing directly with disabilities. The term disability does not openly appear in the Constitution. Nevertheless, the Constitution provides for the right to equality for all, including persons with disabilities. The rights to employment, education, etc, for all, are also guaranteed by the Preamble on the Constitution. The Central African Republic has numerous pieces of legislation that directly address disability. The key ones are Law N°00.007of 20 December 2000 on the promotion and the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities, which has not yet been ratified, the decree N°02.205 of 06 August 2002 that instituted application measures of Law N°00.007of 20 December 2000. The policies that directly address persons with disabilities are: (1) the national policy and its action plan; (2) the national policy of social welfare and its action plan; and (3) the national strategy on the protection of vulnerable children and the national policy on protection of children as well as its action plan including programmes affecting directly people with disabilities.Other than ordinary courts or tribunals, the Central African Republic has no official body that specifically addresses the violation of the rights of people with disabilities. However, on 28 June 2017 the government established a national Human Rights Commission which has to be autonomous, neutral and endowed with a legal entity. It also enjoys administrative, technical and financial autonomy and independence of action. While waiting for the effectivity of the Human Rights Commission, its mandate is discharged by the National High-Commission for Human Rights of Central African Republic. The Central African Republic also has a Human Rights Federation which organises actions on the promotion and protection of persons with disabilities. There are numerous organisations that represent and advocate for the rights and welfare of persons with disabilities in the Central African Republic. They include l’Association Ministère d’Evangélisation; Ensemble pour la Promotion et l’Insertion des Personnes Handicapées; and l’Association Nationale la Main des sourds Muets pour le Travail et le Développement de Centrafrique. In the Central African Republic, the Ministry of National and Higher Education; and the Ministry of Family, Social Work, and National Solidarity are involved in promoting and protecting disability rights. Persons with disabilities in this country face many problems such as the lack of doctors specialised in re-education and rehabilitation. Where access is concerned, persons with disabilities have difficulties in accessing public buildings, public transport, education, vocational training, healthcare, employment justice and other social structures, in practice, very little is done to ensure access for persons with disabilities. The Central African Republic government should strengthen and speed up the implementation of its national policies and programmes for the implementation of disability rights. It should increase the promotion of disability rights especially in the rural areas.

According to the results of the General Census of Population conducted in 2009 (2018 projection), the Chadian population is 15, 1 million. According to the report of the National Union of Persons with Disabilities of 2014, Persons with disabilities are 1 691 116, that is 14% of the total population; the most prevalent forms of disabilities include sensory disabilities, motor disabilities and visual disabilities. The Republic of Chad signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), as well as its Optional protocol on 26 September, 2012. The CRDP was ratified 20 June 2019 by the Chadian government. The Optional Protocol was adopted at the National Assembly 26 September, 2012. The Constitution of the Republic of Chad contains no provision dealing directly with disabilities. The term disability does not openly appear in the Constitution. Nevertheless, the Constitution provides for the right to equality for all, including persons with disabilities. The rights to employment, education, ect, for all are also guaranteed by the preamble of the Constitution. The Republic of Chad has numerous pieces of legislation that directly address disability. The key ones are the Law n°007/PR/2007, of 7 May 2007 on the protection and promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities, which has not yet been ratified; the decree 136/PR/PM/MCFAS/94 of 16 June 1994 that instituted the National Day of Persons with Disability celebrated on 7 February every year. The policies that directly address persons with disabilities are: (1) the national policy and its action plan; (2) the national policy of social welfare and its action plan; and (3) the national strategy on the protection of vulnerable children and the national policy on protection of children as well as its action plan including programmes affecting directly people with disabilities. Other than ordinary courts or tribunals, the Chad Republic has no official body that specifically addresses the violation of the rights of people with disabilities. The Republic of Chad has had a National Human Rights Commission since 9 September 1994. It is autonomous, neutral and endowed with a legal entity. It enjoys administrative, technical and financial autonomy and independence of action. The Republic of Chad also has a Human Rights Federation which organises actions on the promotion and protection of persons with disabilities. There are numerous organisations that represent and advocate for the rights and welfare of persons with disabilities in the Republic of Chad, represented by Maison Notre Dame de Paix de Moundou Association, the Kabalaye Equipment and Rehabilitation Centre of N’djamena, and Handicap Santé which is an NGO. In the Republic of Chad, the Ministry of National Education and Higher Education; the Ministry of Social Work, National Solidarity and the Family; the Ministry of Human Rights and the Promotion of Freedoms; the Ministry of Women, Early Childhood Protection and National Solidarity are ministers that are involved in promoting and protecting disability rights. Persons with disabilities in the Republic of Chad face many problems such as the lack of doctors specialised in re-education and rehabilitation. Where access is concerned, persons with disabilities have difficulties to access to public buildings, public transport, education, vocational training, health care, employment justice and other social structures; in practice, very little is done to ensure access for persons with disabilities. The Chadian Government shall strengthen and speed up the implementation of its national policies and programmes for the implementation of disability rights.

The future of the NHS and the “huge turbulence” it faces risk having a worryingly negative impact on the protection of vulnerable children, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child...

Child sexual abuse (CSA) adversely affects a child's growth and well-being. This study aimed to describe the profile of children presenting to a tertiary paediatric emergency department(ED) with CSA. Children 0-16 years old presenting to KK Women's and Children's Hospital ED from June 2016 to August 2020 with sexual abuse were retrospectively reviewed. We performed a secondary analysis on girls and stratified them by age <13 and ≥13 years old. There were 790 patients who made 833 visits for CSA. Victims were predominantly girls (747, 94.8%) and perpetrators were predominantly men (763, 96.6%). The abuse first occurred before the age of 13 years in 315 victims (39.9%). For 468 (59.2%), more than one incident occurred before presentation. Compared to girls ≥13 years old, girls <13 years old were more frequently abused by a family member (47.7% versus 8.0%, P<0.001) and abused in their own home (55.7% vs 21.0%, P<0.001). Among all children, parental divorce and the absence of one or both biological parents in the household were prevalent, with 287/783 (36.7%) having divorced parents, and only 374/784 (47.8%) residing with both biological parents. The findings highlight common characteristics of CSA cases, and can aid the future identification and protection of vulnerable children. The fact that most children presented after more than one incident suggests the need to more closely monitor and protect potentially at-risk children.

The role of older women in the care and protection of vulnerable children in sub-Saharan Africa may be changing given increasing rates of orphanhood due to AIDS. Concern regarding their capacity to provide for children and implications for their health and well-being dominate the literature. However, studies have not yet examined the situation of older caregivers in comparison to their younger counterparts over time. In this study, panel data on 1,219 caregivers in rural Malawi between 2007 and 2009 is complemented by in-depth interview (N=62) and group discussion (N=4) data. Caregiver responsibilities, capacity to care for children, and implications for well-being are examined. Chi-square tests examine differences in these measures between older foster caregivers and younger foster caregivers, parents of orphans, and parents of non-orphans. Older women, in comparison with younger counterparts, are more stable as primary caregivers for orphans. Care by older women is particularly valued when younger family stability is threatened by burdens of orphan care. Qualitative data reveal many challenges that older caregivers face, most notably provision of food. However, survey data suggest that the capacity to provide food, schooling and other basic needs is similar among older and younger caregivers. Self-reported health status is generally poorer among older caregivers, however levels of emotional distress and social capital are similar among older and younger caregivers. Providing care for children in old age appears to entail a number of benefits. Older women committed to providing care and protection for children are important assets, particularly in the context of threats to child well-being due to HIV and AIDS. Bolstering older caregivers with material and social support to help sustain their key roles in fostering is a promising avenue for maintaining extended family responses to HIV and AIDS.

The article examines the educational and social needs of children in the devastated and impoverished People’s Republic of Macedonia (Narodna Republika Makedonija – NRM) as one of the constituent units of the yugoslav Federation (Federativna Narodna Republika yugoslavia – FNRJ) in the first years after the end of World War II. The focus is primarily given on the measures and activities that the Macedonian policy makers undertook in the areas of education and social protection of children and the changes their implementation brought in children’s life. Based on the study of a large number of legal acts and other primary sources, the various aspects of the democratization of education and social care in the new postwar political context are examined: expansion of the school network, access to educational and social institutions and services for all children, recognition of the right to education in the mother tongue, establishment of pre-school education, special education and the protection of vulnerable children. The research interest is also focused on the needs of a large number of children refugees, mostly Macedonians, who were evacuated during the civil war in Greece from its northern parts and sent to the socialist states in the Balkans and in Eastern Europe. Most of them were housed in yugoslavia and especially in Macedonia, which in 1948 became the largest transit center and shelter for thousands of children in need. Based largely on archival material and testimonies of child refugees, the article sheds light on the process of evacuation of children, their life in children’s homes throughout Macedonia and the endeavors of the state to meet their needs for shelter, food, education and normal life.

Much attention has recently been focused on the efficacy of cross-sector collaboration within the field of human services in response to increasing rates of child maltreatment and subsequent foster care entries nationwide. Our research includes 200 hours of participant observation, in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 65 professionals broadly involved in the protection of vulnerable children and the support of their parents, and an analysis of 45 case files. It was carried out in a rural region of Kentucky between May 2015 and July 2017. We used established principles of analytic induction to analyze our data. In this study, we explore perceptions of power, authority, inequality, and bureaucratic constraints that emerge during organizational processes of interagency collaboration among multidisciplinary human service organizations situated within the child welfare system. We argue that ethics of care and, subsequently, care work are constrained by power dynamics, primarily embedded in bureaucratically structured human service organizations as well as in policy mandates that embody ethics of justice. We conclude that the tensions between bureaucratic constraints and professional workers’ desire to care for and serve clients often disrupt and undermine organizational missions and policy goals targeting child protection. We indicate the need to examine these structural dynamics at a policy level and provide recommendations with policy implications.

This chapter discusses contemporary child protection in Zimbabwe and the role of social work. It argues that colonial welfare-based social work, in which the social worker is central to the process, no longer suffices for the wellbeing of vulnerable children. Rather, the multisectoral, rights-based child protection model requires participation from multiple stakeholders, including the state, community, related professionals, and the family. In demonstrating the value of this model, the chapter draws on the experiences of the Family Support Trust (FST), a registered nongovernmental organisation (NGO) working with multiple partners (including the victim-friendly police unit, social welfare department, and educational and psychosocial support services) to provide holistic care for sexually abused children in Zimbabwe.

The disclosure of sexual abuse in minors is a complex process that poses many challenges. This review examines the findings of several qualitative studies investigating the experiences and perspectives of sexually abused children, as well as the contexts in which they choose to disclose their experiences. The research examines the emotional, environmental and psychological barriers children face when considering talking about sexual abuse. They highlight the specific fears, needs and concerns that influence their decision to disclose abuse. The results of these studies underline the crucial importance for forensic professionals of understanding the perspectives of child victims and the factors that influence their ability to disclose sexual abuse. This understanding will improve forensic interventions and the protection of vulnerable children.

Perceptions about Traditional Culture in the Solomon Islands and their Potential for Assisting in The Protection of Vulnerable Children

The role of social work in the protection of vulnerable children

Leprosy in children is considered as an indicator of active disease transmission in the community. We report about a seven-year-old male from Telangana, India, with anesthetic skin lesions and familial leprosy history. Clinical examination revealed multiple, dry, scaly, hypopigmented, well-defined, raised punched out anesthetic skin lesions all over the body with both ulnar nerves enlarged. On clinical and laboratory examination, the child was diagnosed with borderline-borderline (BB), multibacillary (MB) leprosy, and Type-1 reaction. The child received a weight-adjusted MB multidrug therapy regimen and corticosteroids for type-1 reactions. This case emphasizes the need for contact tracing and screening for early diagnosis of child leprosy to prevent complications like leprosy reactions which are the risk factors for disability.

Child safety, protection, and safeguarding in the time of COVID-19 in Great Britain: Proposing a conceptual framework

Safeguarding: the missing seat at the table