Transformation of child welfare Institutions in Bandung, West Java: A case of deinstitutionalization in Indonesia

Abstract

The enactment of the National Standard of Care for Child Welfare Institutions in 2011 signifies Indonesia's commitment to deinstitutionalization by guiding the transformation of the country’s Child Welfare Institutions, from facility-based childcare homes or orphanages, to centers of community-based children and family services. Yet, evidence of this transformation of Child Welfare Institutions is scarce. This study aimed to investigate the state of transformation of the child welfare service providers for neglected children in the City of Bandung as a parameter to understand the progress of the deinstitutionalization process in Indonesia.Fifty child welfare service providers (Child Welfare Institutions and government child protection services) operating in Bandung participated in an online survey. Cluster analysis of organizational data combined with an analysis of responses to hypothetical scenarios of children at risk of family separation, grouped service providers into; (i) medium to large, faith-based, non-government Child Welfare Institutions that primarily provide privately funded institutional care services at the Bandung level (50%), (ii) small, secular, non-government Child Welfare Institutions and government child protection services that primarily deliver family support services at the Bandung level (26%) and (iii) medium to large, secular, non-government Child Welfare Institutions that deliver privately funded institutional care and other family support services at the provincial level (24%). While there is evidence of deinstitutionalization activity in Bandung, the large number and relative size of privately operated Child Welfare Institutions suggests a high dependency on institutional care to meet children's general welfare needs.The cluster analysis also indicates limited government funding and the missions of religious organizations as possible constraints on system transformation. Further research is needed to understand the enablers and barriers to transforming the system from predominantly institutional care to a continuum of services in the context of deinstitutionalization in Bandung.