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RESIDENTIAL CHILD CARE
The Stockholm Declaration
The second international conference on Children and
Residential Care held in Stockholm 12-15 May 2003, sponsored by the
Swedish Foreign Ministry and the Swedish International Development and
Co-operation Agency (Sida), has discussed the situation of children in
long-term residential care.
There is indisputable evidence that
institutional care has negative consequences for both individual
children and for society at large. These negative consequences could
be prevented through the adaptation of national strategies to support
families and children, by exploring the benefits of various types of
community based care, by reducing the use of institutions, by setting
standards for public care and monitoring of the remaining
institutions. The participants at the conference — more than 600
individuals from the governments, civil society and the research
community from 80 countries — have agreed on the following:
Principles
Governments which have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the
Child have certain
binding obligations, including a direct primary responsibility for
children deprived of family care. These obligations also extend to
others in society whose actions can make a difference in the realisation
of child rights. In the case of children deprived of family care, these
obligations include:
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Preventing children from being deprived of family care
in the first case by fighting discrimination and by supporting
appropriate family services.
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Resorting to institutional care only as a last resort
and as a temporary response.
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Developing, financing, implementing and monitoring
alternative systems of care based on the principles of providing
children with a family environment.
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Regulating and monitoring
any remaining institutions for children in public care in line with
agreed international and national standards and the CRC.
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In all actions reflect the voice of youth arid secure
participation from children and families affected.
Actions
In order to translate these principles into actions we
urge governments to:
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Restructure the system of public care in order to
diminish the use of institutions, develop alternative care approaches
and strengthen effective community based preventive and protective
social services.
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Strengthen the legislative framework, in line with the CRC, to ensure that the rights of all children deprived of family care,
including those in prison, are fulfilled.
-
Fight discrimination that
brings children in to public care — including sex, disability, ethnicity
and HIV status of children or their family members.
-
Adopt standards for public care and develop good
monitoring procedures.
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Reallocate funds to prioritise preventive and
alternative care services.
We urge civil society to:
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Assist in the developments of strategies to
deinstitutionalize children and create alternatives.
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Promote the principle of non-discrimination,
especially with regard to HIV-status, ethnicity and disability, among
families, communities, care and service providers and governments.
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Mobilize communities to support families to prevent
children being deprived of family care.
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Push governments to fulfill their commitments under
the CRC to children in public care.
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Transfer skills and experience to local partners and
document and disseminate good practices.
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Create opportunities for child, youth and family
participation in decision-making.
We urge the research community to:
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Assist in creating systems for documentation and
monitoring of children in public care.
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Find a system of common indicators for child
placements.
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Carry out long-term studies on the consequences of
different forms of public care for children as well as their economic
and social cost.
We urge national and international funding partners to:
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Allocate funds based on the principles and actions in
this document.
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Support the development of preventive initiatives and
alternative care systems through experience and capacity building.
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Encourage close co-operation between government and
civil society in supporting children deprive of family care.
We urge practitioners to:
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Further develop community-based approaches and
advocate for their implementation.
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Ensure that the approaches to children in public care
are rights-based.
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Secure participation of children and families in programme design and in decision that directly affect them.
We, the participants of the Stockholm Conference on
Children and Residential Care, declare ourselves committed to work
towards these principles and actions.
