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The system of emergency response measures for the protection of children left without parental care in emergency situations as part of the deinstitutionalisation reform: study

January 7, 2025

The current situation in Ukraine demonstrates that in the context of a full-scale invasion and other crisis phenomena that resulted from it, it is becoming clear that peacetime algorithms do not work in full and standard approaches must be adapted to new realities.

About the study 

In 2024, the Right to Protection Charitable Foundation conducted a monitoring and analytical study on the topic: ‘Emergency Response System for the Protection of Children Left Without Parental Care in Emergencies as a Component of Deinstitutionalisation Reform’, which aimed to identify child protection problems in emergencies and find ways to solve them with a focus on building an effective protection system capable of quickly adapting to emergencies. This system should provide immediate support to children left without care, integrating into the overall context of deinstitutionalisation - the transition from outdated institutional approaches to modern, family-centred forms of care and education.

Key aspects of the study

- The essence, significance and types of emergency response measures in emergencies.

- Key aspects of deinstitutionalisation in emergency situations.

- System of forms of temporary family care and education.

- Problems of individual forms of temporary family care and upbringing.

- Ensuring a sustainable transition from temporary care to permanent family care.

Key findings

Integration of emergency response measures into the deinstitutionalisation process in Ukraine is key to ensuring the sustainable development of the child protection system and preventing children from entering institutional care.

The full-scale invasion faced by Ukraine provoked a number of challenges that required and still require improvement of legislative regulation: emergency (crisis) provision of social services; a system of registration, identification and search for children, their temporary placement; evacuation measures for children; creation of a safe educational environment, etc.

At the legislative level, there is no general framework for the placement of children left without parental care: general provisions and principles on family-based forms of upbringing and care, including temporary ones, are not contained in the current legislation; legal regulation of the institution of legal representation of children needs to be improved.

Key recommendations

In order to systematically update the current national legislation, which is characterised by conflicts and significant duplication of provisions, rather than fragmentary updates, there is a need to develop a codified legislative act (the Code on the Rights of the Child), with a separate section dedicated to ensuring and protecting children's rights in emergencies.

It is important to develop criteria and algorithms for assessing and respecting the best interests of the child in emergencies, which should permeate all response measures in all areas and be developed on the basis of standards for ensuring and protecting children's rights in emergencies.

Given the global nature of today's challenges, new formats of international cooperation are needed, as well as the development of common standards for ensuring and protecting children's rights in emergencies, and the creation of guidelines and tools to support their implementation at the national level.

To read the full text of the study, please follow the link:

RESPONSE SYSTEM FOR THE PROTECTION OF HILDREN DEPRIVED OF PARENTAL CARE IN EMERGENCIES AS A COMPONENT OF THE DEINSTITUTIONALIZATION REFORM

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