Better Care Network Toolkit

This online resource has been created to aid child care practitioners and policy makers in planning and providing better care for children - including preventing unnecessary family separation and supporting families and communities to develop better care alternatives when separation is inevitable. The documents included in the toolkit present good practices and have been chosen for their global relevance and practical application.

The toolkit contains a selection of guides and manuals divided into five categories:

• Developing an Informed National Care Strategy
• Standards and Policies for Quality Alternative Care
• Individual Assessments, Care Planning and Family Reunification
• Supporting Children in Care, their Families, and Alternative Caregivers
• Protection and Care in Emergencies

The Better Care Network brings together organizations and individuals concerned about children without adequate family care. It works toward:

• Reducing instances of separation and abandonment of children;
• Reuniting children outside family care with their families, wherever possible and appropriate;
• Increasing, strengthening and supporting family and community based care options for children who cannot be cared for by their parents;
• Establishing international and national standards for all forms of care for children without adequate family care and mechanisms for ensuring compliance;
• Ensuring that residential institutions are used in a very limited manner and only when appropriate.
  

The Better Care Network facilitates active information exchange and collaboration on these issues and advocates for technically sound policy and programmatic action on global, regional, and national levels.

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