Child and Family Support Centre, Indonesia

Focus 8: Gatekeeping: Developing procedures to screen referrals, assess need and authorise placement

The aim of the child and family support centre in West Java Province is to provide professional, effective and direct support to children in need of care and protection. Through comprehensive assessment of the child’s needs, the best course of action is determined to prevent unnecessary institutionalisation.

This has been achieved through the development of a gatekeeping system in the Department of Social Affairs within the Bandung municipality in order to create procedures and tools to respond most appropriately to children in need of care and protection. A case management approach is used to ensure that alternative care for children is used only when necessary and that the chosen setting is the most appropriate in terms of each child’s needs and circumstances. A referral system has been established involving key local government agencies and social service providers to improve access to services for children and their families.

A number of options are open to the case managers including: reunification of children from institutions to their family with appropriate follow up support provided for families – 30 children have been reunified with their parents and other family members (kinship care); prevention of institutionalisation of children through family support and support for educational needs – 450 children have benefitted from this initiative; an initiative to establish a formal foster care mechanism and foster parent group to promote family-based alternative care.

There has also been work to establish effective monitoring of childcare institutions within the context of national care standards and the piloting of the standard of care for three selected childcare institutions within the province.

For more information:

International Social Service, Oak Foundation, SOS Children's Villages International, unicef, ATD Fourth World, Better Care Network, Family for every child, ngo group for the crc, PEPFAR, RELAF, Save the Children, USAID