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Dear friends and colleagues,
The past month has been a beehive of activity at the CPC Learning Network and for many of our partners. On the publication front, below you will find a ground-breaking baseline study on children without birth certificates in Indonesia. We have also just released two new reports commissioned by the Child Protection Working Group (CPWG). The first report, undertaken in collaboration with Save the Children UK, surveys the various methods and tools used to measure sexual violence against children and violence in the household in humanitarian settings. The second report reviews the uses of the Child Protection Rapid Assessment toolkit in the field.
In this update, you’ll also find links to recent and upcoming symposia and webinars. We are delighted to share a recap and video footage from the symposium we recently co-hosted with the Global Social Service Workforce Alliance on measuring issues related to the social service workforce. You'll also find a link to a YouTube version of a fascinating recent webinar on conducting research with vulnerable children and youth in Colombia. And please save the date of March 17th for our next webinar—co-hosted with the Community Child Protection Exchange, the Child Protection Monitoring and Evaluation Reference Group (CP MERG), and REPSSI—on conducting "Research on a Shoestring."
Finally, we are pleased to share a variety of relevant resources and opportunities with you from our partners and faculty affiliates—including current projects, job postings, and upcoming conferences. Please take special note of the survey from Evidence Aid to determine priorities for evidence generation in humanitarian intervention. We encourage you to complete the survey and help to make the case for child protection and family welfare. Peace, Mark Canavera
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RECENT CPC RESEARCH AND REPORTS
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Indonesia’s Missing Millions: Report and Press Coverage
As part of the Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Justice (AIPJ), the Center on Child Protection at the University of Indonesia, or PUSKAPA UI—a key institutional affiliate of the CPC Learning Network—recently released a study that surveyed over 320,000 individuals in 17 provinces concerning the lack of birth certificates in Indonesia and the impact this gap is having on the next generation of Indonesians. The study, which also included a cross-sectional quantitative study in select provinces, found that 50 million Indonesian children do not have legal identity in the form of a birth certificate despite that birth certificates are required for children’s access to basic rights such as healthcare and education. Parents either did not understand the complex registration process or faced economic obstacles. The study found that in the poorest 30 percent of households, children with a birth certificate are significantly more likely to complete 12 years of basic education.
You can find the full report
here or read coverage in the
Jakarta Globe, which quotes Santi Kusumaningrum, co-Director of PUSKAPA UI, as she discusses this study’s urgent, and distressing, findings.
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CPC and Save the Children UK Report: Scoping the Existing Methods and Tools Measuring Violence against Children
The CPC Learning Network and Save the Children UK recently completed a scoping exercise to examine two “hard to measure” child protection issues in humanitarian settings: sexual violence against children and violence within the household. Through a comprehensive review of academic and grey literature using current methodologies and tools, the study sought to identify existing promising practices and gaps in current approaches. The study found that new methods of measuring violence against children need to be developed at almost all phases of emergencies. The study, which also includes a compendium of methods and tools, was commissioned by the CPWG’s Assessment and Measurement Task Force, which is co-convened by Save the Children and the CPC Learning Network. The CPC Learning Network will conduct a webinar to share findings from the report in the near future.
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Examining Child Protection Rapid Assessment: A structured review of field learning from the Child Protection Rapid Assessment toolkit
From May to September 2013, the CPC Learning Network conducted a structured review of field learning from the Child Protection Rapid Assessment (CPRA) toolkit to determine lessons learned from the use of the toolkit and to provide recommendations for its future use. The review covered use of the CPRA toolkit in 15 countries. Though respondents consistently valued the tool as increasing the methodological rigor of rapid assessments, they often relied on technical assistance from the CPWG to fully utilize the tool. The report highlights key recommendations to facilitate the use of the CPRA. The CPC Learning Network will conduct a webinar to share findings from the report in the near future.
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Updates from the CPC Livelihoods/Economic Strengthening Task Force The CPC Livelihoods and Economic Strengthening Task Force continues to make headway on its evaluation research project, “Child Protective Effects of a Household Economic Strengthening Program for Ultrapoor Female Caregivers.” Through a partnership between the NGO Trickle Up, the University of Chicago, and the Women's Refugee Commission, this three-arm randomized control trial in Burkina Faso will test: the effects of household economic strengthening programs on child violence and protection; the additive effect of child protection sensitization; and the importance of caregiver-level factors that mediate changes in child protection.
The Task Force also recently published
Children and Economic Strengthening Projects: Maximizing Benefits and Minimizing Harm
, a guide rooted in field experience about how economic interventions can achieve better outcomes and impacts for children aged 0-18, whether the direct beneficiaries are children or the adults in their households. The guide shows how to mitigate unintended threats to children from economic strengthening activities and ways to maximize benefits to children, whether they are direct or indirect beneficiaries. Another recent publication of the Livelihoods and Economic` Strengthening Task Force is
Why Measuring Child-Level Impacts Can Help Achieve Lasting Economic Change. This paper is intended as a starting point for discussion and advocacy around measuring the impacts of economic strengthening on children to ensure their wellbeing and to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty.
For more information about any of these pieces of work, please contact the coordinator of the Livelihoods and Economic Strengthening Task Force, Josh Chaffin, at
joshuac@wrcommission.org.
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Evaluation of Mental Health Services for Syrian Refugees in Jordan
A team of researchers from Teachers College at Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute led by CPC faculty affiliate Dr. Helen Verdeli partnered with the International Medical Corps (IMC) to evaluate IMC’s comprehensive mental health services to Syrian refugees residing in Jordan. In the coming months, a two-stage randomized field trial will be conducted with refugees in the Zaatri camp and urban clusters to compare the IMC mental health case management model to the public health system model. The mental health status and functioning of the participants as well as functioning of the participants' families will be assessed.
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Upcoming Webinar: Research on a Shoestring
On March 17th, 2014 at 9:00 AM EDT, the CPC Learning Network, REPSSI, the Community Child Protection Exchange and CP MERG will host a webinar entitled, “Research on a Shoestring: Drs. Lucie Cluver, Department of Social Policy and Intervention at Oxford University, and Monica Ruiz-Casares, Centre for Research on Children and Families at McGill University, recount their experiences, challenges and lessons learned in gathering evidence for child protection in South Africa and Liberia.” These two exciting presenters will share their ethical and methodological dilemmas in conducting research with children in challenging settings. They will share their creative approaches to achieve the best outcomes in such settings.
The webinar will be hosted on March 17th, 2014 at 9:00 AM EDT. Please
register here for the webinar
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Global Social Service Workforce Alliance Webinar
On Thursday, March 6th, 2014 at 8:30 AM EST, the Global Social Service Workforce Alliance will host a webinar entitled “Using Human Resources Data to Improve Social Services: Experiences from Malawi and Tanzania.” In the webinar, participants will learn about the experiences in implementing human resource information systems (HRIS) in these two countries. The group of speakers will discuss the process to launch appropriate HRIS as well as how the data is used in the development and support of social service workers who work with vulnerable children and families.
Please join the webinar on March 6th, 2014 from 8:30-10:30 AM EST
here.
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Building the Evidence: Measuring the Social Service Workforce
On February 19th, the CPC Learning Network and the Global Social Service Workforce Alliance hosted the second session of a three-part symposium series entitled “Measuring the Immeasurable: Building the Evidence Necessary for Effective Child Protection and Family Welfare Policies and Programs.” This symposium brought together experts on the social service workforce, especially those elements of the workforce that work with children and families. Our aim was to discuss recent research and foster dialogue between those working on issues related to measurement of the social service workforce both domestically and internationally.
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| Recording of: The Ethics of Conducting Research with Street youth Populations CPC's PLG Coordinator for Colombia, Amy Ritterbusch, professor at the Universidad de los Andes, recently shared her experience conducting participatory action research with children and youth youth living and working on the street in Bogotá. Amy discussed the ethical dilemmas and challenges her research team faced while working with children and youth on the streets, particularly in regards to difficult topics like substance abuse. She also offered methodological insight as to how to negotiate these dilemmas in the participatory action research process. Find the recording of the webinar on our YouTube channel
here.
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PARTNERS' REPORTS AND RESEARCH
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| Child Helpline International Report “The Voices of Children and Young People”
CPWG member Child Helpline International (CHI) has a network of 173 child helplines in 141 countries. Due to the unique position that the organization is in, often as the first point of contact for children in need of help, it has the ability to collect data on the major issues affecting children globally. The data collected over the past ten years is reviewed and analyzed in “The Voices of Children and Young People” report. The report found that abuse and violence against children remain consistent across time and regions, reported by more than 4 million children and young people. Issues with the family and custody made up 15% of the reasons for contact. CHI recommends that the data they have compiled be used in policy and program development to make sure they are relevant to the true needs of children.
Read the full report
here.
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| New Brief: "Investing in Our Future: The Evidence Base on Preschool Education"
Produced by the Society for Research in Child Development and Child Trends and the Foundation for Child Development, this brief provides a non-partisan, thorough, and up-to-date review of the current science and evidence base on early childhood education (ECE), focusing on pre-school for 4 year olds. Currently in the United States, 42% of children attend publicly funded pre-school programs. A study which reviewed 84 preschool programs found improvements in learning language, reading, and math. In order to create effective, quality programs, there must be “supportive interaction between teachers and students and effective use of curricula.” The benefits of preschool apply to a diverse group of children and are seen to have long-term effects.
Read the full brief
here.
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POLICY AND PARTNER PROGRESS UPDATES
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Children and Young People’s Voices and Recommendations for the Post 2015 Agenda Various child-focused agencies conducted consultations with boys and girls aged 8 – 17 years in order to hear their voices and recommendations for the Post-2015 Agenda. The results from interviews with more than 12,000 young people in 70 countries prioritized violence against children among their highest concerns. Not only did young people envision a world without corporal punishment, sexual violence, child labor, and child marriages and trafficking, they also presented practical recommendations including strengthening law enforcement to punish child abuse perpetrators. As this report makes clear, the voices of young people must be heeded to create effective child protection legislation, prevention, and response services.
On February 5, a number of NGOs organised a side event at the United Nations entitled "A World without Violence against Children." You can view a recording of this event, which was co-hosted by the Permanent Missions of Canada and Paraguay to the UN and the office of the Secretary General Special Representative on Violence Against Children, Mrs. Marta Santos Pais,
here.
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CPWG Progress Report 2013 The Child Protection Working Group (CPWG), of which the CPC Learning Network is a member, has released its progress report for the first year of an ambitious three-year workplan (2013 – 2015). This workplan was developed by the interagency working group in consultation with field-based coordinators and partners. The CPWG is well on-track with its goals aimed at improving the quality, capacity, coordination, evidence, and support for child protection in emergencies. The report clearly displays the intended outcomes and the progress made to date, in addition to valuable lessons learned.
Read the full report
here.
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CPWG Capacity Building Task Force: 2013 end-of-year reflection and tools sharing The CPWG’s Capacity Building Task Force recently released a summary of its activities for the 2013 year. This Task Force is focused on developing higher quality personnel in the field of child protection, particularly the front line responders in emergency settings. The attached summary includes a wide array of useful tools for practitioners to use, in addition to an open folder for all practitioners to share their resources and tools.
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OPPORTUNITIES FOR SHARING AND TAKING ACTION
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Show the Need for More Evidence in Child Protection Working on behalf of the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), Evidence Aid is seeking respondents for a survey to identify the areas that need the most evidence to inform policy and practice for humanitarian assistance. The CPC Learning Network Secretariat would like to encourage all of our partners to fill out the survey in order to share the need for more evidence in child protection and family welfare within the broader field of humanitarian assistance. The results of the survey will be used to help a consortium of international donors identify priority areas and inform the design of calls for proposals in sudden onset disasters and protracted emergencies.
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Call for Abstracts for the 2014 ISPCAN Congress on Child Abuse and Neglect The International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) is now accepting proposals for the XXth ISPCAN International Congress on Child Abuse and Neglect which will be held in Nagoya, Japan on September 14 – 17, 2014. The deadline for submission is 7 March 2014. Relevant conference topics for CPC Learning stakeholders include: primary prevention of child abuse; children and disasters; and international epidemiology and outcome data of abuse and neglect.
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Postdoctoral Fellow, The Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University
Starting Spring/Summer 2014 Working in the research lab of
Dr. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale, a postdoctoral fellow will actively contribute to research projects investigating an action-research project on education and workforce programs for young, low-income parents, combined with high-quality, early childhood education programs for children. The position offers opportunities for advancing expertise in developmental science, measurement, and mixed-methods analysis. Interested applicants should submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae, representative publications and papers, and names of three references to Allison Frost at
afrost2012@gmail.com.
Research and Advocacy Officer, Family for Every Child
Closing date: March 18, 2014
The Research and Advocacy Officer will work on bottom-up change for vulnerable children through supporting Family for Every Child’s membership.
See the full job posting
here.
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The CPC Network is interested in hearing from you! If you have relevant articles, reports or events to share, please send an email to
deitz.rena@gmail.com.
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