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Date: November 25, 2024 Mon
Time: 8:07 pm
Time: 8:07 pm
Results for family reintegration
1 results foundAuthor: Corcoran, Su Title: Evaluating Outcomes: Retrak’s use of Child Status Index to measure wellbeing of street-connected children Summary: Retrak’s vision is a world where no child is forced to live on the street. The child is always at the centre of our work and therefore measurements of organisational impact must place the progress of the child at the centre of assessment. In establishing a system of measurement to effectively and consistently monitor the changes in the lives of children as a result of Retrak’s work, the Child Status Index (CSI) has been adapted to apply to the context of children connected to the street. This paper is the initial review of the findings of the CSI in the pilot period, 2011 and 2012, as a measurement of child wellbeing and a tool for tracking children’s progress along their Retrak journey to establish the impact of Retrak’s programmes in both Ethiopia and Uganda. The CSI, developed by Measure Evaluation1, allows Retrak to trace the progress of the child along the Retrak journey, as they transition from the street to family homes, and comprises of a system of indicators to assess the multidimensional wellbeing of the individual child. The CSI assessments were conducted with cohorts of children on streets who access Retrak’s drop-in centres (baseline); at the point of reintegration with their families (placement); and again at intervals of approximately six months during follow-up with the child and their family (follow-up within six months of placement, between six months and one year of placement, and more than one year since placement). Each indicator of wellbeing on the CSI is given a score between one and four. Children scoring one or two, a deprivation score, for any indicator are considered to be at risk in that domain of wellbeing. Retrak’s aim is to ensure that children’s wellbeing improves after their placement at home, and continues to progress, and that they become deprivation free. Summary of findings This pilot study has demonstrated that Retrak’s reintegration programmes contribute to improvements in children’s wellbeing. Through analysing children’s wellbeing on their journey with Retrak in both Ethiopia and Uganda it is possible to show that: • The wellbeing of the children improved across all areas of wellbeing during their time in Retrak’s reintegration programmes. Family reintegration programmes with street children are successful. We have shown that such programmes are able to overcome children’s prevalent deprivations in shelter, care, abuse and exploitation and legal protection experienced when they are living alone on the street at an increased level of vulnerability. • Performance and access to education were areas of wellbeing which were slow to improve at the placement and follow up level. This could be partially a result of the national education systems and its ability to support the successful reintegration of vulnerable children into the classroom. • In Ethiopia, wellbeing in the areas of emotional health and social behaviour were also slow to improve at placement and follow-up. Much of this is to do with the survival traits developed by the children to help to combat stigmatisation while on the streets. • In Uganda it was shown that wellbeing in the areas of food security, shelter and legal protection were of concern at all stages of a child’s journey with Retrak. Analysing the data collected for each child reflecting their life on the street, highlights the following trends: • Street-connected children and youth in Ethiopia, over 14 years old, have more deprivations than those under 14; and all new arrivals to the street in Ethiopia have fewer deprivations than those who have spent a number of months there. The longer a child spends in the street the more deprivations they experience. • In Uganda children aged 14 or 15 years have fewer deprivations than those aged 13 years and younger. Unlike the Ethiopia data, those aged 14 years and younger when they migrated to the street have fewer deprivations than those children aged over 14 years. • There is a relationship between the level of schooling achieved by the children in Ethiopia and the number of deprivations they experience: the longer the child spends in school before migrating to the street the lower the number of deprivations on average. • There appears to be little distinction between region of origin and level of deprivation for both countries. In Uganda the data showed that children on the streets of Kampala and originating from Kampala and the surrounding district are just as disadvantaged as their peers from further afield, showing that their proximity to their family is of little benefit. Recommendations This pilot study has demonstrated that reintegration programmes contribute to improvements in children’s wellbeing and that the Child Status Index is an extremely useful tool to monitor reintegration programmes through tracking children’s wellbeing. In addition, this study has shown that the risks children face on the streets vary according to age, education and other variables. Details: Retrak, UK: Retrak; 2013. 43p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 18, 2013 at: http://www.retrak.org/uploaded/Retrak%20Research%20Evaluating%20Outcomes%20May%2013.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Africa URL: http://www.retrak.org/uploaded/Retrak%20Research%20Evaluating%20Outcomes%20May%2013.pdf Shelf Number: 129016 Keywords: Child ProtectionChild WelfareFamily ReintegrationRunawaysStreet Children (Uganda, Ethiopia) |