Guidelines for Deinstitutionalisation of Residential Homes for Children
Complementing the SOPs for Licensing, Monitoring and Closure of Residential Homes
Highlights
There is a growing global consensus that isolated efforts to improve individual institutions will not solve the problems of children in residential care, or meet their best interests. Family-based care alternatives, namely kinship care and foster care, therefore need to be actively promoted and strengthened in Ghana so that children are only ever in residential care as a temporary last resort.
This document is aimed at complementing the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Licensing, Monitoring and Closure of RHC by supporting the implementation of the closure of the RHC that have not been licensed or do not meet the standards in the SOPs. The steps and recommendations outlined within this Guideline Document are also intended to provide evidence-based best practices that facilitate an effective transition toward family and community-based support services; prevent unnecessary family-child separation; and promote appropriate, protective, and permanent family care through the deinstitutionalization (DI) process. This is part of the Care Reform Initiative being undertaken by the Department of Social Welfare.
