The first event dives into the realm of prevention and gatekeeping at the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) level. It will also address pivotal issues such as system strengthening, aftercare and family strengthening. What's more, it's a platform to recognize and celebrate the incredible work of our social workforce. Let's make a difference together!

Considering the crucial role of Gatekeeping in the continuum of care for children in risk situations, this webinar co-hosted by India Alternative Care Network (IACN) and Miracle Foundation India, seeks to build a better understanding of practitioners, child protection workforce, and researchers on gatekeeping and its need in India; and explores interventions and the role of different actors in effectively implementing gatekeeping across the country.

The webinar will explore Hope and Homes for Children and CINI's work in Jharkhand and West Bengal, specifically the implementation of their community strengthening approach which focuses on strengthening the community response mechanisms through a ‘multi-stakeholder convergence model’. The model emphasizes the importance of collective action as an approach towards preventing unnecessary institutionalization of children and facilitating access to community services and alternative care. Additionally, Hope and Homes for Children will give a global perspective on interventions on the prevention of separation and strengthening communities.

Miracle Foundation India is organising a webinar on Wrapping support around the family as part of their case management workshop series. The session will discuss drivers of family separation and how to support families in the community. The speakers will share their on-ground experiences in activating community structures through capacity building, convergence and coordination with key stakeholders while ensuring standards of care, monitoring support and enabled integrated service provision for children and families. A youth ambassador will be sharing the role of bal panchayat and their efforts in ensuring opportunities for children to thrive in families.

The session will discuss drivers of family separation and how to support families in the community. The speakers will share their on-ground experiences in activating community structures through capacity building, convergence and coordination with key stakeholders while ensuring standards of care, monitoring support and enabled integrated service provision for children and families. A youth ambassador will be sharing the role of bal panchayat and their efforts in ensuring opportunities for children to thrive in families.

As India recovers from the second wave of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it has resulted in a severe impact on children and families. According to the Ministry of Women and Child Development, GoI, 577 children have been orphaned since May 2021. The National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has shared that over 9,3000 children have lost parents or have been abandoned since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic last year. In the backdrop of deaths and COVID related health burden in families, extended periods of shutdown and loss of employment opportunities, the pandemic has pushed families to the brink of crisis. Children face an increased risk of abuse, neglect, violence and exploitation, leading to separation. Practitioners, researchers and policymakers highlight the importance of care of children in a family environment by keeping families together and ensuring services for family-based alternative care. This webinar will bring together speakers and organisations from different countries and offers an opportunity to learn from their interventions on family strengthening and alternative care in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The session will focus on the following: Parenting messaging videos and community-level work, in particular to relieving parental stress, preventing violence in the home (Nepal, Save the Children) Cash support added to case management with a focus on addressing the prevention of separation and addressing loss/lack of livelihood (Cambodia, Family Care First|REACT) Adaptation to virtual case management due to COVID to support reintegration into family care from residential care (Kenya, CTWWC) Gatekeeping in the context of COVID - tracing extended family for kinship care arrangement, psychosocial support to children and families in kinship care and families where children have lost one parent (India, CINI) Emergency foster care practice in COVID context (TBC) We encourage you to submit your questions to our panellists in advance at iacnsecretariat@gmail.com.

This workshop helps you as social workforce conducting child & family assessments like ICP and SIR to ‘Get What You Need’ for conducting effective assessments. The participants will learn key things to be considered for effective assessments, what to assess & how do you know if your recommendations are in the child's best interest and why we insist on preparing the children and their families with equal importance. In addition, the webinar workshop will look over aspects of child safety, family environment and community’s role in the safe and permanent reintegration of children. The webinar also captures the ‘Youth Voice’ to understand young people's expectations regarding reintegration. For further questions or queries, participants can mail us at safelyhome@miraclefoundation.org.

This workshop helps you as social workforce conducting child & family assessments like ICP and SIR to ‘Get What You Need’ to conduct effective assessments. The participants will learn key things to be considered for effective assessments, what to assess & how do you know if your recommendations are in the child's best interest and why we insist on preparing the children and their families with equal importance. In addition, the webinar workshop will look over aspects of child safety, family environment and community’s role in the safe and permanent reintegration of children. The webinar also captures the ‘Youth Voice’ to understand young people's expectations regarding reintegration. For further questions or queries, participants can mail us at safelyhome@miraclefoundation.org.

CLAN, Udayan Care, and MAD are co-facilitating a session with care leavers to understand their concerns, experiences, challenges and aspirations to support better outcomes for care leavers in India, towards submission to the United Nations General Day of Discussion 2021. The event is supported by IACN and UNICEF. We request NGO partners to help us mobilise care leavers to ensure their participation in the discussions.

NIMHANS-SAMVAD (Support, Advocacy & Mental health interventions for children in Vulnerable circumstances And Distress) is organising 4 part series for capacity building targeting child protection functionaries in English (between 15th -22nd May) and Hindi (25th-31st May). This 4-part Special Series “Children in COVID Crisis…Like We Never Expected It to Be: The What and How of Working with Child Protection and Psychosocial Issues” will address the new imperatives of child protection and psychosocial issues emerging in the second, more severe wave of the COVID 19 pandemic. The Webinar series aims to equip caregivers and service providers such as teachers, institution staff, protection functionaries, mental health professionals and others with requisite skills and methods as they strive to support children during these difficult and uncertain times. Building on systematic ways to address child protection risks, the series moves on to provide ways to respond to children’s illness, worries and anxieties; finally, given the new challenges of illness and loss of loved ones, that children have to contend with, the later parts of the series provide caregivers and service providers with concrete methods to break the bad news to children and help them process experiences of loss and grief, thereafter.

Child care institutions (CCI) provide a safe place where children in need of care and protection can stay until they are suitably rehabilitated. But what does it take to ensure the safety of children in a CCI? In this Master Class, we will be addressing this question and specifically discuss: What do we understand by child safety? What are how we can ensure the safety of children in a CCI? What are the measures which need to be taken to create a child-safe environment in a CCI?

Together for Quality Institutional Care (TQIC), an alliance between Aangan, Catalysts for Social Action, and Pratham is organising a webinar on “Journey towards a Safe Childhood - Best Practices of Care and Protection of Vulnerable Children” scheduled on 9th February from 11:00 am to 01:00 pm. Please see below for details. Context: There has been considerable innovation and experimentation in the field of care and protection of vulnerable children due to the active participation of a vibrant civil society and initiatives of the Government. In this webinar, we will be discussing evidence-based best practices focused on the protection of children in the family & community, in a child-care institution, and post-release and restoration with subject matter experts on the panel. Speakers: The Keynote address of the event will be delivered by former judge of the Supreme Court of India, Justice Madan B. Lokur. Highlighting and sharing the experiences, successful models, and best practices that have been an outcome of the innovation boom will be: Ms. Farida Lambay, Co-Founder, Pratham; India Dr Nilima Mehta, Senior Advisor and Consultant, Child Protection; India Dr. Shekhar Seshadri, Senior Professor, Dept. of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry & Associate Dean, Behavioural Sciences Division, NIMHANS, India Mr. S. M. Azharul Islam, Program Manager & Training Lead at Rights Jessore, Bangladesh.

In the last year, approximately 1.5 lakh children have been restored from institutional care to their family. While every child in the juvenile justice system has the right to be reunited with his/her family, the process prescribed by the JJ Act and Model Rules must be followed, and children are monitored following restoration to ensure they are safe in the family. Join this Master Class to learn about the following: • The step-by-step process of restoration of children with their family from institutional care • Responsibilities of stakeholders, including CCIs and Government functionaries • Common challenges and issues encountered in the process Speakers: • Deepesh Choukse - Program Manager, Madhya Pradesh, Catalysts for Social Action • Satyajeet Mazumdar - Head, Advocacy, Catalysts for Social Action.

Miracle Foundation is conducting a Webinar on Safe and Permanent Child Reintegration on 8th December (English) and 15th December (Hindi), to build knowledge and skills for effective and systematic outcomes in transforming care. The webinar specifically showcases the tried and tested model and tools which Miracle Foundation uses in the child reintegration process. You can register for the webinar using the following links: For English: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PXsZEnmRQoWfdlpMuXkL9Q For Hindi: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_xd_3U3SYTTmAQsVsn8CLsw

Meaningful improvements for children and youth growing up in care can only be made in partnership with Care Leavers who have experience with the care system. The solution lies in the wisdom of lived experiences of Care Leavers who most know what’s at stake, towards powerful, lasting change. The need of the hour is to hear the unheard voices of Care Leavers and provide them with a platform to improve the support and opportunities available to them, especially considering the care system exists for their benefit. The International Care Leavers Convention is a unique opportunity to collectivize Care Leavers at international level and elevate the voices of children and young people – because without the insight of these young leaders our care systems won’t be effective. The objective of the convention is to bring Care Leavers together and provide them with a platform to emerge from learning, sharing and exchanging experiences, knowledge and challenges on their situation such that it amplifies their voices and attracts the attention of decision-makers to act upon their demands through the betterment of the policy and practice related to them.

The first panel session will explore the scope of Restorative Practices within the education system, both as a preventive, as well as a responsive tool. The second panel session will focus on the use of Restorative Circles with children in the juvenile justice system.

International Care Leavers Convention, 3rd Pre Event. An insight into global research on leaving care processes as well as into research activities of Care Leavers. The situation and life perspective of Care Leavers are drawing attention from researchers, academicians and practitioners across the world, as only rich data can throw evidence as to what the challenges and gaps in policy, law and practice in different countries are. With Care Leavers also interested in research on care leaving, the momentum on this is gaining ground. Join academicians, researchers, and practitioners, as well as Care Leavers as researchers themselves, in this session, to know about some of the studies being conducted and impacts created, worldwide. The session is enriching as not only will it discuss some seminal studies but will also generate interest in more such focused studies that can hugely impact the future of Care Leaving laws, policies and practices globally. The session discusses the findings of a 2019 study about the situation of care leaving across 36 countries, done by FICE as well as participatory research undertaken by Care Leavers themselves.

You’ve got stories to share – Stories of Hope, Stories of Experiences and those of Achievements! And we are here to enable you to do just that most powerfully, because of every story matters! COVID-19 has changed the world, in more ways than we can imagine. It has made virtual connections possible. In the online world, Videos are the most powerful mode of communication. In the run-up to the main event of the Care Leavers Convention, this webinar brings to you an interactive virtual workshop, where you get to learn from an expert on how to tell YOUR story, through powerful and effective videos. Because your story could help change how care-experienced youth are seen around the world.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a growing trend of Governments ordering residential childcare institutions to move children out very quickly. Plus, some institutions have returned children to their families with little or no preparation or support placing children at significant risk. This webinar explains two tools, one to help institutions intensify the assessment and preparation process for children who have to move out quickly and the other to help organizations provide retrospective ‘preparation’ for children who have already returned to their families without preparation or support. These tools cannot remove all the risks involved in children’s rapid return, but they can mitigate many of them. With the help of this webinar and the tools provided, you will significantly improve the chances of children reintegrating into their families in a way that is appropriate, suitable, and in their best interest.

This is the first pre-convention webinar as part of the International Care Leavers Convention. Context: Care leavers networks world over offers critical support for youth leaving alternate care, with peer support and advocacy but often have their own challenges. Agenda: Listening to experiences of care leavers and civil society organisations from across the globe; aiming towards the identification of actions to strengthen care leavers network. Who should attend: Care Leavers, policymakers, civil society organisations, alternative care providers, academia, media, and anyone interested in the subject.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to new challenges for organisations that care for vulnerable children and families around the world. This webinar will summarise the findings of a recently concluded collaborative study of 67 organisations working with 12,494 children and families impacted by the pandemic. The session will focus on practical steps that can be taken and share stories of those who have implemented these steps with families in their own communities.

In all the noise around violent rapes in the media, have you ever thought about the journey that a woman victimised by sexual violence goes through? How it changes her life? And how we can empower these survivors to tell their own stories? Come join us as we hear women survivors of incest and child sexual abuse share their journey from abuse to recovery in RAHI Foundation's National Award Winning Film ‘The Little Girls We Were…And The Women We Are’. The 38 minute documentary shares their personal testimonies, expert comments and their experience of group therapy with other survivors. The screening will be followed by a Q and A session. Please note that the screening is for those above 18 years of age.

The idea of visiting foreign countries to experience the landscape, people and culture is not new. Travellers, often with good intentions, want to “give back” and “do good”, and at the same time get more deeply involved in the culture of the foreign country. This paved the way for charities and travel companies to offer experiences teaching at schools, volunteering at orphanages and building infrastructure for local communities. Despite the good intentions, there are many risks attached to volunteering or visiting orphanages unwittingly creating a worse environment for those they are trying to help. Children should not be in institutions in the first place, as 80% of children in institutions globally have a living parent, and are not orphans. While children in institutions desperately need support to return to and grow up with their families, international funding and international volunteers are prolonging separation and abuse. Foreigners pay significant sums to have the opportunity to “help” orphans providing an incentive for orphanages to recruit more children. While most volunteers have good intentions, although unaware of the harm they cause, some individuals and groups target orphanages for visits with the purpose of sexually abusing or exploiting children. Countries with a high number of orphanages usually have inadequate monitoring of orphanages in place, and therefore such individuals and groups have easy access to already vulnerable children. Sadly, we have seen abuse in orphanages increasing significantly.

Where: Zoom Joining details: Meeting ID: 84039802269 | Passcode: NAICRA Description: This webinar will talk about the compounded impact of COVID 19 on youth in aftercare and strategies and practices to assist their well-being during the crisis. Practitioners from formal child protection mechanisms and civil society organisations will share emerging practices from their work with youth in aftercare.

The Child Protection Area of Responsibility (CP AoR) and the Care and Protection of Children (CPC) Learning Network at Columbia University invite you to join for a webinar on engaging children as partners and leaders in child protection during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the outset of the pandemic, children and youth were facing unprecedented challenges caused by quarantine measures and school closure policies in nearly every country in the world. At the same time these challenges emerged, child-focused organisations found it harder than ever to communicate with children, needing to adapt their methods of hearing children’s voices and ensuring children’s participation to virtual and “socially distanced” realities. The new ‘Moving Towards Children as Partners in Child Protection in COVID-19 Guide’ aims to assist humanitarian actors in maintaining and strengthening children’s meaningful participation in their work in response to the current pandemic. During the webinar, International Institute for Child Rights and Development (IICRD) will present on the child participation tip sheets and tools that have been adapted for the COVID-19 context and Artolution and #CovidUnder19 will share their experiences meaningfully engaging children in their initiatives.