violence against children WORLD REPORT ON - CRIN

“We are beaten by security forces… when we are caught, on the way to the lockup,and when we arrive at the lockup. In the lockup, we are beaten by other prisonerswho ask us for money. During interrogation, we are beaten so that we will tellthe (police inspector) what we stole or tell him who did it.”Boy living on the streets, Eastern and Southern Africa, 2005 X206Violence against Children in care and justice institutionsThere is nothing particularly new about the‘last resort’ principle either for care or justiceissues. The problem has been that in many partsof the world, the ‘last resort’ is frequently theonly resort considered or available. Althoughthere have been local successes, in only a fewregions have entire care and justice systemsshifted towards making alternatives the norm.In the words of one expert who contributed tothis Study, “It is not enough to repeat the samemantra, it must mean a radical change in theway the systems operate.”Prioritise alternativesFamily and community-based alternatives anddiversion mechanisms must be developed andresources allocated, to reduce the reliance oninstitutional care. Clear strategies for reintegratingchildren into the communities must bein place. In many countries, this will entail afundamental shift in policies.Professionals who work with children, policymakers, and officials including police andjudges should be educated about the desirabilityand availability of alternatives to institutionalisationor detention. For example, policeservices should have specifically trained policeto focus on children’s care and protectionissues. Doctors and other health professionalsshould be able to provide families with a disabledchild or other at-risk children with thereferrals and information they need to care forand support their children.The high financial costs of institutionalisationInstitutionalisation of children is expensive, and can be up to 12 times the per capitacost of community-based care options, creating an unnecessary financial drain on budgets.168,169 The World Bank reported that the annual cost for one child in residential carein the Kagera region of the United Republic of Tanzania was over six times that of supportinga child in a foster home. 170 Research in Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova andRussia during 2001 and 2002 showed that community residential and small group homecare cost approximately half that of State institutional care; foster care cost approximatelyone-fifth to one-third that of State institutional care; and family support and social serviceprovision cost approximately one-eighth that of State institutional care. 171Although less expensive over the long term, the creation of such alternatives initiallyrequires additional resources. A study of institutionalisation in the CEE/CIS countriescautions that “the resultant savings will not be realised immediately. This is because toenable a smooth transition it is necessary to set up alternatives before an institutionalsystem has been closed down or reduced in size…(However) as institutions are graduallyclosed, the costs are reduced as the new system takes over. These extra transitional costsmust be regarded as an investment to the introduction of a new and better system.” 172