Peer-reviewed article
Restructuring Institutional Care: Challenges and Coping Measures for Children and Caregivers in Post-COVID-19 Era
Sudeshna Roy ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This article examines how COVID-19 disrupted institutional care for vulnerable children in India, including those in childcare institutions, foster homes, and juvenile centres. The study identifies major barriers that emerged, including financial constraints, health and nutrition problems, educational disruption, safety concerns, and gaps in caregiver training. The authors recommend reforming regulatory frameworks, improving standard operating procedures, strengthening caregiver capacity, and enhancing mental health support for both children and staff. The analysis emphasizes the need for coordinated multi-sector action across government, NGOs, and civil society to protect children's rights.
Key points
- COVID-19 exposed fundamental barriers in institutional childcare including financial, health, nutrition, educational, safety and administrative challenges
- Institutional care facilities demonstrated emergency unpreparedness and systemic gaps in functioning during the pandemic
- Caregivers require upgraded training and capacity building to support children's psycho-social and mental health needs
- Regulatory directives and standard operating procedures need reframing to ensure compliance, accountability and child rights protection
- Multi-sectoral coordination involving government, NGOs, civil society and grassroot organisations is essential for responsive and sustainable childcare policy
Limitations
This is a qualitative content analysis based on literature reviews, newspaper reports and webinar documentation rather than primary data collection or intervention testing. The article identifies challenges and recommends solutions but does not evaluate the effectiveness of any specific interventions or provide quantitative outcome data.
Abstract
The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has rattled the world and has severely compromised not only the public health system but has decelerated the global economy. In this backdrop, the article explores the dynamics of the institutional care of the out-of-home care (OHC) children, adolescents and children who are residing in alternative care homes, childcare institutions (CCIs), foster homes and who are in conflict with law like refugees or in juvenile correctional centres. The article attempts to highlight the risk factors and systematic barriers that CCIs and associated functionaries have been confronting in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide. It would also catalogue the remedial, preventive and protective initiatives undertaken as best practices. The qualitative content analysis method is used to identify major themes related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and institutional care of children. Critical evaluation of literature reviews, published newspaper reports and articles and documentation of webinar proceedings is performed for theoretical and thematic conceptualisation of this article. The fundamental barriers that surfaced include financial barriers, health and nutrition, social justice, educational barriers, safety issues, administrative barriers, management, rehabilitation and integration of children living in CCIs and the ones who are leaving the CCIs. The unprecedented challenges have exposed the emergency unpreparedness and lacunae in functioning of CCIs in diverse ways. This has necessitated the undeniable need for reframing the regulatory directives for protection of child rights; accounting for the newer structural reforms aiming for standard operating procedures (SOPs); compliance and accountability guidelines; upgrading training and capacity building of the caregivers; addressing issues of psycho-social, mental health and well-being of the children and caregivers; building resilient coping strategies and enhancing the dignity, flexibility, inclusivity and sustainability in the responsive policy formulation regarding overall childcare system. This entails a multi-sectoral, participatory and coordinated approach as envisaged in United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) where the concerned stakeholders, including government legislations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), civil societies, grassroot organisations, individual CCIs and management staff, would ensure non-discriminatory measures protecting the best interests of the children.