The Evolution of Alternative Care in Bangladesh over the Last Decade and the Way Forward

This article examines how alternative care for children in Bangladesh has developed over the past decade, following the country's ratification of the Child Rights Convention and enactment of the Children Act 2013. The article describes various forms of alternative care including kinship care, family-based care, and institutional care that are provided by government, NGOs and private sectors. It identifies significant challenges in delivering quality alternative care, including lack of resources, insufficient social welfare workforce, and limited access to mental health and disability services. The authors argue that children cannot achieve their best outcomes without access to quality care arrangements.

Key points

• Bangladesh enacted Children Act 2013 with a dedicated chapter on alternative care covering gatekeeping, referral mechanisms and periodic review
• Multiple forms of alternative care exist in Bangladesh including kinship care, family-based care, family-like care and residential/institutional care
• Key challenges include lack of resources and capacity, inadequate social welfare workforce and caregivers, and limited access to mental health and disability services
• No defined alternative care system yet exists in Bangladesh despite legislative framework
• Children's best interests cannot be achieved without quality care arrangements

Limitations

This article appears to be a literature review and observational analysis rather than an empirical study with primary data. It does not provide quantitative data on the scale of alternative care provision, outcomes for children, or comparative effectiveness of different care modalities.