Programming, Design, Monitoring and Evaluation
When we work with children, we need to ensure that our programs are safe, well-planned and effective. Below are a number of articles, manuals and other resources that can help as you plan new programs and assess existing ones.
General
Congregations Caring for Children - California Council of Churches
A practical guide for churches seeking to open a daycare center or after-school program, this manual provides a rationale, step-by-step instructions, and checklists. While it focuses primarily on the local context for California, USA, many of the tools will also be useful in other contexts. This is a useful resource for church leaders, educators, and program developers.
General Standards
A Last Resort: The Growing Concern About Children in Residential Care - Andrew Dunn, Elizabeth Jareg, and Douglas Webb under the auspices of the HIV/AIDS Co-ordinating Group of the International Save the Children Alliance.
This document explains Save the Children’s position on residential care for children and highlights concerns about its growing use. In sum, residential care should be seen as a last resort, only to be used after family, community, and fostering options have been attempted. International standards, child rights, listening to children, special considerations for children with disabilities, and HIV and AIDS are all discussed.
Child Participation
Children’s Participation in Decision Making: Why Do It, When to Do It, How to Do It - Inter-Agency Working Group on Children’s Participation
Not only does this manual explain what child participation is and why it is important, it also gives specific ways to promote child participation in decision-making and to make sure that the process is as effective as possible. The last page provides a helpful list of websites with further resources. Useful in various contexts, especially for decision makers and administrators of NGOs working with children.
Minimum Standards for Consulting with Children - Inter-Agency Working Group on Children’s Participation
A practical guide and checklist for child participation in consultations, this manual provides a set of generic minimum standards for before, during, and after a consultation. It provides guidelines and criteria for each standard, and also explains the principles of child participation.
Operations Manual for Children’s Participation in Consultations
Inter-Agency Working Group on Children’s Participation - Materials for planning and preparation, guidelines for selection of children and guardians, registration forms, notes on child protection (including media guidelines), and more are included in this practical and useful operations manual. Written by the Inter-Agency Working Group on Children’s Participation, it will be useful in a variety of contexts.
Child Participation - Tearfund
A Tearfund ROOTS series publication, this manual was written by Paul Stephenson with Steve Gourley and Glenn Miles. It begins with a rationale for child participation, along with biblical perspectives. Child participation in the life of the community and child participation in the project cycle follow. This resource is designed for organizations working directly with children.
Child Protection
Standards for Child Protection - Keeping Children Safe
How to Implement the Standards - Keeping Children Safe
The first and second parts of the Keeping Children Safe Toolkit, these standards and methods of implementation provide step-by-step information about establishing a child protection policy and putting it into practice within your program. These resources are designed for organizations.
Training for Child Protection - Keeping Children Safe
The third part of the Keeping Children Safe Toolkit, this resource can help you to train staff and volunteers about child protection within your organization. These resources are designed for project managers, staff, and others who are working within organizations.