THE CHILD’S RIGHT TO GROW UP IN A FAMILY

1. THE CHILD’S RIGHT TO GROW UP IN A FAMILY THE CHILD’S RIGHT TO GROW UP IN A FAMILY Foster Care in the Philippines

2. Introduction • Brief Description of the Situation of Children in Need of Special Protection (CNSP) • The Response by Government and NGOs • Status of the Implementation of Foster Care • Challenges

3. The Situation of Children without Parental Care The Socio-economic Condition in the Country • Population is approx. 85.2M with annual growth of nearly 2.4M. One out of 3 Filipinos live below poverty threshold of P11,906 per year (US$ 235.00) • Unemployment rate is nearly 12% and underemployment is 17% • Approx. 8M Filipinos have to work abroad and sent some US$8.5B last year. This has helped keep our economy afloat! NSO 2000

4. The Children • 43.4% or 36.9 million children or below 18 years • 15% or 12.7 million children between 0-5 yrs. • On Health • Infant mortality is 30.7:1,000 live births • Under five mortality is 39.2:1,000 live births Causes: Respiratory conditions, Pneumonia, Congenital anomalies, Birth injuries, Meningitis • 38 children are HIV positive 15 children have full blown AIDS 9 children have died HIV/AIDS Registry 2002

5. Child Abuse • Types Female Male • Abandoned 560 519 • Neglected 1,307 1,242 • Sexually abused/incest 4,065 64 • Sexually exploited 255 29 • Physically abused 784 656 • Sub-total 6,971 2,510 • Total 9,481 (48% are sexual abuses) DSWD 2002

6. Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children • Trafficking • Child Prostitution • Child Pornography Victims of commercial sexual abuse are: • mostly female, ages 13-18 • initiated into sex as early as age 10 • belong to large families • mostly out of school/drop-outs Total Male Female 1.392 103 1,289 Framework of Action Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

7. Child Labor • 4 million child laborers • 59.4% or 2.4 million are exposed to hazards • 6.10 children are unpaid • 60% are in agricultural areas • 36.5% do not go to school 2001 Survey on Children by NSO

8. Street Children • Highly visible children: more than 4 hours on the streets • National estimate: 45,000 • 75% with families • 20% refrain from going home • 5% without families DSWD National Project on Street Children 2003

9. Children in Conflict with the Law (CICL) • usually male • between ages 14-17 • elementary graduates • middle child from low income family • charged with property related crimes, rape and murder • exposed to drugs or gang influence

10. Children in Conflict with the Law cont. PNP Data 2003 • Cases Handled 4,279 DSWD Data 2003 • Center-based 1,343 • Community-based 7,986 BJMP Data as of June ’04 • Sentenced 80 • Detained 1988 DSWD Data 2003

11. Children in Situations of Armed Conflict • as combatants, couriers, guides, medical aides or spies • 13-18% of armed rebel groups • 115 child combatants captured or surrendered DSWD 2002 Report AFP 2002 Report

12. Children in Various Circumstances of Disability • more boys than girls • 1-5 children in 0-6 age bracket has some form of disability • 10-14 age group has the highest prevalence rate • more than half are acquired and can be prevented 2000 NSO Census

13. Increasing Number of Children in Child Caring Institutions • 8,338 children (1998-2002) • 57% male • 33% 92,733 between the ages of 6-12 years old

14. Reasons for the admission of children to residential care • Poverty • Family dysfunction • Domestic violence • Solo Parenting • Abandonment • Imprisonment of parents

15. The Response by Government and NGOs • The Legal Mandates International Instruments • Convention on the Rights of the Child (July 1990) • Hague Convention on the Protection of Child and Cooperation in Respect to Intercountry Adoption • Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Sale, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, 25 May 2000 Prostitution and Child Pornography, 25 May 2000

16. Philippine Laws, Policies and Protocols • The Child and Youth Welfare Code (December 1974) • Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimation Act (June 1992) • Domestic Adoption Law (February 1998) • Intercountry Adoption Law (June 1995) • Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 • Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004 • Policy on De-Institutionalization of Children (June 2004) • Turn Around Period on Local and Inter-country Adoption (September 2005) • Juvenile Justice Act of 2006

17. Residential Care • 177 NGOs operate 197 residential care facilities for children with an average capacity of 30-40 beds • DSWD operates 46 residential care facilities for children with an average capacity of 50 beds • Local government units (LGUs) operate 53 residential care facilities for children

18. Duration of stay of children in residential care • Average of 6 months to 3 years stay • Older male children tend to stay longer

19. Discharge of Children (1998-2002) 8,338 served • 42% reintegrated to their families • 9% transferred to other residential facilities for long term care • 5% placed for adoption • 2% for independent living program • 39% either left the center without permission/run away, still in care or died DSWD 2003

20. Factors which hinder the discharge of children • Slow legal procedures particularly in the involuntary commitment or declaration of abandonment of children • Lack of foster and adoptive families • Difficulty in reintegrating children to their families due to extreme poverty, rejection and lack of support of the family • Need for continuing medical treatment and educational opportunities • Poor case management and too many caseload of social workers

21. Independent Living • A group of 8 to 10 older children of the same sex live together in the same house on their own and supervised by a social worker • Children are provided with educational opportunities • Implemented by very few NGOs working with young people/youth

22. Adoption: Domestic and Intercountry • 5,574 children placed for adoption in 2002-2004 • 4.837 adopted domestically • 737 adopted abroad • 359 families applied for correction of birth registration (1998-2001)

23. Foster Care • Formally introduced in 1962 • Implemented by the DSWD, 6 NGOs and very few LGUs • Existing policies and guidelines • Foster Care Association of the Philippines (FCAP) as support group for foster families • Foster Care for physically and mentally challenged children • Foster Care for street children • Kinship Care

24. Table 1. Distribution of Children Served by Categories

25. Table 2. Distribution of Children by Age

26. Table 3. Distribution of Children by Permanent Placement

27. Table 4. Duration of Stay of Children in Foster Homes

28. Table 5. Distribution of Foster Homes by Type & Agency GOVERNMENT

29. Table 5. Distribution of Foster Homes by Type & Agency NGO

30. Table 6. Problems Encountered by Foster Families

31. Table 7. Problems Encountered by the Foster Care Agencies

32. Challenges • Passage of the Bill on Foster Care • Passage of the Bill on Involuntary Commitment of Children • A need to shift from center-based to community based approaches for temporary out of home care for children • Build, expand and strengthen partnerships and alliances between and among government line agencies, LGUs, NGOs and the various sectors of civil society to mobilize more resources for sustainability of community-based programs • Continuing need to hone and upgrade knowledge and skills of foster families and social workers

33. Challenges cont. • Develop a manageable data base and monitoring and evaluation system on children in various forms of alternative care • Undertake research studies on children in alternative care to support planning, policy and program development • Strengthen the enforcement of laws protecting children • Organize an Asian Network on Foster Care

34. THANK YOU !!!