Opportunity to discuss “abusive” State practices in alternative care
Child Identity Protection (CHIP) through its Executive Director was privileged to provide an expert view on the hearing on “Abusive practices on depriving children from their family environment” to held by Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development within PACE, Council of Europe in Paris on 19 September. Building on the 2018 report “Striking a balance between the best interest of the child and the need to keep families together” the intervention provided promising examples on how to prevent abusive practices that may result in unnecessary separation and provides promising practices on how the State should respond when these abusive practices nevertheless occur, starting with a definition of abusive practices. This work is linked with the conclusions and recommendations that were the result of research on “Coercive decisions in Switzerland through the lens of international standards: foster care placements” undertaken in partnership with UNIGE. It was an opportunity to emphasise the importance of supporting families, maintaining contact and need for pro-active efforts for reintegration when in the child’s best interests, which contributes to preservation of the child’s family identity. This intervention also sought to highlight the need to “when considering solutions, due regard shall be paid to the desirability of continuity in a child’s upbringing and to the child’s ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic background.” CHIP welcomes the efforts of PACE to address this important issue where the child’s identity may be at risk and better alignment with international standards can ensure that his or her rights to identity are equally protected as other rights.
Source : https://www.nfp76.ch/en/zziwbYYTdz6bsdPy/project/projekt-jaffe and see CHIP’s written submission
