Call for child protection experts with an interest in cross-country comparable data

Eurochild advocates for ending institutional care and strengthening families across Europe. One of the important barriers we see to effective advocacy is the lack of reliable and comparable data on the number of children in alternative care and the types of care provided. We know that countries have very different ways of collecting and using data, and this makes it difficult to track progress.  

With the upcoming European Child Guarantee initiative, we expect the EU to step up its support for reforms of child protection systems – moving away from residential care, towards more support for family-based care and a greater emphasis on preventing separation of children from their families in the first place.

We believe that we need an effective monitoring system to track progress. In order to get there, we are working with UNICEF Europe & Central Asia Regional Office (ECARO) to map the data collection systems for children in alternative care across the EU.

Are you, or do you know somebody who would be interested to contribute to this landmark European comparative study and achieve demonstrable policy change for children in care? We are looking for experts from Austria, Czechia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Wales & Northern Ireland, that can complete the national template we have designed to map the data collection system at national level.

For more information on the DataCare Project, visit the project page.

Inquiries should be directed to Ciaran O’Donnell at the Eurochild Secretariat: Ciaran.odonnell@eurochild.org.