This document summarizes Childline Kenya's efforts to link skillful parenting to child protection. Childline Kenya operates a child helpline that received over 153,000 calls from January to June 2013 dealing with issues like lost or runaway children, custody and maintenance disputes, and relationship issues with parents or guardians. To address the root causes of child neglect indicated by these calls, Childline Kenya established a Skillful Parenting Initiative to provide parenting education and support groups to parents. The goal is to equip parents with better skills to fulfill their parental responsibilities as defined by Kenyan law and protect children from abuse and neglect.

1. LINKING PARENTING TO CHILD PROTECTION

2. Childline Kenya
• A society where children are heard,
their rights and dignity upheld at all
times.
• Aim to promote, prevent and
respond to child protection

3. CHILD HELPLINE AS PART OF THE
CHILD PROTECTION SYSTEM
(view the chart)

4. Child Helpline Statistics
January – June 2013
Child helpline 116 handled:
153,673 calls
34 chats
14,778 SMS contacts
 78 Emails/Facebook
24 children were admitted in the safe
house, all were reintegrated back with their
families

5. Abuse Category (January - June
.
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
71
19
142
578
3 19
75
16
362 363

6. Perpetrators of abuse

7. Physical abuse by gender and age
Children between the age of 6 - 10years are most vulnerable
to physical abuse followed by 11 – 15 years.

8. Family, community and societ
Family, community and society covers a child’s relationships with its
social environment
CATEGORY January
Februar
y March April May June Grand Total
Lost child/runaways 56 49 44 38 56 53 296
Maintenance & custody 606 387 311 284 431 477 2496
Relationship with parent/guardian 195 122 104 102 134 92 749
TOTAL 857 558 459 424 621 622 3541

9. This initiative aims at curbing child abuse
at the family level through equipping
parents with skillful parenting, education
and support group
Skillful Parenting Initiative

10. Concern in Kenya and globally, that children often do
suffer in the hands of parents and caregivers raising
serious questions on the safety of children.
Child helpline 116 data has proved that child
neglect, abandonment, fights over custody and
maintenance are the main contributors to child abuse.
Inadequate parental care has a negative impact on a
child’s development
Significance of Parenting Programme

11. Have been neglected or abused
Inadequate information about child
development.
Feeling overwhelmed
Poverty
Low education attainment
Child headed, single parents, absentee
parents, dysfunctional and isolated families.
Factors associated with child neglect

12. Crucial to Helpline’s case management process
which is handled jointly by Childline Kenya and
the DCS.
It address the root cause of the parents’ failure
to fully take up parental responsibilities as
clearly spelt out in the children Act 2001 and
other international child protection instruments
Linking Skillful Parenting to Helpline

13. 1. Parents found with the offense of neglecting
their children are enrolled in mandatory
parenting classes with follow up done in
liaison with the Children Officer within the
parents’ locality.
2. Train TOTs drawn from partner organization who
in turn create parenting voluntary support groups
How it Works

14. THANK YOUTHANK YOU!!