The document discusses the challenges and debates surrounding institutional child care as an alternative arrangement, emphasizing the differences between the developed North and developing South. It highlights a rising trend of institutional care in Ghana, particularly private homes, and advocates for internal reforms that harness institutional capital to improve children’s lives. The need for collaboration between experts from both regions to create locally informed policies is also emphasized.

1. KWAMI SAKA MANFUL
manfulk@hotmail.com
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2. : Institutional child care as an alternative care
arrangement for children is under attack
Global debate about the effectiveness of
institutional child care
• The ‘last resort argument’
• Last resort argument’ points to challenges
and problems of child care in general
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3. • However differences exist in the
environment of global village of the rich
developed north and poor developing
south
• This differences also affect institutional
child care as alternative care arrangement
being
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4. Varying definitions all of which however include the
following three dimensions:
• Adult caregivers provide support services and
resources to address vulnerability and risk of
children - abuse and neglect
• address levels of (absolute) deprivation deemed
unacceptable – food, clothing, shelter, health,
water
• form of intervention which is both social-(cultural)
and public in character and acceptable
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5.  Social – Demography
 Economic
 Cultural
 Political
 Policies / Programs for Children
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6. ◦ Reform highly focussed on institutional
child care and less on fostering and
adoption
◦ Suggesting a freeze on establishing new
institutional child care in the face
deepening poverty of families
◦ Nonetheless, institutional care is rising in
Ghana especially private children homes
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7. • How could we reform institutional care from
inside, rather than outside?
• Search for new thinking or theoretical /conceptual
models in the face of institutional care challenges
• This calls for exploring resources in public children
homes that could be invested to yield returns
• Institutional capital is argued here as invaluable
resource with high investment potentials to yield
returns in the lives of the children in care
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8. • Starter - Salazer (1997; 2001; 2004; 2010)
definition of institutional capital
• Linking Institutional Capital to Social Capital
• ‘Institutional Agents and Actors ’ are vital
institutional capital
• Who Are Institutional Agents / Actors?
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9. • Mainly employed qualitative research
methods and data collection techniques
• Key informant interviews with purposely
selected 6 adult caregivers
• Child drawings and generating informal
conversations with purposively selected 12
children in care about their drawings
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10.  Harsh economic conditions
 - Low subventions from the Government
 -Difficult for adult caregivers to purchase
formal services to meet the needs of children
 Use of social capital by institutional agents to
provide support services for children to meet
some of their basic needs like nutritious food,
clothing, educational materials, computer
games
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11.  Complementing global initiatives with local
realities to manage children issues
 Reformulating and refining of child care
policy in poor developing countries be based
on local knowledge and reflect local context
 Need to build partnerships among child
experts / consultants from the rich developed
north and poor developing south
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12.  In the Ghanaian institutional child care
context, care responsibilities should evolved
from caregivers as they possess capital that is
beneficial to improve the lives of children
 However, as capital could be exploitative and
abusive, social capital of institutional agents
needs to be managed carefully
 Collective Care Responsibilities of Children at
All Levels of Society -All Hands on Deck
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