Alternative care of refugee children in the Czech Republic
Situation analysis and recommendations
Highlights
In the Czech Republic’s child protection system, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS) holds primary responsibility for managing a significant part of the Czech Republic’s alternative care system through its educational institutions. As of 2021, these institutions under MoEYS cared for 6,446 children, representing 82.6 per cent of all children in institutional care nationwide. The MoEYS is also responsible for the scope of children’s homes and educational facilities for preventative educational care. This includes “educational care centers,” diagnostic institutions, “children’s homes with schools,” open institutions for children with educational and moderate behavioural challenges and closed institutions for children with severe behaviour disorders or criminal behaviour before the age of 15.
MoEYS is also responsible for Zařízení pro děti cizince in Prague, or the ‘Facility for Children of Foreign Nationals.’ This facility specializes in providing residential care to refugee children, particularly those who arrive unaccompanied by their parents. The facility comprises a diagnostic facility, primary school, study department, training apartment and educational care centre.
This report, commissioned by the MoEYS and the UNICEF Refugee Response Office in the Czech Republic, aims to identify ways to strengthen the system supporting and protecting refugee children in alternative care, with a particular focus on children from Ukraine. The recommendations seek to enable MoEYS to enhance its provision of appropriate alternative care to refugee children in need of it. While acknowledging that asylum application support is an essential element of ‘appropriate alternative care’ for refugee children, this is outside of the scope of this report.
This report and its recommendations draw from secondary analysis of two primary data sources. The first comprises a situation analysis of refugee children living in institutions in the Czech Republic. This was conducted through observation visits to six facilities in October and November of 2023: the Facility for Children of Foreign Nationals and five other facilities in Prague, the Southern Moravia and the Karlovy Vary regions. The names of the specific institutions are mentioned in the observation section. These visits included a tour of the facilities to gather firsthand insights, interviews with the management of the facilities and focus groups of young foreign nationals and refugees living there.
A certified psychologist trained in conducting child consultations, facilitated focus groups of young people in adherence to international ethical guidelines and UNICEF Child Safeguarding policies. A designated Child Safeguarding focal point supervised the consultant’s work to ensure the highest ethics/ safeguarding procedure standards. The data collection process strictly upheld confidentiality principles, with all information gathered based on informed consent provided through a formal consent form. The site visits allowed for an in-depth understanding of the day-to-day operations, the living conditions of children and the overall effectiveness of care practices in these institutions.
The second data source comprises 43 key informant interviews conducted between April and June 2023, assessing the reception of refugee children from Ukraine by the Czech Republic. More information about this assessment can be found in the report ‘Strengthening child protection systems: a comprehensive approach to addressing the needs of refugee and marginalized children in the Czech Republic.’ Most interviews were held in person with representatives of the national, regional and municipal government and with civil society organizations in Prague, Brno, and Ostrava. Additional online interviews took place in the Olomouc, Pardubice, Central Bohemian, Usti and Liberec regions.
Three round-table discussions were held in cities of Prague, Brno and Ostrava with NGOs supporting refugees from Ukraine. The interviews and round tables provided valuable insights into the overall functioning of the Czech child protection system, however, much of the focus of the interviews and discussions was centred on the response to the refugees from Ukraine, as the influx of refugee children put a particular strain on the child protection system. The recommendations presented here emerge from secondary analysis of these resources combined with primary desk review.
