At eye level with the Children

Report on the European Quality4ChildrenCongress

02/06/2005 - At the first European Quality4Children Congress on out-of-home care for children, which took place from 1 to 2 June in Gmunden, Austria, all participants agreed: without the participation of the children and youths, the foundation for a project aimed at securing and developing binding quality standards would be missing.

Emmanuel Sherwin (IFCO Board member)

At the congress in Gmunden, where participants from 54 countries were present, it was again revealed what "in the child's best interest" really means: children and youths who cannot grow up with their biological parents (in Europe and Asia alone there are approximately two million), are the true experts on their own situation. They play a key role in improving their development opportunities.

This is why in Gmunden, youths were also invited to share their views and personal experiences, judgement, and concerns, and to bring in their expert knowledge, which will be part of Quality4Children. A youth from Ireland got to the heart of the situation of those affected; "in market inquiries the consumers are asked, why is it that in the field of social work, the producers are asked?" A youth from the Netherlands said, "we are left out. They listen to what we say, but they do not act accordingly." The living conditions and development conditions of children and youth in out-of-home child care do not correspond to their needs (which, in many cases, even applies to children growing up in their biological families). The youths explicitly express their wish to participate by saying, "we have the experience. We have the creative ideas. We have another point of view. We are the ones being decided upon. We are the most important part of the system."

The German social educational expert Klaus Wolf agrees. Children have unalienable and unconditional rights from the beginning of their lives, and it is not us who give these to them. It is not enough to proclaim these rights in soapbox oratory. Andrew Hosie, a university lecturer on children's home care in Glasgow, says that to counsel does not mean to speak, but first and foremost to listen.

Quality for all children?

FICE President Theo Binnendijk, who opened the congress together with IFCO

President Chris Gardiner and SOS Children's Villages President Helmut Kutin, stated, right at the start, "we wish for Quality4Children to count for all children."

The Presidents: Binnendijk (FICE), Kutin (SOS Children's Villages), Gardiner (IFCO) (left to right)

Social educational expert Heinrich Kupffer affirms this and provokingly asks why everyone questions the quality of out-of-home care and not that within families? In some families, according to Kupffer, it would be better if child care was approached like it is in some children's homes. Growing up in the biological family should in no way be equated with "quality". And if "child care quality" is a concern of the congress, then these demands for quality should count for all children including those growing up in their biological families.

However, quality is not easy to work towards: educational experts have to be creative and free in their work, they cannot follow norms too closely, since what is good for one child can be exactly wrong for another. Standards, according to Kupffer, can in any case be set for organisational matters, such as education, and can be developed and are important merely for the purpose of ensuring social approval or the understanding between colleagues from different countries. Quality in child care means more than following these standards, as it comprises a specific style of association, commitment of the co-workers, and a specific conception of man. Maturity is something which one must develop. And development should not be considered something only pertinent to children and youths, stated educational scientist Eva Dreher from Vienna in her report, but is understood today as a process which extends through the whole lifespan of a person.

Working together

Many topics were raised during the congress, many experts, organisations, and initiatives met to exchange views and to work together on a common goal. The need to join forces was also emphasized by IFCO President Chris Gardiner in his opening speech. In this effort, the participation of the youths may in no way be forgotten; "let's put ourselves at eye level with the children", demanded SOS Children's Villages President Helmut Kutin.