Individual consultancy on development of technical guidance, policy directive, standard operating procedures and child & family support package for support to children with disabilities with

Consultant Programme & Policy

Contract

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TERMS OF REFERENCE

Background and Justification Kenya’s population is estimated to be 49.6 million with children between 0-18 years accounting for 49 per cent, and adolescent 10-19 years constituting upto about 24 per cent. Data on persons and children with disabilities in Kenya is limited and, of what is available, there are significant disparities. For instance, the National Population Housing Census 2009 indicated that 3.5% of Kenya population is persons with disabilities and draws on this data to shows that 90% of the population is either directly or indirectly affected by disability. The Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey (KIHBS) 2015/16 found just 2.8% of the population of Kenya has a disability and the 2019 Population and Housing Census shows that just 2.2% of Kenyans have a disability

Data on children with disabilities is even more unclear. A survey in 2014 estimated that among children and young people aged 0-21 there was a 13.5 prevalence of disability . However, Department of Children Services (DCS) data from 2019 shows that 0.3% of children in Statutory Children Institutions (SCIs) have a physical disability, 0.5% of children in SCIs have an intellectual disability, and 0.2% have both physical and intellectual disabilities. DCS data from 2019 shows that 5.7% of children in Charitable Children Institutions (CCIs) have at least one form of disability. Overall, the official number of children in CCIS was 49,500 in 2018. A situational analysis led by Changing the Way We Care (CTWWC) and Stahili Foundation in 2020 across five counties show that 5% of children in the institutions researched have disabilities. However, they note that that there may in fact be a higher number of children with disabilities in the institutions than recorded, as their disabilities may not have been noticed by staff. It is likely that this is the case across Kenya, which would explain the very low incidences of disability shown in the DCS statistics.

Having ratified the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disability (UNCRPWD) and UN Convention on the Rights of Children (UNCRC), Kenya has put in place a strong policy and legal framework for persons with disabilities including children. These include The Children Act 20001, Persons with Disabilities Act 2003, Health Act 2017, Kenya Health Policy 2014-2030, National Policy for Persons with Disabilities 2016, Sector Policy for Learners and Trainees with Disabilities 2018, National Children Policy Kenya 2010, National Plan of Action for Children in Kenya 2015-2022, the National Council of Persons with Disabilities Strategic Plan 2018-22, National Disability Mainstreaming Strategy 2018-22 and National Plan of Action on Implementation of Recommendations Made by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Relation to the Initial Report of the Republic of Kenya September 2015-June 2022.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Protection is mandated to ensure the rights of vulnerable groups are protected and promoted and that these groups of vulnerable population are supported to live to their full potential. For a long time, Kenya has relied on institutional care as a means of protecting vulnerable children. However, in the last 10 years , the Government of Kenya has shown commitment towards reforming the childcare system from institutional care to family and community-based care system for all children, including those with disabilities and has therefore made child care reform one of its priorities. Article 45 of the Constitution of Kenya (2010) recognizes the family as the natural and fundamental unit of society and the necessary basis of social order and should therefore enjoy the recognition and protection of the State. The Children’s Act 2001 determines that children have the right to parental care, unless the Director of Children Services or the Court determines otherwise, in which case they have the right to the best alternative care. The Guidelines for the Alternative Family Care of Children in Kenya (2014) recommends that “the alternative care system be reformed to reduce overreliance on institutional care… [and that] alternatives to institutional care be developed in the context of an overall deinstitutionalization strategy” . Furthermore, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection Strategic Plan 2018-2022 commits to promoting family and community-based alternative care services and the development of a deinstitutionalization strategy and states that “…..there is need to create systems that enhance family-based care to ensure that all children, including children with disabilities, enjoy their rights to grow up in a family environment and receive appropriate care, and to prevent the need for placement of children in residential care”-page 19.

In 2020, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, led by one of its agencies, the National Council for Children Services (NCCS), embarked on the process of developing a child care reform strategy that will guide the country in implementing a Care Reform Agenda. The strategy is developed through a consultative process with a wide range of stakeholders and has been informed by learnings from other countries that are successfully implementing care reform. One of the pillars of the childcare reform strategy is deinstitutionalizing children’ including with disabilities and placing them back to families and communities. The strategy has listed five types of institutions which will be of focus, i.e. the charitable children’s institutions (CCIs), Places of safety and temporary shelter with an institutional culture run by national and county government agencies and parastatals, justice system institutions and special therapeutic health institutions.

A situation analysis report of care in Kenya generated from the 2020 desk review and consultation work undertaken to inform the development of the Child Care reform strategy has clearly indicated that children with disabilities are part of the most vulnerable group of children within residential care and often their needs are not met, with some experiencing neglect, abuse and mostly overstay in these residential care even beyond 18 years. One of the lessons learnt from countries that are successfully implementing care reform is that children with disabilities received limited attention and are often left behind on care reform with many have remaining in residential care while other children are reintegrated back to families and communities. Kenya is almost completing the care reform strategy with its implementation envisioned to start in a few months.

It is within this context that UNICEF is advertising this individual consultancy for the purpose of putting in place technical guidance note and policy directive in support as well as develop a range of child and family package that will support the family based care of children with disabilities.

Scope of Work:

The consultancy contributes to UNDAF Strategic Results Area 2, Outcome 2.6. By 2022, marginalized and vulnerable people have increased access to and utilize social protection, and services for prevention and response to gender-based violence and violence against children.

In the UNICEF Country Program Document, the assignment contributes to: Outcome 3 (Child Protection ): Children and adolescents are increasingly protected from exposure to HIV and AIDS, violence, abuse, exploitation and harmful cultural practices, and benefit from increased access to prevention, care, treatment, support, justice and other services needed to ensure their physical, mental and social wellbeing. Output 3.4, Activity 3.4.9 on strengthening the care reform mechanisms and interventions in line with National Guidelines for Family Care Alternative for Children in Kenya and soon to be endorsed Care Reform Strategy (2021 -2031).

Goal and Objectives: The goal of this consultancy is to develop age and gender sensitive technical guidance note, policy directives, standard operation procedures and a range of child and family packages that support children with disabilities to remain within families and for those in residential care to be reintegrated back to their families or placed in alternative family care arrangement. This is within the spirit of the National Care Reform Strategy (2021-2031) that emphasize the prioritization of children with disabilities within the care reform agenda.

Objectives: The consultancy aims to achieve the below objectives:

1) To establish the child and family needs and requirements that will help children with disabilities remain in families. 2) To establish reasons why children with disabilities are placed and remain in institutions, including challenges for their return home. 3) To establish the gaps between the provisions in existing policies and laws and the actual service provisions for children with disabilities and their families. 4) To develop age and gender sensitive guidance note, policy directive and standard operating procedures that will ensure increased family-based care of children with disabilities and reduce their institutionalization. 5) To design a range of comprehensive age and gender sensitive child and family package for support of children with different types of disabilities to enable them to remain within families.

Activities and Tasks: Under the supervision of the Child Protection Specialist and working with a government-led technical team the consultant will undertake a desk review related to care reform and children with disabilities and highlight the global, regional and national recommendations and best practices for support of children with disabilities. 1) Map the existing government programmes and services that support children with disabilities and their families and the scale of these programmes. 2) Consult stakeholders, including families, children and care leavers, to establish the challenges and bottleneck that hinder the care of children with disabilities within families and why these children end up in institutional care. 3) Consult with personnel in residential institutions to understand the reasons children with disabilities are placed in these institutions, the children’s needs and support provided while in institutions including the cost of providing these services within the institutions. 4) In consultation with government, civil society organization and families, design a range of child and family support interventions and packages that will be implemented to address the different needs of children with disabilities and their families with the aim of keeping these children within families. 5) Develop guidance note, policy directives and standard operating procedures to support prevention of children with disabilities from being separated from their families, and to support return and reintegration of those in residential institutions. The guidance notes, policy directives and standard operating procedures will be reviewed, validated by government technical teams and approved by relevant government policy level personnel. 6) Develop content for presentation in webinar to government policy and programme personnel including conducting 4 sessions of the webinar. The content will, among others, include the findings of the assignment on disability inclusive care reform and a summary of the products of this assignment,

Work relationships On the UNICEF side, the consultant will work under the direct supervision of Child Protection Specialist with the overall technical guidance of Chief of Child Protection Section. The consultant will have direct technical discussions with other technical sectors in UNICEF such as Health, Education, HIV, Social Protection among others.

The consultant will work with a government led technical team with representatives from agencies that have one or more mandates to support children with disabilities. Members of the team will include National Council of Children Services, Department of Children Services, Department of Social Development, National Council for Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, among others. UNICF Child Protection Specialist will work with relevant government personnel to facilitate the setting up of the task team.

Outputs/Deliverables: a) Inception report which will included workplan and timeline for activities to be implemented b) Report of Desk review with highlighted recommendations for consideration into Kenya context c) Report of findings of stakeholders consultations highlighting existing government programmes and services and their scale, bottlenecks at service provision side and challenges at child and family levels, that lead to placement of children with disabilities in institutional care and hinder the care of children with disabilities within families. d) Validated technical guidance note, policy directives and standard operating procedures for support of children with disabilities and their families to enable increased number of children with disabilities to remain and get reintegrated back to families. e) A document/ report on the designed range of child and family package that will be implemented to support children with different types of disabilities remain in families and for those in institutional care to be reintegrated back to families. f) Report of the consultancy work and at least four webinar presentation on findings and products of this consultancy work.

Work Assignment Overview

Tasks/Milestone:

Deliverables/Outputs:

Timeline

Estimate Budget

Inception report with methodologies of achieving the consultancy objectives and tasks, workplan and timelines completed and accepted by the Section

Inception report

Week 1

10%

Desk review on global, regional and national literature on disability inclusivity and care reform completed

Report of desk review

Week 2

Completion of stakeholders’ consultations to get in-depth understanding of the existing government programmes and services for children with disabilities and their families, challenges at child and family level that hinder children with disabilities staying within families and opportunities for support that exist.

Report of stakeholders consultations providing clear recommendations for taking forward.

Week 3- 6

30%

Technical Guidance note, policy directives and standard operating procedures drafted and discussed with the government-led task team.

Draft technical guidance note, draft policy directive and standard operating procedures

Week 7-8

15%

Range of child and family package developed and discussed with government-led task team.

Draft document outlining a range of child and family support packages

Week 9-10

Advanced technical guidance note, policy directives standard operating procedures as well as a range of child & family package presented to senior government personnel in relevant ministries for their feedback

Revised draft of technical note, policy directive and standard operating procedures

Week 11-12

15%

Finalized technical guidance note, policy directive and assortment of child & family support package submitted to relevant government ministry for endorsement.

Finalized technical guidance note, policy directive, standard operating procedures and a range of child & family support package for support of children with disabilities within families

Week 13

20%

Final consultancy report on the process followed, stakeholders consulted and products of the consultancy and webinar presentation on findings of the assignment on disability inclusive care reform and the summary of the products of the

Final report of the consultancy work.

Webinar session held

Week 14

10%

Estimated Consultancy fee

Estimated 70 days spread across 4 months. Cost estimated @ 600 x 70 days

USD 42,000

Travel International (if applicable)

USD 1,500

Travel Local (please include travel plan)

Financial proposal to include travel cost within Nairobi.

UNICEF will pay travel cost for travel outside of Nairobi as they occur within UNICEF procedures and rates.

USD 2,000

DSA (if applicable)

Financial proposal to include cost of living

Total estimated consultancy costs

USD 45,500

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Minimum Qualifications required:

Master’s degree in Social Sciences (sociology, social work, population studies, demography, anthropology etc), Public Health and Social Development, Human rights, and similar discipline.

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required 1. Minimum of 5 years-experience working on care reform agenda which should include support to develop policies and programmes in support of children with disabilities. 2. Demonstration of supporting government to develop policies and design programme that were implemented for children with disabilities, preferably in the context of care.

Competencies of the team members i) Drive for results ii) Working with people iii) Analytical Skills iv) Technical knowledge in subject area Skills i) Excellent writing and communication skills with ability to present ideas and concepts concisely in written and oral form ii) Have the ability to write for a general audience of child rights advocates, policy makers and others interested in the well-being of children General iii) Be able to work under minimum supervision and to meet tight deadlines Languages required: Excellent written and spoken English.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should apply online using the button below. As part of their application, candidates should provide:

1. A cover letter that specifies how you meet the desired competencies, technical background and experience (no more than 2 pages)
2. A short CV (no more than 4 pages)
3. A fee structure that should include: daily rate in USD and total fee

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

Apply now

Added 2 years ago - Updated 2 years ago - Source: unicef.org