Background

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises and

helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. The IRC is present in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC is committed to implementing high-impact, cost-effective programs for people affected by crisis and by using our learning and experience to shape policy and practice. To achieve that vision, the IRC’s Research Unit (Airbel) leads on Research and the Technical Excellence team provides technical assistance to IRC’s country program staff and shares what we learn to influence policy and practice. Technical Excellence has three central objectives that we work towards:

Guide program design to achieve outcomes by incorporating the best available evidenceBuild technical capacity of country program staff to implement, measure and continuously improve programsInfluence the IRC, peer agencies and donors to use proven interventions and generate new evidence to achieve change in peoples’ lives

Technical Excellence is comprised of six Technical Units, all of which have deep expertise in their respective sectors: Education, Economic recovery and development, Gender Equality, Governance, Health and Violence Prevention and Response. The Violence Prevention and Response Unit (VPRU) houses expertise in the fields of Child Protection, Protection and Rule of Law, and Women’s Protection and Empowerment.

Scope of Work

The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (the Alliance) is a global network of operational agencies, academic institutions, policymakers, donors and practitioners that facilitates inter-agency technical collaboration on child protection in all humanitarian contexts. Its mission is to support the efforts of humanitarian actors to achieve high-quality and effective child protection interventions in both refugee and non-refugee humanitarian contexts. To pursue this, the Alliance has task forces and working groups to facilitate collaboration and joint design and development of technical resources.

Background of the project  

In line with the Child Protection Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Action, case management is the response service that child protection practitioners provide for children who have experienced family separation, abuse, neglect, violence, or exploitation. In recent years, various improvements have been made in the field of child protection case management in humanitarian settings, including the inter-agency guidelines, training package, supervision and coaching package, and other key resources. However, existing evidence on the effectiveness of case management practice is lacking in emergency settings. To fill this evidence gap, the IRC is leading a project called Child Wellbeing Matters in partnership with the Child Protection Case Management Task Force (CMTF) of the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (Alliance). The purpose of this project is to strengthen the evidence base by conducting a research study on the components of case management that contribute to improving child wellbeing and enhance case management practice, consequently improving the wellbeing of children receiving case management services. This 18-month research is conducted in two humanitarian contexts where a diverse range of children receive case management services. The results of the research will be analyzed and validated in consultation with child protection practitioners and the findings disseminated globally and nationally. Based on the research findings, tools will be developed to guide frontline case management teams on practical ways of strengthening services to improve the wellbeing of children.

Scope of work

The IRC is seeking a Child Wellbeing Case Management Consultant to develop a set of child friendly data collection tools and accompanying guidance to measure child wellbeing throughout the case management process and provide improved support to children.

The resources created will be used by frontline case management teams to conduct on-the-job monitoring and assessments of child wellbeing and use the feedback from children and their caregivers to improve services. These resources will be developed based on the findings of the research and learning from the research process.

The tools will also contribute to enhancing child participation by centering the voice of children and their caregivers through case management feedback mechanisms, including the development of an improved child friendly satisfaction tool for different age groups, abilities and developmental stages to ensure children can meaningfully participate in the process, and that case management teams are prepared to make adaptations based on the feedback children and caregivers provide.

The resources created will be reviewed by an interagency team as part of the Alliance Case Management Task Force. Their feedback into the design of the resources is critical to ensure what is produced can be shared and used globally.

Deliverables

The Consultant is expected to deliver the following:

Indicator guidance and data collection tools to measure child wellbeing in the case management process using learning and findings from the research process. The data collection tools developed will be child friendly and developed based on ages and development stages.Child friendly participatory feedback tool/satisfaction survey and guidance that incorporates child wellbeing developed for specific ages and developmental stages. Caregiver feedback tool/satisfaction survey and guidance that incorporates child wellbeing and is in alignment with the child feedback tool/satisfaction survey.Continuous engagement with the IRC Child Protection team and the Technical Team of the Case Management Task Force. Facilitate one hour session with Child Protection Technical Advisors to disseminate tools and guidance. Facilitate one hour session with the Alliance Case Management Task Force to disseminate tools and guidance.