Guidelines on Supervised Independent Living for Unaccompanied Children

Child protection actors continue to identify unaccompanied children for whom appropriate and safe care arrangements need to be made. This includes unaccompanied children, including child-headed households, who are living without adult care, or children for whom adult/family-based care is not immediately feasible. In such situations, child protection workers need to identify the most appropriate care arrangement, and this should
include an assessment of whether it is safe and is in the child’s best interests to continue to live independently.

These guidelines have been developed to assist UNHCR and partner staff working on child protection, and guide them in assessing and making decisions on the most appropriate alternative care, establishing and supporting supervised independent living arrangements, and monitoring and follow-up. It may also be useful in other settings with appropriate adaptations and contextualisation.