Toolkit | Monitoring Child Wellbeing and Satisfaction in Child Protection Case Management

‘Case management’ is a core approach of child protection programming, supporting children at-risk of, and who have experienced, family separation, abuse, neglect, violence, or exploitation. While significant advances have been made in humanitarian child protection case management—including the updated inter-agency guidelines , training package  and forms , there is limited evidence about which aspects of case management most effectively support children's well-being.

To address this knowledge gap, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), in partnership with the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action's (the Alliance) Child Protection Case Management Task Force (CMTF), initiated the Child Wellbeing Matters Project. Conducted across two humanitarian contexts, this research project examined how case management practices contribute to improving child well-being.

This Monitoring Child Wellbeing Toolkit was developed based on the findings from the research. It offers practical resources for case management teams to use to measure and enhance child well-being throughout their work. It forms an integral part of the broader case management monitoring and evaluation framework outlined in the forthcoming Child Protection Case Management Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Guidance. While the forthcoming M&E Guidance provides the overarching framework for monitoring case management services, this Toolkit specifically focuses on measuring and improving child well-being and satisfaction within that broader system. The toolkit is specifically designed for monitoring child well-being within ongoing programme implementation, as distinct from research or large-scale evaluation contexts where alternative measurement approaches may be more appropriate.

The Purpose of this Monitoring Toolkit: 

This Toolkit has been developed to support case management teams to measure and enhance child well-being and satisfaction throughout their work. Central to these tools is the meaningful participation of children and their caregivers. The Toolkit includes child-friendly tools adapted for different ages, abilities, and developmental stages, to ensure that children's voices guide case management service improvements. These resources are designed to be globally applicable and adaptable to local contexts. They provide case management teams with practical ways to:

• Monitor child well-being throughout the case management process.
• Gather meaningful feedback from children and their caregivers.
• Improve child protection case management support based on this feedback.
• Enhance child participation in case management.