Introduction

Every year across the world many children become separated from their families. Some children may run away or leave home in search of a better life. Some may be abandoned or placed in alternative forms of care. Others will be separated by disasters or war. And some will be taken away from their families by others. Suffering from a lack of care and attention, and more likely to be exposed to risky behaviours and activities, the circumstances of separation are widely acknowledged to leave these children more vulnerable (Williamson and Greenberg 2010; Maholmes et al. 2012). The perceived vulnerability of these children has made them a preferred ‘target group’ for many child protection agencies around the world. Organisations have focused their work towards various sub-groups of separated children, including children associated with the fighting forces – and specifically former child soldiers; street-connected children; child labourers; children in institutions; unaccompanied asylum-seeking children; and child migrants. Some of these children may be at more risk of being exploited and trafficked, and ‘trafficked children’ themselves have become a distinct sub-group for organisations supporting separated children.

The reintegration of separated children has attracted greater attention and resources from international organisations and child protection agencies in recent years. Despite the amplified focus on this area of work, rigorous evaluations of these endeavours are rare and it is not always clear what lessons are being learned (Jordans et al. 2012). Previous evaluations have had a tendency to focus explicitly on the programme objectives, and whether or not they were achieved. There has, however, been little insight into whether the activities benefitted the child, or how and why the initiative in question made a positive impact. So we may learn whether a programme achieved what it set out to do (reunify x number of children with their families, for example), but we gain no insight into how reintegration was supported, or what worked (or did not work), and how these factors affected the overall well-being of the child and family.

This chapter considers why the monitoring and evaluation of reintegration activities is so challenging; and why listening to children's and young people's views on, and experiences of, reintegration following separation and exploitation is so critical.