د.ناهد الجميل
Children-at-risk are persons under 18 who experience an intense and/or chronic
risk factor, or a combination of risk factors in personal, environmental and/or
relational domains that prevent them from pursuing and fulfilling their God-given
potential.Child at risk is a child who is less likely to transition successfully into
adulthood. Success can include academic success and job readiness, as well as the
ability to be financially independent.
Distinction between all children and children-at-risk is to say that all children are
inherently vulnerable by virtue of their developmental capacities (and associated
social influence relative to adults), but not all children are at risk. So while a
healthy infant is vulnerable, if people surround that infant who meet the needs
their vulnerability creates, the infant is not at risk.
Top Risk Factors for Infants and Young Children
Low-income and poverty
Absent father
Short spacing between births (less than 24
months)
Parent, especially the mother, without a high
school education
Poor health. One of the main risk factors that cause a child or young person to
lose parental care is parents’ health status.
Socio-cultural factors. These include migration, single parenthood, family
breakdown, divorce and remarriage, teenage pregnancy, gender inequalities and
ethnic discrimination. Children of parents who have separated, divorced or
remarried are often placed in alternative care or encouraged to leave the family
home. Discrimination and exclusion on the basis of ethnicity, race, gender or
disability are also driving children into alternative care.
Violence. One of the main reasons many children end up in alternative care is
violence in their family, including psychological, physical or sexual violence, or
neglect.
Political and economic factors. Armed conflict and natural disasters contribute to
displacement, death of parents, family separation and children forced to become
child soldiers are all factors increasing the risk of children losing parental care.