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Too many children, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups are being deprived of their family and community by being placed in large-scale residential institutions. These institutions are extremely harmful to an individual’s well-being and development, and significantly more expensive than community- or family-based care.

This document was developed by UNICEF with funding support from the Oak Foundation, and in broad consultation and partnership with a range of civil society groups, NGOs and networks which are engaged in advocacy, monitoring, and programme guidance around transitioning from institutional care to community- and family-based care. The effort’s aim is ambitious, but simple: Influence policymakers in the European Union to strengthen their commitment to assisting governments’ transition from institutional care to community-based care in the next Multi-Annual Financial Framework (2021-2027).