Within decentralised systems, local authorities typically implement policy, acting as service provider. In any decentralisation process, the government retains clear responsibility and capacity for ensuring that obligations of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child are respected.
Does the national legal framework allow for subcontracting and/or -outsourcing alternative care services to commercial institutions or –companies?
Source: FRA, 2014
In at least 18 Member States (Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom) the national legal framework allows for subcontracting and/or outsourcing alternative care services to private-commercial institutions and companies.
In some Member States such as Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, private–commercial institutions have an important role as service provider running a big share of alternative care settings.
In other Members States, such as Bulgaria, Croatia and Lithuania, despite the existing legal provisions, in practise, up to now, alternative care services are subcontracted and/or outsourced only to non-profit institutions.