Family policy refers to a conscious, planned and targeted intervention of public authorities in the structure and the functioning of families. More precisely, it refers to the objectives and the measures taken by governmental bodies in order to achieve family well-being. It represents the point of intersection between private and public sphere. 

To provide care and support to the child with cancer and his family requires that parent organizations take into account some preliminary observations:

- The treatment period is considerably long

- There is a lot of anxiety and fears related to an eventual relapse during the immediate post-treatment period

- The treatment is expensive

- Healing proportion is generally between 70% and 80% of the treated children

- Cancer has an impact, not only upon the child, but also on his family

- Usually, women take the heaviest part in providing care to the ill child

-     The child's disease may worsen pre-existing family problems

- Most insurance systems deal with the "normal family", consisting of both parents and the unmarried children. Nevertheless, social change leads to the emergence of new family types that should be taken into consideration while trying to outline the family policy (single parent family, recomposed family, family of adoption, polygamous family, nuclear/extended family, etc.).

Some of our basic needs

While in the developed countries the state is taking care of many crucial needs of the families with cancer sick children, in most developing countries, state services refer only to a small proportion of the families. In addition to many other problems, they are still suffering from dramatic shortages in drugs, housing, transport, social and psychological support. To outline an appropriate family policy, the following needs have to be satisfied:

a) Needs related to the parents and the family:

To take into consideration, not only the individual (the ill child), but also the family as a whole, including the grand-parents

To provide a care allowance for the parent, or the family member who is most involved in taking care of the ill child

To provide specific support to the parent who himself may have a disease, disability, or is unemployed or in a situation of extreme need

To compensate the families for bearing particular charges such as taking care of an ill child or disabled survivor, or for expenses on transportation, housing, drugs, etc.

To adapt financial assistance and social support to the child's family which could be characterized by extreme poverty, isolation or parent's unemployment. One of its members may also be disabled or retired.

To provide support to pregnant mothers of children with cancer, and to those who are taking care of the new-born babies;

To help coping with the consequences of a divorce that could otherwise lead to child abandonment before the end of the treatment;

To approach social security as a welfare mix where different sources of support are to be combined

b) Needs related to the children:

To dedicate special attention to the ill child whose parent is alcohol or drug dependant, dealer, aggressive, prostitute, beggar, etc., and simultaneously, cooperate with other associations and public institutions to generate the best possible family atmosphere for the ill child;

To take responsibility for children who were abandoned during the treatment until they are either taken back by their families or are adopted

To allow children in process of treatment to obtain authorizations of absence from school without losing the right to take the exams.

To alleviate the effects of the disease on the siblings of the child and other members living in the same household

To extend insurance coverage for the families who are lacking it, at least during the treatment period

c) General family needs:

Prevent that any family policy actions could be perceived as "intrusion" into the private and intimate family sphere

Prepare a "parents' guide" that informs them about helpful health services and administrations, as well as financial obligations and possible steps to undertake.

Promote training strategies for all the professionals who are involved in providing social and psychological support to the child and his family Reinforce all voluntary networks in support of the ill child and his family

Renew all kinds of support in case of relapse.

The conciliation between work and child care

To allow parents a better conciliation between the childcare requirements and their professional and domestic commitments, the following aims have to be pursued and applied whenever they seem suitable and desirable from the family point of view:

- Work hours of the father or the mother should be easily reduced during the time of treatment

- Ease the possibility to take leave of absence during this time. This should also apply to men in order to increase male involvement in providing care to the child

- To take into consideration the child's treatment requirements in any job shift

- Compensation for health care expenses for the ill child at home as well as compensation for the costs for the recruitment of domestic help

The importance and authority of the family

Public, private and civic institutions should not replace the family in its fundamental role of insuring care and services to the ill child. Priority should rather be given to the strengthening of its autonomy and self-reliance and the reduction of its dependency towards external services. To implement this goal, the following measures have to be taken:

- Strengthening of family autonomy and self-reliance whenever it is possible

- Improvement of communication between health care institutions and families

- Provision of financial, social, psychological and educational services and support to the families in need

- Make families participate as active agents in providing care and services to the ill child

- Strengthen the group spirit among the families of sick children by organizing group discussions, excursions, cultural meetings, etc.

- Provide families with coping mechanisms for their different anxieties

- Offer mediation services provided by social workers, psychologists, social assistants, family workers, teachers, etc.

- Promote educational and training programs for survivors in need in order to facilitate their educational, social and professional integration

- Reduce the fare rates for public transportation

- Support survivors by giving scholarships for high school and University studies

- Establish a library in order to provide better information about the disease to children and their families

- Inform parents about their rights and duties with regard to the process of treatment and the kinds of support that are available.  

Conclusion

It is evident that each country, or category of countries, has its own family policy system and at different stages with regard to the implementation of the needs previously mentioned. That is why, all we can do as parents organizations, is to express fundamental needs and expect that each member would seek the appropriate formulas and procedures to implement them. The dosages of these procedures vary from one country to the other. Anyway, our duty is to express what we need and do the "plea" for its adoption in the social and political sphere. The way it should be fulfilled must be left to "technicians".