69. All State entities involved in the referral of, and assistance to, children without parental care, in cooperation with civil society, should adopt policies and procedures which favour information-sharing and networking between agencies and individuals in order to ensure effective care, aftercare and protection for these children. The location and/or design of the agency responsible for the oversight of alternative care should be established so as to maximize its accessibility to those who require the services provided. 70. Special attention should be paid to the quality of alternative care provision, both in residential and family-based care, in particular with regard to the professional skills, selection, training and supervision of carers. Their role and functions should be clearly defined and clarified with respect to those of the child’s parents or legal guardians. 71. In each country, the competent authorities should draw up a document setting out the rights of children in alternative care in keeping with the present Guidelines. Children in alternative care should be enabled to understand fully the rules, regulations and objectives of the care setting and their rights and obligations therein. 72. All alternative care provision should be based on a written statement of the provider’s aims and objectives in providing the service and the nature of their responsibilities to the child that reflects the standards set by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the present Guidelines and applicable law. All providers should be appropriately qualified or approved in accordance with legal requirements to provide alternative care services. 73. A regulatory framework should be established to ensure a standard process for the referral or admission of a child to an alternative care setting. 74. Cultural and religious practices regarding provision of alternative care, including those related to gender perspectives, should be respected and promoted to the extent that they can be shown to be consistent with the children’s rights and best interests. The process of considering whether such practices should be promoted should be carried out in a broadly participatory way, involving the cultural and religious leaders concerned, professionals and those caring for children without parental care, parents and other relevant stakeholders, as well as the children themselves. 1. Informal care 75. With a view to ensuring that appropriate conditions of care are met in informal care provided by individuals or families, States should recognize the role played by this type of care and take adequate measures to support its optimal provision on the basis of an assessment of which particular settings may require special assistance or oversight. 76. Competent authorities should, where appropriate, encourage informal carers to notify the care arrangement and should seek to ensure their access to all available services and benefits likely to assist them in discharging their duty to care for and protect the child. 77. The State should recognize the de facto responsibility of informal carers for the child. 78. States should devise special and appropriate measures designed to protect children in informal care from abuse, neglect, child labour and all other forms of exploitation, with particular attention to informal care provided by non-relatives, by relatives previously unknown to the child or far from the child’s habitual place of residence. 2. General conditions applying to all forms of formal alternative care arrangements 79. The transfer of a child into alternative care should be carried out with the utmost sensitivity and in a child-friendly manner, in particular involving specially trained and, in principle, non-uniformed personnel. 80. When a child is placed in alternative care, contact with his/her family, as well as with other persons close to him or her, such as friends, neighbours and previous carers, should be encouraged and facilitated, in keeping with the child’s protection and best interests. The child should have access to information on the situation of his/her family members in the absence of contact with them. 10