This Insight draws on research and policy, as well as practice experience to explore friendship, why it matters and how it can be better supported. It looks critically at the nature of friendship and the impact that aspects of the ‘care system’ can have on children and young people making and maintaining friends. It highlights how significant friendships can be for children and young people who are ‘looked after’ in the UK.

Foster carers are losing out on financial supports and pension contributions although most look after children until they are around 23 years of age, an Oireachtas committee was told today. The Irish Foster Care Association presented to the joint Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands in relation to foster carers and pensions.

Eurochild has carried out an urgent mapping, with support from its members, UNICEF country teams and government representatives across 13 countries. The mapping examines the laws and policies at national level for children in alternative care and unaccompanied and separated children from Ukraine who arrive in the following countries: Czechia, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain and the United Kingdom.

More than 500 Ukrainian children who fled the war without their parents are stuck waiting in limbo across Europe after applying to the Homes for Ukraine scheme, sources working closely with the Home Office say.

Previous studies have shown that mental health disorders (MHD) among parents might be an important mechanism in the intergenerational transmission of out-of-home care (OHC). The current study aimed to further study this interplay by investigating the associations between OHC and MHD within and across generations in a Swedish cohort.

The Task Force on Foster Care of the Transforming Children's Care Global Collaborative Platform held the second spotlight webinar series on identifying foster carers on 5 May 2022.

This report is a culmination of an independent review of the UK's care system in order to build recommendations for how the system can be improved and to continue feeding in a wide range of views. The work and outcomes of the review were guided by the views of people that have lived experience of the children’s social care system in the UK.

This is the first report from The Promise Oversight Board on progress that Scotland is making to keep the promise. It was a promise made to care experienced infants, children, young people, adults and their families. It was also made to families who live around the ‘care system’ and whose lives are impacted by its decisions. The promise made reflects a commitment that had already been made through the National Performance Framework - that every child grows up loved, safe and respected and able to realise their full potential.

This paper describes a mixed methods approach that was applied to evaluate the complex intervention Fostering Connections: The Trauma-Informed Foster Care Programme, a recently developed trauma-informed psychoeducational intervention for foster carers in Ireland.

People in England and Wales must now be aged 18 and over to get married.