A substantial number of children become orphan and vulnerable and thus end up in different alternative childcare provisions such as institutionalization and adoption each year in Ethiopia. Effective practice of care and protection of children in general and those of orphaned and vulnerable children in particular requires a strong theoretical and evidence-based knowledge base, a framework that encompasses developmental processes and outcomes, both adaptive and maladaptive, which facilitates planning, decision-making and executions related to OVC alternative care provisions as a whole, and institutionalization and adoption in particular. Such desired knowledge enhances policy-makers’ and practitioners’ insight into the positive and negative impacts of family dynamics on children’s short-and long-term development. The author claims that Attachment theory and research provide policy-makers and practitioners with just such a framework. Specifically, the author argues that attachment theory and research equip policy-makers and practitioners with a working knowledge of key ingredients necessary for effective planning and implementation of alternative care provisions for OVC that spans assessing eligibility for institutionalization and adoption through placement and evaluation of their effectiveness. Attachment research, on the hand, provides them with empirical evidences, which in turn, enable them to make informed decisions related to alternative care provisions to the OVC. This article presents a brief overview of attachment theory, including the development of secure and insecure attachments, and associated lifespan developmental outcomes to show the relevance of the theory to Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVC) care provisions and practices. It then gives a summarized review of attachment research. Finally, the paper tries to draw implications deemed applicable to OVC care provisions and practices in Ethiopia.
