This study identifies high rates of gross and fine motor delays among young children living in residential care facilities in Thailand and examines factors contributing to these developmental challenges.

This study explores the lived experiences of orphans and vulnerable children in South Africa’s rural Vhembe District and finds that they face significant challenges, including maltreatment, deprivation, neglect, abuse, and social alienation. The findings highlight an urgent need for strengthened psychosocial support through coordinated stakeholder action, reinforced drop-in centres, and enhanced prioritization by social workers.

This study examines how children in Swiss residential care perceive safety, revealing that while institutions aim to protect them, many still experience both safety and unsafety shaped by physical spaces, institutional rules, and relationships with staff. By centering children’s voices, the article highlights gaps between residential care’s protective mandate and children’s lived experiences, calling for a more nuanced, justice-oriented understanding of safety in child welfare.

This study examines challenges that hinder social workers in South Africa from providing effective family reunification services, resulting in children staying in alternative care longer than necessary. Findings from a mixed-methods study suggest that providing resources, reducing caseloads, supervising and training social workers, and adhering to reunification principles are key measures to ensure holistic and timely family reunification.

This report explores how childhood institutional care negatively shapes health, well‑being, housing, and social outcomes well into older adulthood for people now aged 50 and above in Australia. It argues for a shift away from institutional aged care and towards trauma‑informed, person‑centered home or community care — designed with and for care leavers — to uphold dignity and improve long-term quality of life.

This study examined the impact of orphanage-based interventions on orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Benin City, Nigeria, focusing on healthcare, education, and vocational support. Findings revealed significant inadequacies in these services, with participants expressing dissatisfaction, and the study recommends free health insurance enrollment and mandatory school scholarships to improve OVC well-being.

This study assessed the mental health of children in 12 Nigerian residential institutions and found that many had abnormal scores on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, with risks linked to orphan status, type of institution, and length of stay. The findings highlight the urgent need for routine mental health assessments and better care for children in residential settings.

BBC Eye Investigations follows the journey of Reem al-Kari to find her son Karim Turjman - one of 3,700 children who went missing during Syria’s civil war from 2011 to 2024.

A new investigation by Lighthouse Reports, with a coalition of six Syrian and international media, reveals how a major EU and UK-funded childcare charity, SOS Children’s Villages, held children in orphanages to extort their parents. 

Using nationwide register data from Finland (1980–2020), this study shows that the lifetime risk of children entering out-of-home care more than doubled, with a notable rise in residential care placements. At the same time, the average duration of care shortened, and the likelihood of children returning home before age 18 increased significantly.