This document represents the agreements made at the Second International Conference on Children and Residential Care in Stockholm, Sweden, held from 12 to 15 May, 2003. The conference was sponsored by the Swedish Foreign Ministry and the Swedish International Development and Co-operation Agency (Sida). The document includes the principles and actions, regarding children and residential care, that were agreed upon by the participants at the conference.

A paper discussing the shortcomings of systems in which separated children are placed into residential/ institutional forms of care. It also considers community-based and some other forms of care as alternative approaches to preventing unnecessary separation of children from their families.

An overview of the largest longitudinal investigation of institutionalized children less than 2 years old ever conducted.

Through a review of orphanages in St. Petersburg, Russia, this study examines the causal roles of consistency in caregivers and appropriate caregiving behaviors in the social, emotional, and development of young children.

Overview of a research study which provides guidelines for care of separated children in large-scale emergencies, focusing on the negative impact of residential care, extended family care, spontaneous and agency fostering, adoption, and alternative placements for adolescents.

Situation analysis of Afghan children living in institutional care. Includes detailed recommendations for strengthening policies and services in the child welfare system.

This 15-month project aimed to map the number and characteristics of children under three placed in European institutions for more than three months without a parent as this information was previously unknown.

Provides an overview of social service provision in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and provides information on ways to move resources away from institutional care, and into community-based social services. Contains specific examples from Latvia, Iceland, Sweden, Romania and other transitioning countries.

This paper provides an overview of the largest longitudinal investigation of institutionalized children less than 2 years old ever conducted. The Bucharest Early Intervention Project is an ongoing randomized controlled trial of foster placement as an alternative to institutionalization in abandoned infants and toddlers being conducted in Bucharest, Romania.

This paper defines concepts and highlights key topics around orphaned and vulnerable children. It stresses the importance of creating a child-friendly environment and utilizing a holistic approach to care, both which identify children as central participants in decision-making about care and placement.