This mixed-methods systematic review reports findings from 73 studies on interventions to support children and young people to return home safely after a period in care in the UK. Overall, reunification interventions had a small but meaningful positive effect on outcomes associated with successful reunification.

Reunification can be a pivotal transition for children, young people, and their families. A return home is not a single event: it is a process that requires careful assessment, purposeful planning, shared decision-making, and sustained support before, during, and after a child returns home. This Practice Guide focuses on reunification.

This article explores how social welfare officers in Tanzania experience and manage the reintegration of institutionalised orphans back into family care. It examines the strategies they use, the challenges they face, and the broader systems needed to support sustainable, child-centered reintegration.

This webinar, held March 27, 2026 by the Care Leaders Council, provided an international exchange among people with lived experience in care, aimed at analyzing regulatory progress, best

This article examines the challenges of family reunification for children in alternative care in South Africa, identifying factors related to parents and children that can make reunification unfeasible. It argues that while reunification is a key right, it must be balanced with child safety, emphasizing the need for stronger permanency planning for children who cannot return home.

This study examined the relationship between disability type and service receipt among U.S. transition-age youth aging out of foster care, a population in which 53% have a diagnosed disability, across all U.S. states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico.

In Kenya, young people’s experiences of residential care and life after leaving care highlight trade-offs between material support, emotional guidance, and personal freedom. The study emphasizes that family strengthening and individualized case management are crucial to support children reunifying with families and successfully transitioning out of residential care.

This evaluation of Uniting Vic.Tas’ Family Preservation and Reunification (FPR) Program in Australia found that intensive, in-home support helps families stay safely together, especially when practitioners build trusting relationships and provide both practical and emotional support. The study also identified opportunities to strengthen the program, including longer engagement periods, greater continuity with practitioners, and follow-up support after families exit the program.

This scoping review examines evidence from Asia and culturally comparable contexts to understand the experiences and support needs of young people transitioning from out-of-home care, with a particular focus on Indonesia. The findings highlight widespread gaps in formal leaving-care and aftercare support, alongside promising practices, the importance of informal networks and independent living skills, and the influence of stigma, gender, and resilience on care leavers’ transitions to adulthood.

This article compares the existing legislative, policy and practice supports for young people transitioning from out-of-home care (known as care leavers) aged 18–25 years in three jurisdictions: Sweden, Norway and Australia. Attention is drawn to the impact of the different welfare regimes in these countries (i.e., social democratic vs liberal), the inconsistencies across different states and regions, and the eligibility and adequacy of existing support programmes.