This short human rights in action article takes a critical approach to the translation of policy to practice and highlights risks involved with haste, outcomes measured in numbers and unrealistic timeframes, and rapidly transforming practice with nascent investment in a country’s capacity to assess and respond to the real needs of children and families within their communities.

This chapter of the Routledge Handbook of Critical Social Work, written by David Tobis, examines an inspiring story of dramatic change in New York’s child welfare system and how parents whose children were in foster care contributed to those changes. It demonstrates how grassroots activism can be suggestive for critical social work.

This field guide, produced by Apolitical in partnership with Hope and Homes for Children, is designed to help public servants understand the issue of children in care. It covers the following learning objectives: (1) Understand why experts say institutional care is harmful to children, (2) Learn about deinstitutionalisation and new approaches to replace institutions and prevent family separation, and (3) Learn about interventions that have improved outcomes for kids who do experience care.

This paper from the Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care outlines the Child Rescue Centre's process of transitioning from residential care to family-based care in Sierra Leone.

The aim of the study is to highlight the basic social services provided to children and their families as well as the main reasons for abandonment of children and to propose measures to improve social services for children to ensure social security in the regions.

Adolescents who are involved with child welfare systems, either in foster care or under child welfare supervision, across Canada, disproportionately “cross-over” to youth criminal justice proceedings. This article critically considers disadvantages “cross-over” youths face under the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA).

This article tracks the history of foster care licensing requirements in the U.S. state of Minnesota, discusses the real-life story of a grandmother with a grandchild placed in foster care, explains the federal mandates established through the Adam Walsh Act, discusses the existing flaws in the process, and highlights the ways in which Minnesota’s current statutory scheme and processes disproportionally impact communities of color.

This research is based on a stock-taking of the current situation. It is based on a comprehensive literature review and a genuine primary research with service users as well as policy makers, service providers, children and families.

This publication is presented in three parts. Part 1 discusses how seeing Haitian children as part of a complex and beautiful social system can inform best practices in child care reform. Part 2 highlights eight organizations working towards family-based care and the preservation of families and communities. Part 3 provides inspiration for collective action and transformation.

This brief explains the structure and roles of this country core team (CCT) established by Armenia’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs in June 2017 and the team’s usefulness as a platform for collaboration for the reform of national policies and systems for the care of vulnerable children: “national care reform.”