This comprehensive policy report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation summarizes what is known about kinship care in the United States, identifies the problems and issues these families face, and recommends how best to support caregivers as they step up to take responsibility for children in their extended families and communities.

This qualitative research study seeks to better understand some of the reasons for residential care expansion in the province of Battambang, Cambodia. The study aims to identify why children are sent to orphanages and understand the attitudes of those stakeholders who are influencing the rise in institutions in the province.

The paper provides a clear agenda for action for reversing the neglect of childhood disability in child care reform and points towards several key policy recommendations.

This background paper and individual country briefs were commissioned to examine the current status of family support services and alternative care in 18 sub-Saharan Francophone, four Anglophone and two Lusophone African countries (a total of 22 countries). This background paper represents a comparative regional analysis, providing an overview of the current situation and illustrating promising practices, opportunities and challenges.

This article sets out some of the evidence of the impact of institutionalisation on children in Europe.

This paper describes Ireland’s successful implementation of a policy of de-institutionalization of out-of-home care for children.

This edition of Insights produced by UNICEF summarizes the findings and recommendations of studies on the impact and outreach of social protection systems in Albania, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine where high rates of child placement in formal care still persist. The research offers important insight into the weaknesses and challenges faced by social protection systems in the region, but also point to ways in which policy-makers might maximise the impact of social protection systems in order to ‘keep families together’.

This report provides data on children living in urban settings, including statistics, conditions, and personal testimonies. The report also includes UNICEF’s recommendations for policy regarding children in urban settings, working with this population, and for future action. Sections that are relevant to children’s care include: children living and working on the streets, migrant children, urban emergencies, and many more.

This monograph reviews literature pertaining to children without permanent parents.

This paper from Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development Volume 76, Issue 4 proposes a number of key components for translating research into policy and programs: analyzing the situation, using evidence to build the case for action, developing policies, building program capacity in child welfare and early childhood development, creating a family‐based child welfare system, and developing a system of monitoring and accountability.