This study examines the critical role of Social Auxiliary Workers (SAWs) in supporting and protecting children awaiting foster care placement within under-resourced, community-based settings in South Africa. It explores the services they provide, their collaboration with other actors, and the challenges they face, addressing a key research gap to inform stronger child protection policy and practice.

This report examines the impact of Evidence-Based Decision-Making (EBDM) Professional Development on leaders in child welfare in Australia.

This phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of five houseparents in a residential care facility in Bukidnon, Philippines, highlighting their critical role in providing emotional support and stability while navigating significant emotional labor and institutional challenges. The findings reveal themes of adaptation, caregiving rewards, coping strategies, and personal transformation, underscoring the need for stronger institutional support, training, and culturally responsive interventions to improve both caregiver well-being and quality of care for children.

This toolkit provides tools and resources to service providers working with unaccompanied and separated children across various contexts. The toolkit presents research and background on the experiences, needs, and strengths of unaccompanied and separated children, and specific considerations for how service providers may support children’s long-term well-being and resilience while providing needed services.

This study examines the physical and psychological well-being of children and adolescents in residential care facilities in Mexico, addressing a major gap in systematic data. It finds that well-being levels are often below desired standards and that institutional responses only partially meet child protection principles, highlighting the need for improved practices, training, and coordination.

This webinar held in partnership with Save the Children and the Global Social Service Workforce Alliance (GSSWA) focuses on Strengthening the Community-Level Social Welfare Workforce (CLSWW). The session presents key learnings from the nine‑country analysis and introduces new practical guidance to help practitioners, governments, and partners strengthen the CLSWW through a Child Protection Systems Strengthening (CPSS) and localization lens.

This guidance is intended to support colleagues who are already engaged in this area of work in strengthening the Community-Level Social Welfare Workforce (CLSWW) through a reflective, collaborative, and Child Protection Systems Strengthening (CPSS) approach. The guidance outlines a practical assessment and strategy development process in a step-by-step manner, enabling country offices —together with government counterparts and other child protection organizations—to identify strengths, gaps, and priorities, and to plan and implement targeted actions accordingly.

This study surveys residential care practitioners in Queensland, Australia to examine their training, knowledge, and perceptions related to child sexual exploitation (CSE) among young people in residential care. It finds significant gaps in both pre-service and in-service training and highlights practitioners’ strong demand for more education to improve identification and responses to CSE.

For the second session in CELCIS' Emerging Insight Series they explored what is known about how AI is already being used in decision-making in responding to the care and protection needs of children. The webinar showcased examples from across the world of where systems using AI have been built, the safeguards considered and put in place, how these have been working, and what can be learned from these international case studies, including from the United States of America, the UK and Canada.

This report explores relational practice in out-of-home care in New South Wales, Australia, highlighting the importance of strong, trusting relationships between children, families, carers, and practitioners for children’s healing and well-being. It finds that although practitioners value relational work, system pressures—such as administrative requirements and compliance demands—often limit their ability to prioritize meaningful human connections.