Better Care Network highlights recent news pieces related to the issue of children's care around the world. These pieces include newspaper articles, interviews, audio or video clips, campaign launches, and more.
Jayne Cravens reviews recent trends and developments in virtual volunteering, which offers volunteer opportunities that can be completed online. Links to numerous examples, articles, and resources are included.
UK government cuts to legal aid in 2012 have greatly impacted unaccompanied migrant children, who are now denied legal aid in non-asylum cases.
Despite good intentions, volunteers and donors from Australia and the larger international community are supporting orphanages separating children from their families. Australia is seeking to curb support for orphanages in countries like Cambodia, where the trafficking of children into orphanages is a common practice.
Japan's Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has announced new targets for children in need of alternative care.
The Social and Health Management software (SOHEMA) Child Case Management System (CCMS), a new software system in Jamaica, will allow child protection officers to upload and track cases of children in the child protection system.
Children aging out of institutional care in India often have no legal identity and face many obstacles to survive on their own. These youth are particularly vulnerable to human trafficking, recruitment into the sex trade, getting involved in crime, or developing addictions.
A parliamentary committee sitting in Canberra is considering adding a world-first clause in a Modern Slavery Act aiming to cut the supply of Australian money to foreign child care institutions and redirect it to help reintegrate children into their home communities; the clause would also make it a criminal offense for Australians to visit foreign orphanages.
In September, a parliamentary committee will submit an interim report on the proposed Modern Slavery Act in Australia, which could criminalize the practice of organizing orphanage trips overseas.
Dame Susan Devoy from the Human Rights Commission has appealed to a UN committee to hold an inquiry into child abuse in New Zealand's state institutions between the 1950s and 1990s.
"Boot camps" for youth with internet and gaming addictions have become increasingly popular in China and are criticized for their military-style discipline and harsh practices. The recent death of a Chinese teenager just two days after entering one such instution has sparked an outrage over the use of these institutions and their practices.