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.
This blog from Hope and Homes for Children critiques a recent 60 Minutes segment that portrayed a Haitian orphanage in a positive light, arguing that such narratives overlook the deeper harms of institutional care. Drawing on extensive research and data, the article explains that most children in Haitian orphanages have living parents and are placed there because of poverty, not orphanhood, with orphanages often creating a “pull effect” that separates families.
This article from MaltaToday offers a behind-the-scenes look at the realities of foster care in Malta, using the example of urgent, late-night placements to illustrate the system’s challenges. It follows the work of child protection services, where professionals may receive emergency calls—sometimes in the middle of the night—to quickly find safe homes for young children removed from their families due to neglect, abuse, or other complex circumstances.
This article reports on a recent Barna Group study examining how U.S. Christians view and support orphanages. It highlights a growing shift in awareness, with more Christians recognizing that poverty—not the absence of parents—is a primary reason children enter residential care and that children generally thrive better in family-based environments.
This article highlights the harsh realities faced by street children in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, while showcasing the efforts of local organizations working to support them. It describes how thousands of children—often driven to the streets by poverty, family breakdown, or accusations of witchcraft—survive through begging, informal work, and coping with daily violence, exploitation, and health risks.
This Guardian article reports on a new investigation finding that, under recent U.S. immigration policies, some parents are being deported without their children—often without being given the opportunity to make arrangements for their care. Based on interviews with deported families and advocacy organizations, it highlights how these separations can happen abruptly during detention, leaving children—including very young or vulnerable ones—behind in precarious situations.
This article reports on a new collaboration between the Catholic Church in Thailand and UNICEF to address ongoing gaps in child protection systems, particularly those affecting vulnerable and marginalized children in a context of persistent social inequality.
This article argues that poverty is a major driver of family separation in Pakistan, forcing many parents to place their children in orphanages or care institutions not out of choice, but as a survival strategy.
This BBC News article reports that the forced deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia has been classified by the United Nations as a crime against humanity.
This article highlights how children are disproportionately impacted by the recent escalation of violence in Lebanon, reporting that in just a 24-hour period at least seven children were killed and dozens injured amid intensifying hostilities.
The article explains that SOS Children’s Villages UK is planning a significant strategic shift, including moving toward becoming an independent organization separate from the international federation it has long been part of.