The New Jersey Supreme Court announced that it will hear the case of a New Jersey indigent mother who lacked an attorney when when a judge ordered her 2-year-old daughter taken from her custody and placed with a “financially advantaged” foster family. The case will address whether some New Jersey parents are "too poor" to care for their children, whether they have a constitutional right to an attorney when their custody is being challenged in court, and whether the indigent mother should be allowed to visit her daughter even without custody. 

This systematic review identified research studies examining factors associated with service use among kinship caregivers in the US using key search terms in five computerized bibliographic databases and four journals. 

Published jointly with UNICEF, this new BCN Working Paper focuses on the role of gatekeeping in strengthening family-based care and reforming alternative care systems. This Working Paper reviews different approaches to gatekeeping in five countries--Brazil, Bulgaria, Indonesia, Moldova, and Rwanda--to consider what has and has not worked, to analyze lessons learned from practice, and to reflect on the implications for improving policy and programs in this area.

While data indicates that the use of corporal punishment by schools has declined significantly in recent years, the practice is still in use for tens of thousands of public school students in the United States. Many activists and parent groups are demanding that the practice be outlawed in schools. 

The University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration (SSA), in collaboration with Chapin Hall, an independent policy research center affiliated with the University of Chicago, seeks candidates for the Harold A. Richman Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. This program is aimed at strengthening the intellectual and research qualifications of outstanding scholars interested in applied research careers focusing on child, youth, and family well-being.

On 10 December 2015, the Peruvian Congress approved by a near unanimous vote the Law prohibiting the use of physical and other humiliating punishment against children and adolescents (“Ley que prohibie el uso del castigo físico y humillante contra los niños, niñas y adolescents”). 

According to the advocacy organization, First Focus, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee is planning to consider new legislation known as the Family First Act in January 2016. The legislation would direct investments at keeping children safe and supported at home and in family-like settings. 

This study reports on the findings from a randomized control trial of a 10-week home visiting program, Promoting First Relationships® (Kelly, Sandoval, Zuckerman, & Buehlman, 2008), for a subsample of 43 reunified birth parents of toddlers that were part of the larger trial.

Même si la crise des enfants migrants non accompagnés d’Amérique centrale qui tentent de rejoindre les Etats-Unis ne fait plus la une des journaux, elle continue. De concert avec les gouvernements, l’UNICEF s’efforce de remédier aux causes de cette migration et de garantir la protection et les droits des enfants qui décident d'entreprendre ce périlleux périple.

This guide, published by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, provides a summary of promising practices currently used in recruitment and retention of foster/adoptive families.