The purpose of this study is to examine the experiences and outcomes of children in the foster care system in the United States who were removed from their homes at least partially in relation to their parent's or caretaker's disability. 

RELAF Boletín #60, Octubre - Diciembre 2015, un publicacíon dedicada a los cuidados alternativos basados en familia.

This newsletter from RELAF provides an update on recent activities and news relating to alternative care in Latin America.

The State of Grandfamilies in America 2015 identifies key state laws and policies designed to address barriers and to better support grandparents and other relatives raising children. The report also offers recommendations to help guide the development of supportive federal and state policies and services for grandfamilies. 

Professor Robbie Gilligan discusses a “policy blind spot” in Ireland resulting from a lack of data collection on the education of children in the care system, including the percentage of those children who go on to university. Ireland recently launched a new National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education 2015-2019 to improve access to education for disadvantaged groups, but the new plan is silent on the educational needs for children in care. 

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.