This chapter first traces the etymology of the definition of “orphan” and its attendant “crises.” Then, using examples from Guatemala and Uganda, the authors consider how the idea of an “orphan crisis” has traveled from development to charitable responses and what effects this has on local child protection systems.

This study was carried out in rural Arkansas to examine the feasibility and usefulness of a universal screening tool--the Family Map Inventory (FMI)--to assess family strengths and needs in a home visiting program.

This report is an analysis of the overall findings from the research project on Haitian child domestic workers.

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.