Over the past year, the Leadership Dialogue Series, hosted by Miracle Foundation India and India Alternative Care Network (IACN), has brought together leaders from government, civil society, academia, youth, philanthropy, and the private sector to reflect on how systems can better strengthen families and prevent the unnecessary separation of children. As they conclude the 2025-26 series, the 10th edition of Leadership Dialogues will focus on a critical question: How do we know if family strengthening efforts are truly working?

This study reviews existing research on the challenges faced by orphans in Jammu and Kashmir, India, highlighting that while some children remain with extended family, others are placed in orphanages when relatives cannot provide care. The review finds that orphans in the region face multiple social, economic, psychological, and health challenges throughout their lives.

This session, during Dasra Philanthrophy Week, brings together thought leaders, policymakers, funders, and civil society actors to reflect on where children are being missed, why risks go unidentified, and how systems can be strengthened. Drawing from policy, practice, and lived realities, the conversation will explore how early identification and cross-sector coordination can enable stronger and more timely child protection responses.

This article notes how a pan-India study revealed that thousands of children of incarcerated parents (CoIP) are left invisible and vulnerable within India’s criminal justice system despite Supreme Court mandates intended to protect their rights and well-being.

In this webinar, speakers shared the principles, practices, and innovative initiatives in family strengthening across the East and North-Eastern regions of India. Speakers reflected on evolving family vulnerabilities, the role of family-based care in care reform, and what it truly takes to embed family-strengthening principles into everyday practice.

This study examined differences in emotional and behavioural problems among 400 adolescent orphans in Kerala, India using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to assess how sociodemographic factors shape mental health outcomes. The findings revealed significant variations by gender, religion, type of orphanhood, length and type of institutional care, underscoring the need for tailored psychosocial interventions that reflect these differences.

This study addresses the urgent need for family-based care for children without parental care, as emphasised by the UN General Assembly’s 2019 resolution, India’s Juvenile Justice Act 2015, and Mission Vatsalya. The primary aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Thrive Scale™ tool developed by Miracle Foundation India in generating measurable, data-driven decisions to plan and implement suitable interventions for family strengthening.

This book offers a comprehensive exploration of the institutional, legal, and social frameworks surrounding child protection in India. Anchored in a multidisciplinary approach, the book brings together insights from law, social work, psychology, education, and public policy to examine how various systems interact in addressing the issues related to protection of children from abuse, neglect, trafficking, and exploitation.

This paper explores the issue of child trafficking in Odisha, India, with a particular focus on the heightened vulnerability of children in tribal regions and the legal measures implemented to prevent trafficking and protect victims during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

This article describes how Mission Vatsalya’s policy framework is being translated into practice through convergence—coordinated action across ministries, departments, local governance bodies, and civil society—to strengthen family‑based care and