This study examines the transition experiences of 25 care leavers in Vietnam through semi-structured qualitative interviews. While many showed resilience and made progress, they also faced significant challenges related to housing, work, education, social relationships, and stigma, highlighting the crucial role of external support in sustaining their agency.

China’s decision to end its international adoption program after 30 years affects over 160,000 children, many with disabilities, raising concerns about increased institutionalization and developmental risks. This commentary highlights the need for reforms such as expanding domestic adoption, improving foster and kinship care, enhancing institutional quality, and strengthening cross-sector collaboration to create a more family-centered child welfare system.

This article traces the evolution of Cambodia’s system for caring for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), shaped by political stabilization, emerging child protection concerns, international advocacy, and gradual state engagement. While Cambodia now has a solid policy framework, weak government prioritization, poor interagency coordination, and limited local capacity hinder implementation, leaving proponents to push for broader political commitment, balanced international support, and stronger responses to root causes such as poverty and migration.

Among Syrian migrants who have settled in Türkiye through mass migration, informal kinship care remains insufficiently clear due to gaps in registration and regulatory frameworks stemming from religious and cultural factors. This study expands the literature on informal kinship care among migrant families.

This special issue of the Children and Youth Services Review concerns the governance of children's care systems in low and middle-income countries, with a focus on Cambodia, Uganda and Zambia. The special issue focuses on the political and bureaucratic factors that shape priority for and the effectiveness of national children's care systems in low and middle-income countries.

This statement by UNICEF Deputy Executive Director for Humanitarian Action and Supply Operations Ted Chaiban notes how the rapid pace of returns to Afghanistan—peaking at over 50,000 arrivals in a single day—has overwhelmed fragile communities.

Strengthening Families in India: Framework & Guidance, jointly developed by India Alternative Care Network (IACN) and Changing the Way We Care (CTWWC), aims to consolidate existing knowledge, interventions, and promising practices led by government bodies and civil society organizations across India.

This study examined factors influencing depression among adolescents living in orphanages in Central Aceh Regency, Indonesia. The findings highlight the need to prioritize interventions that strengthen social support networks, while also exploring additional psychosocial factors such as caregiver relationships, trauma experiences, and coping strategies.

India is advancing child protection reforms with a growing focus on ensuring children thrive in safe, nurturing families, supported by collaboration among government, civil society, communities, and families. Insights from the National Family Summit 2025 highlight how multi-level partnerships are driving family strengthening and family-based alternative care, while also charting a roadmap to overcome systemic challenges and sustain progress.

Bullying in Pakistani orphanages is a serious but understudied issue that threatens children’s physical and psychological well-being. This study surveyed 600 adolescents aged 10–19 from orphanages in Gujrat, Gujranwala, and Lahore to examine the effects of bullying.