This study examines the long-term effects of early institutional care in Zurich, finding that infants exposed to severe psychosocial deprivation faced significantly higher mortality risk and lost an estimated 12 years of life compared to peers raised in the community. It highlights that lack of nurturing interaction in early childhood has lasting consequences into adulthood, underscoring the critical importance of responsive care for child health and survival.

This study explores how minors in out-of-family care in Belgium experience placements and what improvements they recommend, based on interviews with youth in residential facilities. It finds that placements are often confusing and disruptive, and emphasizes the need for more child-centered, developmentally appropriate care that addresses both emotional needs and everyday living conditions.

This webinar, co-hosted by the Transforming Children's Care collaborative and Hope and Homes for Children, dove into the ground-level realities of system strengthening across three diverse national contexts: South Africa, Rwanda, and Bulgaria. Country experts shared the critical bottlenecks they encountered, the strategies that worked, the course corrections required, and the evidence of impact for children and families.

This study of young people in residential care in Romania finds that childhood trauma and maladaptive coping are linked to poorer perceived social skills, while adaptive coping is associated with better outcomes. It also shows that self-efficacy plays a key moderating role, highlighting the importance of building both confidence and adaptive coping skills to support healthy social development regardless of trauma exposure.

This UK government announcement outlines a newly launched review into the deaths of vulnerable young people leaving the care system, prompted by evidence that a disproportionately high number are dying at a young age. The review—led by Ashley John-Baptiste and Clare Chamberlain—will examine individual cases to understand the circumstances and identify gaps in support, particularly during the transition to adulthood when many care leavers lose consistent social services.

This blog describes a new initiative led by Lumos Foundation in partnership with UNICEF Moldova to expand early childhood intervention services for children with disabilities across Moldova, aiming to prevent family separation and improve developmental outcomes.

This webinar, held March 27, 2026 by the Care Leaders Council, provided an international exchange among people with lived experience in care, aimed at analyzing regulatory progress, best

This study of adolescents in residential care in Portugal found that perceptions of psychological adjustment differ significantly between adolescents and their caregivers, with adolescents consistently reporting more emotional, behavioral, and peer-related difficulties. The findings highlight low agreement between informants and emphasize the need for multi-informant, developmentally sensitive assessments, greater inclusion of adolescents’ perspectives, and improved caregiver training and tailored mental health support.

This article reports on a new cross-party committee report urging the UK government to apologise to the thousands of people forcibly adopted as infants between 1949 and 1976. At least 185,000 children were taken from their mothers without consent, a practice survivors describe as traumatic and life-altering.

This article from MaltaToday offers a behind-the-scenes look at the realities of foster care in Malta, using the example of urgent, late-night placements to illustrate the system’s challenges. It follows the work of child protection services, where professionals may receive emergency calls—sometimes in the middle of the night—to quickly find safe homes for young children removed from their families due to neglect, abuse, or other complex circumstances.