This article explores how professionals in Portuguese residential care settings perceive the factors that support or hinder the development of children’s social-emotional competencies, emphasizing the importance of relationships, staff stability, and supportive working conditions. It finds that while strong relational practices and collaboration facilitate progress, gaps such as limited training, high workloads, and the absence of structured protocols remain key barriers, pointing to the need for more consistent and sustainable approaches.

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 examines kinship care in Portugal, where placements with extended family—designated as “Support from Another Family Member” (SAFM)—are not formally recognized as out-of-home care, limiting visibility, oversight, and support. It finds that while children often show improved well-being, caregivers face significant socioeconomic challenges and lack adequate training, highlighting the need for formal recognition, stronger supervision, and expanded support.

This study examined the long-term use of the Standard Triple P parenting program in Portugal’s child protection system, five years after 16 practitioners were accredited. Using a SWOT analysis and the Integrated Sustainability Framework, the study identified key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats affecting program sustainability, highlighting the need for deliberate planning to ensure evidence-based parenting programs are maintained over time and effectively reach families in need.

Foster care is the preferred out-of-home placement for children at risk. However, the number of children in child protection systems exceeds the availability of foster families, highlighting the need for recruitment campaigns. Despite the growing development of such campaigns, their results have not been evaluated. This study aimed to design and experimentally evaluate messages to increase awareness, willingness, and intention to foster in Portugal.

This report highlights the recommendations and priorities that EU decision-makers and national governments can do to support the most vulnerable children and prevent widening inequalities. 

This volume covers a broad spectrum of current research findings concerning the participation of young people in foster families and residential living groups in Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland as well as cross-nationals perspective on children and young people’s participation in foster and residential care placements in Great Britain and France.

The main goal of this exploratory and descriptive study is to understand the perceptions of Portuguese child protection professionals concerning Family foster care. 101 participants, from different professional backgrounds and child protection contexts, filled out a questionnaire. Main findings show a heterogeneous degree of familiarity to FFC, and a generally positive although reserved attitude to it.

The objective of the present study was to characterize unaccompanied minors in Portugal and understand the processes of transition into the age of majority, using a mixed-methods approach.

A qualitative study was designed highlighting the voices of children, analysing their fostering experience, interpersonal relationships, their participation in daily decisions, and future aspirations.