Provides a brief overview of child welfare reforms implemented in the ECA Region and the collective effort to move away from over-emphasis on institutional care through the Changing Minds, Policies and Lives Project.

This 15-month project aimed to map the number and characteristics of children under three placed in European institutions for more than three months without a parent as this information was previously unknown.

Contains practical tools and policy guidance for family and child welfare policy makers and practitioners. Relevant topics include gatekeeping, redirecting resources into preventive and family based services, and standards of care.

This publication provides an account of historical processes in Spain and Italy which have led to a transformation of social child protection policies and an abandonment of the most widely-used mechanism of social exclusion, namely institutionalization.

This report is the result of a seminar held in Kazakhstan 2004. It focuses on social welfare sector reform, and includes topics such as expanding legislative agendas and financing frameworks, as well as gate keeping. Case studies of reform processes from Romania, Tajikistan and Serbia are discussed. Includes conference agenda.

Practical guidance, case examples, and tools to assess, monitor, and evaluate child protection services and facilitate reform away from institutionalization of children.

This paper examines the negative impact of institutional care in central eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Baltics region. It promotes community-based care alternatives and provides statistics. It also includes a list of useful resources addressing orphaned and vulnerable children.

Analyzes discrimination against minorities in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Suggests projects to counter discrimination and includes points for good practices in dealing with prejudice.

Outlines national efforts to disarm, demobilize, and reintegrate former child soldiers with respect to specific political contexts. Includes lessons learned, future challenges, and recommendations.

This report reviews childcare policy for separated children in the Central Europe and the Balkan States. It emphasizes the need to establish training, resources and effective procedures in order to meet the standards outlined in the Statement of Good Practice. Data from Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia is presented.