This study explores the experiences of young women leaving residential care in Catalonia, Spain, revealing that limited, inconsistent support—focused mainly on technical skills—neglects their emotional and social needs. It calls for a caring, individualized approach to guide their transition to adulthood and prevent further vulnerability and institutional abandonment.

This report examines the challenges faced by local authorities in providing cost-effective, high-quality residential care for looked-after children in England, where numbers have risen to 83,630 as of March 2024.

This study investigated how Finnish, Taiwanese, and U.S. children conceptualized and experienced care.

This article presents the Care Leaver Statistics (CLS) study, the first nationwide panel study in Germany focused on young people leaving out-of-home care, like foster or residential care. It follows about 1,500 youth aged 16–19 over several years to understand their life transitions, including education, employment, housing, health, social networks, and societal participation. The study also emphasizes ethical research practices, diversity sensitivity, and participatory methods that can empower care-experienced youth.

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS) and the UNICEF Refugee Response Office in the Czech Republic commissioned this report to assess the situation of refugee children in alternative care. While examining the broader system and identifying how this system can be improved, the analysis pays particular attention to the needs of refugee children from Ukraine following the significant increase in refugee arrivals since 2022.

This article examines the rise of independent foster care agencies (IFAs) in Sweden, which have introduced a market-based model into a system once managed solely by child welfare authorities. Drawing on national data and social worker perspectives, it explores the benefits, costs, and controversies of IFAs, including concerns about profit-making in foster care.

This response report provides an overview of child protection concerns in Ukraine. The war in Ukraine has deeply fractured the primary protective environment for children—the family. Mass displacement has separated millions of children from parents, siblings, and extended relatives, while indiscriminate attacks continue to kill and injure children at alarming rates.

This study explored wellbeing among Swedish adolescents with and without out-of-home care experience, using cluster analysis of 10 wellbeing indicators. It found two distinct groups—one with higher wellbeing and one with lower wellbeing—with girls, unemployed youth, and those with care experience more likely to fall into the reduced wellbeing cluster.

Using nationwide register data from Finland (1980–2020), this study shows that the lifetime risk of children entering out-of-home care more than doubled, with a notable rise in residential care placements. At the same time, the average duration of care shortened, and the likelihood of children returning home before age 18 increased significantly.

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.