Child welfare and juvenile justice placed youths show high levels of psychosocial burden and high rates of mental disorders. It remains unclear how mental disorders develop into adulthood in these populations. The aim of this study, based on adolescents in Swiss residential care, was to present the rates of mental disorders in adolescence and adulthood in child welfare and juvenile justice samples and to examine their mental health trajectories from adolescence into adulthood.

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.

Several youth facilities have devoted considerable resources to improving the quality of practice and the interest in understanding the safety needs of youth in residential care has grown. However, there is limited research that considers how youth in residential facilities themselves define and experience safety, what their safety concerns are, and how they would like systems and staff to respond to their needs. Therefore, this current study investigated youth perceptions of safety in residential facilities in Norway and their experiences of and reaction to staff behaviors and attitudes.

This Insight draws on research and policy, as well as practice experience to explore friendship, why it matters and how it can be better supported. It looks critically at the nature of friendship and the impact that aspects of the ‘care system’ can have on children and young people making and maintaining friends. It highlights how significant friendships can be for children and young people who are ‘looked after’ in the UK.

Foster carers are losing out on financial supports and pension contributions although most look after children until they are around 23 years of age, an Oireachtas committee was told today. The Irish Foster Care Association presented to the joint Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands in relation to foster carers and pensions.

Time: 8 a.m. Bucharest time

Eurochild has carried out an urgent mapping, with support from its members, UNICEF country teams and government representatives across 13 countries. The mapping examines the laws and policies at national level for children in alternative care and unaccompanied and separated children from Ukraine who arrive in the following countries: Czechia, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain and the United Kingdom.

More than 500 Ukrainian children who fled the war without their parents are stuck waiting in limbo across Europe after applying to the Homes for Ukraine scheme, sources working closely with the Home Office say.

Through a new partnership between VOICE and HIAS, and as part of a six-country assessment in the region, VOICE conducted a three-week remote rapid assessment in Ukraine to assess the needs of women and girls affected by the war, and the needs of WROs and groups responding to the emergency. The assessment revealed that the top concerns for women and girls include threats to physical safety from active conflict and continual bombardment; food insecurity; and lack of access to healthcare, including the full range of reproductive health services, care for survivors of rape, and mental health.

One of the poorest countries in Europe, Moldova has shown tremendous generosity in welcoming more than 471,000 refugees from Ukraine, the highest per capita influx to neighboring countries. But it appears Roma may be excluded from this hospitality, Human Rights Watch research shows.