This paper reports on a qualitative study that aimed to understand children’s experiences of private fostering and social work practice.

The paper presents findings from a study of centre-based supervised child-parent contact. The purpose of the research was twofold; to ascertain the views and experiences of birth fathers on all aspects of the supervised child-parent contact they experienced in a centre; to find out from centre supervisors their views of engaging fathers and supervising contact, and from key stakeholders and referral agents (a community project worker, a child protection social worker, Guardian ad Litems, a family law solicitor) their perceptions of the supervised contact provision in the centre.

This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Committees' recommendations on the issues relevant to children's care are highlighted, as well as other care-related concluding observations, ratification dates, and links to the Universal Periodic Review and Hague Intercountry Adoption Country Profile.

This report is about the use of ‘family orders’ to support family reunification and placement with family and friends as outcomes of S31 care and supervision proceedings brought under the UK Children Act 1989. The over-arching aim of this study is to understand the opportunities, challenges and outcomes of these orders, and their use at national and regional level.

This study draws upon data from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP), a longitudinal study exploring the impact of severe psychosocial deprivation on child health and development to examine the relationship between telomere length and psychopathology.

This opinion piece from the Irish Times explores the high rates of children and young people with care experience within the criminal justice system in Ireland, the factors that contribute to this overrepresentation, the policies (or lack thereof) addressing this issue, and the need for more information and data collection on outcomes for children and young people in care. 

The Senior Adviser and Head of Unit assists the CBSS Expert Group on Children at Risk with technical and administrative support and manages the budget and staff of the unit.

This article is based on the author’s keynote presentation given at the Irish Foster Care Association (IFCA) conference in November 2018. It outlines an ‘ecological’ model for promoting foster care stability in Ireland.

This paper explores the extent to which the existing research literature has addressed four key assets to a successful transition to adulthood identified by care-experienced young people - skills and qualifications, personal connections, financial and practical support, and emotional support - and if so, what it showed about the asset’s role in a transition to adulthood.

This tool provides practical suggestions and guidance to support your practice in communicating with children in court.