This rapid review of the literature on residential care for looked-after children in the UK aims to describe the use of residential care for children within the child welfare systems of England and other relevant countries; review the evidence on children’s outcomes from residential care; and review the quality of the evidence and identify gaps in the evidence base in order to inform future research priorities.

The Child Protection Index (the Index) is a comparative policy tool, organised and implemented by local and national level civil society organisations, that examines a country’s current child protection system using a common set of 626 indicators that measure a country’s policy and actions toward greater child protection. This Index measures Moldova’s efforts toward child protection in comparison with other countries in the region.

The Child Protection Index (the Index) is a comparative policy tool, organised and implemented by local and national level civil society organisations, that examines a country’s current child protection system using a common set of 626 indicators that measure a country’s policy and actions toward greater child protection. This Index measures Georgia’s efforts toward child protection in comparison with other countries in the region.

Volume 2 of the Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations provides guidance, primarily addressed to local authorities and their staff in England, about their functions under Part 3 of the Children Act 1989 which concerns the provision of local authority support for children and families. In particular it describes how local authorities should carry out their responsibilities in relation to care planning, placement and case review for looked after children.

This article from the Irish Times explains that the Council of Europe has ruled that the lack of a clear ban on corporal punishment in Ireland is a violation of children’s rights and the European Social Charter.

Norway’s child welfare agency (Barnevernet) has come under recent scrutiny for its practices regarding children of immigrant parents. According to the article, children of immigrant parents make up 40% of foster care placements.

À la veille de l’adoption du Programme de l’Union européenne en matière de migration, l’UNICEF demande que les droits et le bien-être des enfants migrants soient placés au cœur même de la politique d’immigration européenne. Ce sont les enfants qui migrent seuls, sans leurs parents ni adultes de leur famille, qui courent les plus gros risques.

UNICEF is calling for the rights and wellbeing of migrant children to be at the heart of Europe’s immigration policy.

This report was developed as part of a mapping study aimed at analysing the situation of alternative care and family support in the Baltic Sea Region, assessing the achievements since the 2005 Ministerial Forum and identifying relevant opportunities and challenges for the future.

This report provides an overview of the two-day expert meeting on alternative care and family support in the Baltic Sea Region that took place in Tallinn, Estonia in May 2015.