This paper outlines a research agenda to guide the initial stages of work of the new Notre Dame Strengthening Families (NDSF) Research Initiative in the U.S. This initiative is focused on building knowledge around the economics of families and evidence-based ways to promote and strengthen healthy families.

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.

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 study examines the Parent Partner program, which employs parents with lived experience of child removal to support families in the reunification process. Findings suggest that children whose parents worked with Parent Partners were more likely to be safely reunified, indicating the model’s potential as an effective child welfare intervention.

Family engagement is a critical component of child welfare practice. The present study analyzes publicly available data to document U.S. state efforts to engage families.

This article records briefly the history of the Family Inclusion Network as an organisation that promotes family inclusive child protection practice.

This position paper examines how stigma shapes reproductive health, poverty alleviation, and child welfare, influencing policy, service provision, and lived experiences. It argues that stigma is a structural barrier that worsens inequalities and calls for a cross-sectoral, lived experience–informed approach to reduce exclusion and improve outcomes.

In this report, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, Heba Hagrass, highlights barriers faced by children with disabilities and their caregivers to the enjoyment of their human rights, in the absence of adequate support services.

This article examines the challenges of foster care in Nigeria, highlighting risks of abuse—especially in informal placements—and questioning whether foster care is always necessary or suitable. It concludes that foster care should be a last resort, urging preventive measures and, where unavoidable, the use of safe and appropriate foster homes that prioritize the best interests of the child.

This study explores the policy environment for children cared for by grandparents in Libode, Eastern Cape, South Africa, finding no specific policies to guide or support such caregiving. It recommends developing dedicated policies, resources, and information to better equip grandparents, while contributing new insights to scholarship and informing policymakers.