The objective of this article is to identify those situations where the families of fostered unaccompanied migrant children are made visible in order to favor the incorporation of these families into the pathway planning. The fieldwork was carried out in Spain and involved working groups with specialized professionals.

This brief provides an overview of the data and evidence gaps on violence against children in East Asia and the Pacific. It calls for greater attention to generating, sharing and applying quality data and evidence to protect the safety and rights of children within the region.

Debates exist regarding whether foster youth should be asked about their placement preferences following removal, with only youth aged 12 years and older at times assumed legally competent to provide input. The present study evaluated whether placement-related factors known to predict youth's well-being also shape their placement preferences and whether preferences differ between youth below and above the age at which they are considered legally competent to provide input.

This study looks at the results achieved under the mandate of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict (SRSG CAAC) in the past 25 years, the challenges that impacted its implementation and the opportunities to improve the protection of children affected by conflict.

This study aimed to synthesize existing qualitative UK evidence on the known safeguarding risks and poorer outcomes for disabled children and young people who are at risk of, or who have experienced abuse. This study focused on research, which had sought the views of disabled children and young people, parents/carers and practitioners.

The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the experience of birth children of foster parents. The study examines the retrospective narratives of 14 Israeli adults, ages 18–38, whose families fostered a child for at least one year in the context of the Israeli foster care system.

These guidelines complement the Committee’s General Comment No. 5 (2017) and its guidelines on the right to liberty and security of persons with disabilities. They are intended to guide and support States parties, in their efforts to realize the right of persons with disabilities to live independently and be included in the community, and to be the basis for planning deinstitutionalization processes and prevention of institutionalization.

This is the CRC Committee’s report to the 77th session of the UN General Assembly which includes a section on the Day of General Discussion (DGD) on children’s rights and alternative care and the recommendations emanating from that process

Global totals and country comparisons were previously hampered by inconsistencies in COVID-19 testing and incomplete death reporting. The new orphanhood estimates derived here based on excess deaths provide a comprehensive measure of COVID-19’s longterm impact on orphanhood and caregiver loss.

This briefing paper draws on data and findings from the Insights into the World of Privatized Faith-Based Residential Care Facilities in Myanmar research report.

This briefing paper draws on data and findings from the Insights into the World of Privatized Faith-Based Residential Care Facilities in Myanmar research report.

In this video, Kinnected Myanmar Senior Social Worker, Htoo Say, describes the nature of patron-client relationships and gives examples of how they influence the participation of directors and families in the reintegration process. In addition, she shares critical insights into how the Kinnected Myanmar social workers learnt to navigate these relationships to facilitate children’s reintegration and promote their best interests.

This is the monthly update of the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Learning Platform published in July 2022. 

This paper highlights the importance of placing support for children with disabilities and their families at the centre of care reform efforts, and provides examples from across the region of how this can be done.

This short paper examines why children on the move need to be included in care reform in the region, how the care needs of these boys and girls can be met, and what lessons can be learned from the care of children on the move to inform the care of children more broadly.

This paper examines the nature and benefits of foster care and identifies some of the key challenges associated with this form of care in Eastern and Southern Africa. It outlines the elements of an enabling environment needed for successful large-scale foster care programmes, including legislation, guidance, changes to social norms, coordination mechanisms, and a strong social service workforce. The paper also provides lessons learnt from the region on how to support each stage of the foster care process.

The purpose of the Home Thrive Scale™ is to assess the possibility of a child staying with or returning to their family and to identify services needed to make reintegration possible.

Designed for trainers imparting life skills education to children ages 5-18.

This toolkit is designed for the social service workforce in need of basic counseling skills. It includes mini lessons that teach fundamental counseling skills and activities and worksheets to provide opportunity to practice the skills.

This toolkit is designed for parents/caregivers and the social service workforce guiding them. It provides practical tips that can be implemented quickly and mini lessons on topics of importance to anyone raising or supporting a child.

The toolkit provides the user with a comprehensive assessment framework for analyzing current systems, procedures, and practices against international standards and professional case management practices at both the case level and system level. This toolkit does not promote a specific model of case management since no one approach or model can be applied to every situation. Rather, it outlines the beneficial aspects, processes, and strategies of case management that have shown improved outcomes for children and families.

This section of the Community Planning Toolkit provides guidance on the issues to consider when planning and designing community engagement. It focuses on quality and effectiveness, process planning and designing engagement tailored to the particular issue, level of participation to be achieved, timeframe and range of stakeholders affected.

Vulnerable children and families need a strong social support network that acts as a safety net to effectively and sustainably respond to the situation of children and families at risk.

This toolkit explains the process behind asset mapping, looks at how to carry out a Community Street Audit, provides advice on making asset mapping meaningful and ensuring it leads to constructive action, and on involving different sections of the community - including community residents, elected councillors and representatives from local services. Finally it looks at the tools you may need, and how to keep community and local agencies informed of any action plans arising from the asset mapping.

Miracle Foundation's Child-Centered Case Management Toolkit provides hands-on training materials to help you get children safely and permanently into families. For an in-depth understanding of our case management tools and Thrive Scale™ contact safelyhome@miraclefoundation.org.

Catholic Relief Services’ (CRS) Holistic Organizational Capacity Assessment Instrument (HOCAI) is designed to assist organizations to conduct a self analysis of their strengths and challenges, develop an action plan, and improve organizational functions through capacity strengthening. With HOCAI, CRS creates a standardized framework to help organizations engage in a process of continuous assessment and improvement that will sustain organizational capacities.

A critical step of the transition process is to put in place a written agreement that clearly outlines the commitments, expectations, and conditions of the partnership. A partnership agreement is typically signed after successful completion of the onboarding process. It formalizes the decision of key stakeholders to transition and should not be done before ample time and opportunity have been provided to secure buy-in.

Advancing Partners & Communities (APC) is a five-year cooperative agreement funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development beginning October 1, 2012. The project focuses on advancing and supporting community programs that seek to improve the overall health of communities and achieve other health-related impacts, especially in relationship to family planning. APC provides global leadership for community-based programming, executes and manages small- and medium-sized sub-awards, supports procurement reform by preparing awards for execution by USAID, and builds technical capacity of organizations to implement effective programs.

The purpose of these guidelines is to equip you with a tool that helps you build a sound understanding of an organisation so that you can make a well-informed decision about whether or not to establish a partnership with them. The check can also reveal to you other ways in which you can support the project achieve it’s goals – that may be helping them access additional training for the staff, sending your accountant to help them set up good cash management systems or providing the funding for them to hire an experienced staff member.

The Child Protection in Short-Term Missions Manual and Toolkit has been produced by ACC International Missions and Relief. It has been designed for those who are passionate about missions and engaging people in missions through short-term teams, who pursue excellence in all they do and who are committed to pursuing God’s heart for children and vulnerable members of society in the context of global missions.

This tool was designed to help those seeking to assist Christian faith-based actors involved in long-term residential care programs make the transition from institutional to non-institutional (family and community-based) child welfare programs. It was written to give some insight into what this journey called ‘deinstitutionalisation’ might look like and what steps and processes might be involved. Whilst it contains a brief overview of the technical stages, its main purpose is to guide you through the process of achieving buy-in and is not intended to be a technical deinstitutionalisation manual.

World Without Orphans Roadmap: Foundations for Active Engagement is a result of broadscale collaboration
among global, regional, and national leaders across many faith communities. It is informed by experts
from global organizations that lead the way in identifying best practices for caring for vulnerable families
and children.

A World Without Orphans original animation. Find out more at: www.worldwithoutorphans.org

This is a summary of three major new papers published in the Lancet with the support of Lumos which shed new light on the situation of children living in institutions globally and make important recommendations for donors, governments, civil society and individuals to help ensure every child can grow up in a safe, supportive and loving family and have the best chance in life.

According to UNICEF, nearly 90% of the world’s orphans have at least one living parent who cannot afford to safely care for them. The solution is family-based care.

Produced with KESCA, ‘Myths vs Reality’ highlights some of the key misconceptions associated with voluntourism, including how this could unintentionally support institution-related trafficking.

This paper brings together data, evaluations and practical experiences generated over the course of the pandemic to determine the impact of COVID-19 on cash transfers.

This case story is meant to illustrate transition, the actors involved, the challenges and the success factors; recognizing that each transition is an individual process with different starting points, different dynamics and different evolutions.

The story of Identity Mission tells how a program focused on supporting vulnerable children by providing family-based care solutions alongside the local church came to be and what the challenges were to creating a mission focused on family. It is the story of one person’s own transition.

Elli Oswald, Executive Director of the Faith to Action Initiative, reconsiders the best ways American churches can serve some of the world’s most vulnerable children and honor them as image bearers of God.

The Council of Europe Action Plan for the Republic of Moldova 2021-2024 is a strategic programming instrument that aims to bring the Republic of Moldova’s legislation, institutions and practice further into line with European standards in the areas of human rights, the rule of law and democracy. The Action Plan is intended to support the country’s efforts to honour its obligations as a Council of Europe member State. The Action Plan aims to support the Republic of Moldova in its efforts to implement the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

This report captures the learning at a two-day conference which brought together practitioners and specialists for a critical examination of the Theology and Practice of Child Protection in Africa in Nairobi on May 23 - 24, 2022.

This report maps the family strengthening and alternative care practices across 14 organisations and provides an overview into a number of elements including nature of care, target, coverage, intervention, the longevity of care, linkage to the child protection system, access to sponsorship provided by the State, challenges in implementing the program, among other aspects.

This short document describes the process of ensuring Kafaalah is considered as a family-based alternative care option within Kenya and the work to promote best practice within the model. It describes the journey of developing a framework and standard operating procedures, beginning with the launch of the Kenyan Guidelines on the Alternative Family Care of Children in 2014. Changing the Way We Care worked with many partners and shares the learning on Kafaalah through this document. Changing the Way We Care is a global initiative implemented by Catholic Relief Services, Maestral International, and other global, national and local partners working together to change the way we care for children around the world.

Această instruire a fost concepută pentru asistenții sociali din Moldova care lucrează cu asistenții parentali profesioniști care au în plasament copii și adolescenți neînsoțiți și separați, veniți aici din cauza crizei din Ucraina.

This training has been designed for social workers in Moldova who are working with foster families caring for unaccompanied and separated children and adolescents who have fled the crisis in Ukraine.

This webinar provides nine lessons learnt on care reform from the COVID-19 pandemic with examples from Malawi, Uganda and Kenya.

In 2021 and 2023 Changing the Way We Care (CTWWC) completed a household survey of children and caregivers, in demonstration countries Guatemala, Kenya and Moldova, to understand their experience of CTWWC services, the protective factors in their families, and the status of child well-being. Part of CTWWC’s evaluations, the resulting findings are designed to help CTWWC and other care reform actors to understand the successes and challenges of reintegration from residential care and the provision of family strengthening support. 

This report contains the complete Kenya and Guatemala Household Survey results.

This report describes the process used for designing and facilitating focus group discussions with children and young adults, that informed the household survey design.

The Trainers Package is primarily for Government of Rwanda Child Protection and Welfare Officers, representatives of the NCPD and others who work directly with children and families on reintegration of children, including children with disabilities, from residential institutions to family care. It can also provide useful information to people working in other local government roles, for example District Disability Mainstreaming Officers and Gender &
Family Promotion Officers, as well as people working in non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or community based systems (for example, Inshuti z’Umuryango - Friends of the Family) who support children and families, and particularly those who have contact with children during the reintegration process.

This is a Training Module for the Inshuti z’Umuryango volunteer community-based cadre to support the implementation of the Tubarerere Mu Muryango (TMM) Programme (‘Let’s raise children in families’) led by the National Child Development Agency (NCD).

This present report describes the childcare reform process in Rwanda during 2020 and 2021, against the background of the overall reform initiated since 2012

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) produces an extensive range of publications and e-products on a variety of human rights-related subjects. This broad portfolio provides information of interest to governments, national institutions, civil society, academia, the general public and the media, among other stakeholders. OHCHR publications and e-products aim to increase knowledge and raise awareness about human rights and fundamental freedoms, and to publicize ways of promoting and protecting them worldwide. They also seek to encourage debate on topical human rights issues under discussion at the United Nations.

The Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Learning Platform hosted a webinar on June 22, 2022, featuring speakers from UNICEF's head office and the Better Care Network who provided detailed examples on the importance of data in Uganda's care reform processes. This purpose of this webinar was to examine the importance of using data to inform care reform, and how data can be collected and used effectively.

Adopcja międzynarodowa nie powinna być realizowana w trakcie lub bezpośrednio po sytuacji kryzysowej. Pozostając w zgodzie z decyzją rządu Ukrainy o zawieszeniu adopcji międzynarodowych, wzywamy państwa przyjmujące, organy międzynarodowe i organizacje humanitarne do przyjęcia zharmonizowanego podejścia i wprowadzenia moratorium na przysposobienie międzynarodowe dzieci z Ukrainy. Zgodnie z powszechnie przyjętą zasadą dotyczącą obowiązków państw wynikających z prawa międzynarodowego, w sytuacjach kryzysowych, takich jak konflikt zbrojny, adopcja nie jest właściwym działaniem wobec dzieci pozbawionych opieki. Dzieci, które zostały rozdzielone z rodzicami w trakcie kryzysu humanitarnego, nie można uznać za osierocone. Do czasu ustalenia, co się stało z jego rodzicami lub innymi bliskimi krewnymi, każde dziecko rozdzielone z opiekunami należy traktować jako posiadające żyjących krewnych bądź opiekunów prawnych, a co za tym idzie – niepotrzebujące adopcji.

Міждержавне усиновлення не слід починати під час або відразу після надзвичайної ситуації. Відповідно до призупинення українським урядом міждержавного усиновлення ми закликаємо держави прийому, міжнародні організації й гуманітарні установи застосувати гармонізований підхід і закликати до мораторію на міждержавне усиновлення дітей із України.

This resource is designed to help professionals and carers understand the latest neuroscience research on childhood abuse and neglect, with insights and advice from clinicians, teachers, and social workers on how to put your learning into practice.

This guide aims to share some of the latest research findings with those who are working every day to support children who have experienced complex trauma in the form of maltreatment.

This report presents key steps that the international community has taken to protect children in situations of armed conflict, with a specific focus on the Security Council-mandated Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) to document grave violations against children and to foster accountability by identifying perpetrators.

Since the onset of the war in Ukraine, a number of people fleeing from Ukraine to neighbouring countries has been observed. This report presents findings based on cumulative and daily registrations, by the General Inspectorate for Border Police (GIBP), since 24 February 2022 onwards, of movement flows of Ukrainian refugees and third-country nationals (TCNs) entering from Ukraine to the Republic of Moldova from all Border Crossing Points (BCPs) and exiting the country from all BCPs, towards Romania and towards Ukraine, as well as via flights. In addition, it presents data on those who entered since 24 February and are still present in the country.

This webinar focused on the themes and recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s Day of General Discussion (DGD) about the rights of children and young people in alternative care and the implications for children and adolescents in Scotland.

This study explores the state of kinship care in British Columbia (BC), Canada 10 years after the implementation of major policy reform designed by the provincial government to improve services to kinship caregivers.

There is evidence that children in residential care institutions (RCI) have higher rates of psychological problems, suicide and criminal behaviour. There is only one study in Sri Lanka which has examined the psychological well-being of children in RCIs. This study aims to provide further evidence to formulate policies related to the mental health of institutionalized children in the local context.

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 purpose of this study was to ascertain the traumatic experiences endured by children in institutional care in Kiambu County, Kenya. The target population for this study was all children in 50 registered institutions of care within Kiambu County aged between 11 and 17 years.

This pilot study investigated a sample of caseworkers’ perceptions as related to social services for improving family unity post-reunification, as well as barriers that exist for families accessing social services in rural southeast Georgia in the US.

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.

This study investigated the prevalence of and factors associated with complete mental health (CMH) among a nationally representative sample of Canadians who had contact with child welfare services before age 16.

This paper presents findings from a study on care leavers’ experiences of transitional housing at three institutions in Zimbabwe. Using the social sustainability conceptual framework, the study found that transitional housing offers continuity of care, relationships, and a smoother, gradual transition from care to independence.

With the rapid economic development in China, large numbers of migrants are moving to metropolitan areas in search of better jobs. They are faced with the dilemma of whether to leave their children behind in the countryside due to various socioeconomic factors. The aim of the study was to analyze the impact of different migration arrangements on child welfare.

In China, the figure for left-behind children (LBC) of migrants stood at 68. 77 million in 2015. Despite being seen as a whole in the last few decades, LBC today differ broadly in parental migrating status. This study focused on LBC with both parents migrating (BLBC), LBC with only mothers migrating (MLBC), LBC with only fathers migrating (FLBC), and previous LBC with one or both parents migrating (PLBC), separately. The authors explored the extent to which LBC were being affected by each migrant parent on both mental health and risk behaviors.

Children placed in residential care are significantly over-represented in youth justice systems. Drawing on interviews and focus groups with service providers, this exploratory study examines practice factors that impact on the criminalization of this group of children across multiple services and systems, including in the residential care environment, police, lawyers, courts and youth justice systems, as well as multi-systems practice with this group in one Australian state.

This study analyzes the influence of school, family and society on the psychological development of left-behind children in China from the perspective of the factors that affect their psychological problems.

Institutional childcare is associated with developmental delays and setbacks. Since alternative options are not always available, it is important to investigate youth in institutional settings to evaluate how to provide optimal care.

El presente documento pretende presentar una estrategia integral que involucre cuidadosamente al sector basado en la fe de Guatemala, con el objetivo de apoyar y promover el cambio en la forma en que el cuidado de los NNA es proporcionado por estos actores importantes y alineado con la visión de CTWWC. La estrategia está dirigida a quienes trabajen en la promoción de la transformación de servicios y el derecho a vivir en familia, y su trabajo está directamente relacionado con organizaciones basadas en  la fe, es decir, directores de hogares de abrigo y protección, Obispos, sacerdotes, pastores, líderes religiosos y laicos comprometidos con el desarrollo humano integral de los NNA.

Removal from family of origin to state care can be a highly challenging childhood experience and is itself linked to an array of unfavourable outcomes in adult life. This systematic review which included Canada, the US, western Europe, and Australia, aimed to synthetise evidence on the risk of adult mortality in people with a history of state care in early life, and assess the association according to different contexts. 

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.

A large proportion of children in the foster care system experience placement instability, which works against the three national goals for children in the child welfare system: permanency, safety, and well-being. Placement instability has been linked with increased child externalizing behaviors and increased parenting stress. Child-Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) is one intervention which combats issues associated with placement instability. The authors outline the needs of children and families in the foster care system, the benefits of relationship-focused play therapy interventions, and provide rationale for the use of CPRT among child welfare agencies.

This paper found that there was marked overrepresentation of First Nations children in the child welfare system in Ontario, Canada. These children were three times as likely to be investigated as white children and more likely to be placed when controlling for investigation concerns. The paper concluded that recent policy changes have not brought change to this overrepresentation.

Children in care face adverse health outcomes throughout their life course compared with their peers. In England, over the past decade, the stark rise in the number of cared-for children has coincided with rising child poverty, a key risk factor for children entering care. The authors aimed to assess the contribution of recent trends in child poverty to trends in care entry.

Next Steps for Our Kids (Next Steps) sets out an ambitious reform agenda building on the positive outcomes seen through the implementation of the previous A Step Up for Our Kids Strategy (A Step Up) and addresses the continuing challenges seen in the child and youth protection system in Australia. Next Steps is an evolution of A Step Up and will see various original elements matured, extended and expanded.

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.

Concurrent planning is a process by which all options for permanency are considered simultaneously for children in foster care. Children are placed with caregivers (resource parents) who are open to adoption if reunification with birth parents does not occur. This U.S.-based quantitative study explored resource parents’ perceptions of the concurrent planning process via surveys at two time points. Participants included resource parents of 77 infants assessed at 2 months and 1 year after placement.

This study investigates how experiences and practices of transnational care arrangements are negotiated from the perspective of the nonparental carers. It specifically aims to understand its dynamics and patterns in shaping care relationships, normative familial values and the hope to reconstitute the family amidst migration-induced care.

This report follows the route of asylum seekers arriving in Tapachula. It draws on a March 2022 visit during which the researchers conducted field documentation and interviews with asylum seekers, government officials, UN agencies, and civil society organizations providing services to migrants. The report highlights abuses, arbitrary treatment, and steep obstacles faced by asylum seekers at each step of their process.

This report aims to increase awareness of the scale and severity of the economic crisis in Lebanon over the past three years. It describes how the crisis disproportionately affects children and is likely to have short-and long-term consequences on their future.

The aim of this publication is to highlight the protective aspects related to the child’s identity rights, with a focus on the family relations element, as embedded in international, regional and national standards. The publication provides direction on how to build identity safeguards, drawing on past lessons and capitalising on current opportunities. To do this, the right to identity is explored through a range of examples of existing challenges, promising practices and testimonies.

This advocacy guide provides ideas and tools for making a case in favour of the inclusion of SBC approaches in the portfolio of solutions embraced by local and national governments, donors and other stake-holders. It includes both a foundational framework as well as worksheets that can be used to elaborate and contextualize advocacy messages intended for delivery to key stakeholders. This guide can be used in concert with the INSPIRE Indicator Guidance and Results Framework and the INSPIRE Handbook.

This U.S. based study systematically summarizes the effectiveness of peer parent programs in child welfare on case outcomes, specifically permanency, time-in-care, and re-entry post reunification.

This paper presents a case study that discusses the lived experiences of two LGBTQA + young people who have been in out-of-home care in Australia, focusing particularly on the influence of relationships on their developing sexual identity.