This Context Assessment, produced by Maestral International, aims to collect and review all relevant information to support the development of the Department of Social Welfare’s (DSW) institutional capacities to execute the new framework for alternative care in Liberia.

This capacity building plan supports the implementation of the Liberian Guidelines for Kinship Care, Foster Care and Supported Independent Living.

This “roadmap” document outlines  the recommended implementation strategies and activities for strengthening  family- and community-based alternative care in Liberia. It accompanies the Guidelines on Kinship Care, Foster Care and Supported Independent Living (the Guidelines) and the Capacity Building Plan to Implement the Guidelines (CBP).

This report provides an overview of Liberia’s alternative care context, identifies key stakeholders who are involved in the child protection field in the country, and summarizes the Child Care Legal and Policy Framework related to alternative care.

This Human Rights Watch report gives a detailed overview of the situation faced by children with disabilities in orphanages in Russia.

The Guidelines for Kinship Care, Foster Care and Supported Independent Living in Liberia are intended to provide harmonized national guidance for child welfare practitioners in order to improve the quality of family-based alternative care services in Liberia, particularly for children without appropriate care (CWAC).

This audit was conducted to determine whether the Department of Social Welfare in Ghana was sufficiently regulating the operations of Residential Homes for Children (orphanages) to ensure the care and protection of children living in institutions.

This article argues that orphanage voluntourism fuels the displacement and trafficking of children from their families in Nepal and their unnecessary institutionalisation.

Baptcare, OzChild and Anchor - three organizations that provide kinship care services in Victoria, Australia - commissioned this research to explore the impact that complexity in care arrangements has on children and families in kinship care.

This independent assessment examined, specifically, the deinstitutionalisation of children in special education boarding schools and child care institutions in the Republic of Georgia.

The UN Economic and Social Council adopted a resolution on 12 June 2014 in observance of the twentieth anniversary of the International Year of the Family and beyond.

This report is a compilation of health and social care costs in the UK for the year 2013, including an article and corresponding information on the costs of residential care for children.

In this paper, SOS Children’s Villages demonstrates how children who lack or are at risk of losing parental care are highly vulnerable to various forms of poverty and inequality. The paper proposes operational strategies for action as well as targets and indicators designed to monitor progress among these children.

This evaluation schedule set out the areas that inspectors will make judgements on when they inspect children’s homes in the UK. It should be read alongside the framework for the inspection of children’s homes.

This document sets out the framework and guidance for the inspection of children’s homes in the UK. It should be read alongside the evaluation schedule for the inspection of children’s homes.

This guide accompanies the Children’s Homes Regulations 2015 from the United Kingdon and provides further explanation and information for everyone delivering residential care.

An Act in the United Kingdom to make provision about children, families,and people with special educational needs or disabilities; to make provision about the right to request flexible working; and for connected purposes.

This study involved the use of qualitative methods as part of a larger process evaluation to explore the longer-term experiences of parents who participated in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the Incredible Years Parenting Programme (IYPP) in disadvantaged settings in Ireland.

This document, published by Catholic Relief Services, urges members of the Catholic faith community to consider the best interests of the child when partnering, or “twinning” with parishes in Haiti and undertaking charitable activities.

This call to action is for all who are committed to achieving an AIDS-free generation.

The Kinnected program, developed by the Australian Christian Churches International (ACCI), is working toward the reduction of use of residential care of children and aims to assist children within the context of their families. This document provides an outline of the program and an overview of the lessons learnt.

The video discusses the institutionalization of eight million children in Central and Eastern Europe following the fall of the Berlin Wall, and underscores that many of the children these orphanages have families. 

Better Volunteering Better Care: Current activity and initiatives is a document developed by the Better Volunteering Better Care Intiative

Collected viewpoints on international volunteering in residential care centres Country focus: Nepal is a document devloped by the Better Volunteering Better Care Intiative

This report is one of the documents developed by Better Volunteering Better Care Intiative.

Collected viewpoints on international volunteering in residential care centres Country focus: Ghana is a documented that was developed by the Better Care Better Volunteering Intiative

Collected viewpoints on international volunteering in residential care centres Country focus: Cambodia is a document developed by Better Volunteering Better Care Intitative

This Excutive Summary is developed by the Better Volunteering Better Care

El presente Informe, por la Comisión Inter-Americana de los Derechos Humanos, establece los estándares aplicables en el derecho de los niños a vivir en una familia y formula una serie de recomendaciones concretas a los Estados para apoyar a las familias en sus responsabilidades de crianza.

On 10 September 2014, UNICEF and the Permanent Mission of Bulgaria co-hosted a high level Lunchtime Discussion on The right of children below three years to live in a caring and supportive family environment: examples from Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Serbia focused its presentation "Serbia’s Experience in the Social Inclusion of Children with Disability" on the support provided to families of children with disabilities and the importance of investing in family-support services at municipal level.

On 10 September 2014, UNICEF and the Permanent Mission of Bulgaria co-hosted a high level Lunchtime Discussion on The right of children below three years to live in a caring and supportive family environment: examples from Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The discussion took place on the margins of the September meeting of the UNICEF Executive Board and brought together over 80 participants, including members of the UNICEF Executive Board, representatives of the Permanent Missions to the UN from the CEE/CIS region, international organizations, NGOs, high level UNICEF and National Committee staff.

On 10 September 2014, UNICEF and the Permanent Mission of Bulgaria co-hosted a high level Lunchtime Discussion on The right of children below three years to live in a caring and supportive family environment: examples from Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The discussion took place on the margins of the September meeting of the UNICEF Executive Board and brought together over 80 participants, including members of the UNICEF Executive Board, representatives of the Permanent Missions to the UN from the CEE/CIS region, international organizations, NGOs, high level UNICEF and National Committee staff.

On 10 September 2014, UNICEF and the Permanent Mission of Bulgaria co-hosted a high level Lunchtime Discussion on The right of children below three years to live in a caring and supportive family environment: examples from Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. In its presentation at the discussion, Kazakhstan demonstrated how the integration of social workers and outreach services in the health sector is reducing baby abandonment in pilot areas of the country. 

On 10 September 2014, UNICEF and the Permanent Mission of Bulgaria co-hosted a high level Lunchtime Discussion on The right of children below three years to live in a caring and supportive family environment: examples from Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia.The discussion took place on the margins of the September meeting of the UNICEF Executive Board and brought together over 80 participants, including members of the UNICEF Executive Board, representatives of the Permanent Missions to the UN from the CEE/CIS region, international organizations, NGOs, high level UNICEF and National Committee staff. Representatives from Croatia presented on preventing institutionalization of children.

On 10 September 2014, UNICEF and the Permanent Mission of Bulgaria co-hosted a high level Lunchtime Discussion on The right of children below three years to live in a caring and supportive family environment: examples from Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

On the 24th September  Better Care Network and the CPC Learning Network organized a one day symposium entitled The State of the Evidence on Children’s Care at McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research, New York University. 

In this review, the authors highlight evidence drawn from research in Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, and the United States, on the impact of growing up in care beyond the early twenties.

LearnHowToBecome.org, recently published an in-depth guide to Social Worker careers and degree program opportunities. 

This paper presents the findings of a survey of Russian care leavers. The emphasis is on care leavers' experiences of the Russian institutional care system, and the issues that impacted on their postcare transition to adulthood.

This study compares the data on young people transitioning from out of home care from 9 non-communist European countries examined in the INTRAC document with 14 post-communist countries reviewed in the SOS and INTRAC publications. 

The aim of this article is to examine unaccompanied minors’ experiences of leaving care in Sweden, and to explore the experience in relation to perceptions about ethnicity and culture within a transnational space.

This video features a segment of a talk on the effects of care environments on children, hosted by the Christian Alliance for Orphans. The key speakers featured include Dr. Kathryn Whetten & Dr. Charles Nelson, who discuss the Positive Outcomes for Orphans study (POFO) and the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP), respectively.

To address the issues related to the financial aspects of intercountry adoptions, the Hague Convention initiated an Experts’ Group, which met in October 2012 and produced nine Conclusions and Recommendations, which they brought to the Permanent Bureau to publish as a “Note”.

This literature review examines literature on the best practices for youth aging out of care that indicate successful outcomes for them as adults. 

This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Committee on the Rights of the Child as part of their examinations of the periodic reports of Jordan.

This country care review includes the care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child as part of its examination of the third and fourth periodic reports of Kyrgyzstan (CRC/C/KGZ/4-5) during its 65th Session at its 1880th and 1881st meetings held on 28 May 2014, and adopted, at its 1901st meeting, held on 13 June 2014.

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 as part of the Committees' examinations of the periodic reports of India. 

This guidance sets out the steps local authorities should take to plan for the provision of support for looked after children who are unaccompanied asylum seeking children and child victims of trafficking.

This country care review includes the care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child as part of its examination of the second to fourth periodic reports of Saint Lucia (CRC/C/LCA/2-4) during its 65th Session at its 1892nd and 1893rd meetings held on 6 June 2014, and adopted, at its 1901st meeting, held on 13 June 2014.

This country care review includes the care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child as part of its examination of the third and fourth periodic reports of Indonesia (CRC/C/IND/CO/3-4) during its 65th Session at its 1890th and 1891st meetings held on 5 June 2014, and adopted, at its 1901st meeting, held on 13 June 2014.

This paper utilises findings from a longitudinal study of looked after children (including interviews with care leavers) to explore how the evidence from Canadian research into the significance of perceptions of self continuity for identity formation can improve our understanding of care leavers' experiences and the factors that may act as barriers to their making a smooth transition.

This paper explores the research evidence from England and France on the mental health of young people aging out of care and into adulthood.

This article, from the Children and Youth Services Review special issue on ‘Young People's Transitions from Care to Adulthood’ examines the school performance and psychosocial wellbeing of care leavers in Sweden.

The authors of this article carried out a follow-up study of 143 young adults leaving kinship care. They assessed the young adults’ transition to adulthood with interviews and questionnaires. A small part of the sample presented serious problems of social exclusion. Seventy percent had found employment or were in higher education. The youth had frequently suffered the loss of foster carers and lack of support.

The study explores the post-care experiences of young Jordanian care leavers. Material struggles were similar to peers internationally. The distinct difference for Arab care leavers was the cultural influence. Patriarchy, family life and collectivism impact the care leavers' experiences. A cultural dimension increases understanding of leaving-care.

Few local authorities had elaborated programmes or routines for care leaving. Many small municipalities had few young people in care, which made it difficult to organise elaborated programmes for care leaving. Manager’s expected a rapid and linear transition to adulthood. Little awareness of the yo-yo transition pattern common for other young people. Managers were worried that continued contact with social services would lead to young people being dependant on support. Only 6% of managers had any information of young people’s whereabouts, once they had left care.

Understanding youth transitions from out of home care must include developing countries. A model is presented to facilitate this global integration. The model combines resilience and social capital within a social ecology of support. Use of the model is illustrated by a South African youth mentoring scheme for care leavers.

Foster youth in the US do not appear to be receiving many forms of help that are called for in federal law. Over one-third did not receive help they would have liked to have received. System factors play a stronger role than individual indicators of need in help receipt. Independent living services should be more widely available and better targeted.

In this TED Talk, poet and playwright Lemn Sissay tells his story of growing up in foster care in the UK. 

The KidsCount Data Book for 2014 is produced by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. It is the 25th edition of this data book, which measures state trends and demographics in child wellbeing in the United States.

This report from Better Care Network is a collection of care-relevant data and demographic information on Rwanda from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program.

A coalition of over 40 international, regional and national NGOs and networks have issued a joint call to member States of the United Nations General Assembly (UN GA) to focus the 2014 Resolution on the Rights of the Child on strengthening family care and providing appropriate alternative care for children.

A presentation on the "Orphan Industrial Complex" at the Young Lives and Globalization in Africa workshop at the University of Liège, Belgium on 21st February 2014.

The Infant Mental Health Journal has published an important Special Issue on Global Research, Practice, and Policy Issues in the Care of Infants and Young Children at Risk. This article documents how between 2005 and 2013, the Government in the Republic of Georgia closed 32 large, state-run institutions housing children without adequate family care.

Infant Mental Health Journal has published an important Special Issue on Global Research, Practice, and Policy Issues in the Care of Infants and Young Children at Risk. This article documents an initiative to establish a replicable professional model that would direct the child welfare system in the Nizhny Novgorod Region away from institutional care and toward services for young children and their families that reduce the risk of institutionalization. 

This article uses data collected from adoptive parents’ postadoption and governmental data in Romania, Ukraine, India, Guatemala, and Ethiopia to focus on domestic adoption in each of these countries. The article highlights both promising practices in domestic adoption as well as policies and practices that require additional research.

Infant Mental Health Journal has published an important Special Issue on Global Research, Practice, and Policy Issues in the Care of Infants and Young Children at Risk. This article reports on a quasi-experimental study commissioned by the Chilean government that had two general aims: (a) to assess infants’ psychoaffective developmental levels and (b) to evaluate whether an intervention based on the promotion of socioemotional development modifies the infant's psychoaffective development. 

Infant Mental Health Journal has published an important Special Issue on Global Research, Practice, and Policy Issues in the Care of Infants and Young Children at Risk. This article describes a model of care for abandoned and neglected infants in need of urgent physical, social, and medical support as implemented by the Child's i Foundation, an international, nongovernmental organization operating in Uganda. 

This report is based on a synthesis of eight assessments of the implementation of the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children (“the Guidelines”) in Benin, Gambia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Togo, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence Against Children, (SRSG on VAC), Marta Santos Pais, promoted a Cross-Regional Round Table on the prevention of violence in early childhood with representatives from several regional organisations.

Explores the negative impacts of loss of parental care on children. Advocates for reform for children based on assertion that failure to keep children in families, out of residential institutions and off the streets, will be another barrier to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals

Summary of the Third Committee debate on children's rights at the 68th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York

This presentation, produced by Better Care Network (BCN), International Social Service (ISS), Save the Children, and SOS Children's Villages, was given at a 2014 briefing of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC). The objectives of the Alternative Care Briefing were to increase the understanding of and recommendations on the implementation of the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children when reviewing State Party Reports and drafting general recommendations and to create opportunities to promote the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children in its 5th anniversary.