What Works to Protect Children on the Move: Rapid Evidence Assessment

Rachel Marcus, Amina Khan, Carmen Leon-Himmelstine and Jenny Rivett - UNICEF

This rapid evidence assessment (REA) aimed to answer three questions: (1) What interventions have been effective in ensuring the protection of children on the move? (2) What are the implementation factors that make these interventions effective or that hamper effectiveness (for example the context of the intervention, and specific design features such as who is targeted)? and (3) What kinds of social welfare and child protection systems are linked to effective interventions?

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“I Had No Hope, I Had No Help at All”: Insights from a First Study of Fathers and Recurrent Care Proceedings

Georgia Philip, Lindsay Youansamouth, Stuart Bedston, Karen Broadhurst, Yang Hu, John Clifton and Marian Brandon - Societies

This article presents data from the first large-scale study of fathers involved in repeat (or recurrent) care proceedings in England. The study consisted of three elements: an analysis of population-level administrative data from the Child and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS), a survey of fathers in pre-proceedings and care proceedings, and a qualitative longitudinal (QL) study of recurrent fathers.

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Heightened sensitivity to the caregiving environment during adolescence: implications for recovery following early‐life adversity

Natalie L. Colich, Margaret A. Sheridan, Kathryn L. Humphreys, Mark Wade, Florin Tibu, Charles A. Nelson, Charles H. Zeanah, Nathan A. Fox, Katie A. McLaughlin - The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry

This study used data from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project – a randomized controlled trial of foster care for children raised in psychosocially depriving institutions – to examine the associations of the caregiving environment with reward processing, executive functioning, and internalizing and externalizing psychopathology at ages 8, 12, and 16 years, and evaluated whether these associations change across development.

Team Decision-making Service Planning for Children and Adolescents at Risk for Placement Instability: Fidelity and Initial Outcomes

Sonya J. Leathers, Roni Diamant-Wilson, Jill E. Spielfogel, Lee Annes, Amy Thomas, Shirlyn Garrett-Wilson - Children and Youth Services Review

This research focused on a U.S. statewide program that uses team decision-making meetings to identify needs and plan services for youth who are at risk for instability while in foster care.

Examining the Impact of COVID-19 on Parental Stress: A Study of Foster Parents

J. Jay Miller, Morgan E. Cooley & Brittany P. Mihalec-Adkins - Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal

The overarching purpose of this exploratory study was to understand how foster parents’ parenting-related stress levels have changed over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the role of sociodemographic characteristics in exacerbating risk for increased stress.

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Family Law and Policy for LGBTQ Individuals and Families: Adoption, Foster Care, Assisted Reproduction, and Parental Rights

Naomi G. Goldberg and Amira Hasenbush - Politics, Oxford University Press

This article argues that the patchwork of legal protections across U.S. states means that many LGBTQ-headed families lack needed security, stability, and legal recognition.

Reproductive coercion, intimate partner violence, and pregnancy risk among adolescent women with a history of foster care involvement

Morgan E. PettyJohn, Taylor A. Reid, Elizabeth Miller, Katherine W. Bogen, Heather L. McCauley - Children and Youth Services Review

The current study is the first to explore the prevalence of reproductive coercion among adolescent women currently or previously involved in the U.S. foster care system.

Child Maltreatment in the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Proposed Global Framework on Research, Policy and Practice

Carmit Katz, Sidnei R. Priolo Filho, Jill Korbin, et al - Child Abuse & Neglect

The current paper aims to suggest a framework for risk and protective factors that need to be considered in child protection in its various domains of research, policy, and practice during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

EASO Guidance on Reception Conditions for Unaccompanied Children: Operational standards and indicators

EASO, European Asylum Support Office

This guidance on reception conditions for unaccompanied children was created by the European Asylum Support Office in order to support the development of reception tools, but also to enable the planning and provision of adequate care for children on the move. 

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The Nature of Domestic and Family Violence Reported to Child Protection Prenatally

Jenna Meiksans, Stewart McDougall, Fiona Arney, Rosemaria Flaherty, Alwin Chong, Fiona Ward, Cathy Taylor - Children and Youth Services Review

For this study, a qualitative case file review was carried out to examine the nature of violence recorded in the narratives of 91 prenatal child protection reports from a single Australian jurisdiction in 2014.

The House Project for Young People Leaving Care: Evaluation report

Jo Dixon, Caroline Cresswell and Jade Ward, Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of York

This report presents findings from an evaluation of the House Project (HP) in the U.K., which aims to improve outcomes for young people (in accommodation, education, employment and training (EET), wellbeing, autonomy and integration) and service level outcomes for young people leaving care aged 16 and over.

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Don’t Let Me Fall Through the Cracks: Homelessness amongst Care-Experienced Young People in Wales

Sharon Lovell - End Youth Homelessness Cymru

This report is based on the voices and experiences of care experienced young people who have been, or are currently, homeless across Wales. The aim of this research is to amplify these young people’s voices to highlight the challenges they have faced when homeless and the need for reform of systems which have failed to prevent their homelessness.

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Experiences and Well-Being of Sexual and Gender Diverse Youth in Foster Care in New York City: Disproportionality and Disparities

Theo G. M. Sandfort - New York City Administration for Children's Services (ACS)

This report provides the detailed findings from a survey on the proportion of youth in foster care in New York City who are LGBTQAI+ and differences in their experiences compared to those of youth who are not LGBTQAI+.

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Assessment of mental health difficulties in children and young people in care attending a specialist mental health service

Kathryn Eadie, Ashleigh Wegener, Warren Bergh - Developmental Child Welfare

The purpose of this study is to test the validity of the Assessment Checklist measures in assessing complex mental health and behavioural difficulties of children and young people in care attending a specialist mental health service in Queensland, Australia.