Directive Number 976/2023: Directive on Alternative Childcare and Support

Ministry of Women and Social Affairs, Ethiopia

Recognizing the increasing number of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and the need to provide standardized and quality alternative childcare and support services, The Ministry of Women and Social Affairs (MOWSA) in collaboration with pertinent child welfare stakeholders, took the i

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A/HRC/55/76: Situation des droits de l’homme en Haiti

Haut-Commissaire des Nations Unies aux droits de l'homme pour les droits de l'homme

Le présent rapport est soumis conformément à la résolution 52/39 du Conseil des droits de l'homme. Il donne un aperçu de la situation des droits humains en Haïti. La situation des droits humains en Haïti s'est fortement détériorée au cours de la période, principalement en raison de la violence endémique des gangs. Le rapport met en lumière les principaux développements liés aux institutions de l'État de droit, à la police, à la justice et au système pénitencier. Des progrès ont été réalisés dans ce domaine, mais des défis persistent.

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A/HRC/55/76: Situation of Human Rights in Haiti - Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights [Advance Unedited Version]

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

This report provides an overview of the human rights situation in Haiti which has sharply deteriorated over the period, mainly due to endemic gang violence. The report highlights the main developments related to rule of law institutions, the police, justice, and penitentiary systems.

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Hope Amidst Crisis: Exploring Perinatal Mental Health and Family Dynamics in Out-of-Home Care Through Virtual Assessments During the UK COVID-19 Response

Udita Iyengar, Jessica Heller-Bhatt

This perspective piece considers the impact on infant and perinatal health in the context of COVID-19 with particular emphasis on relational dynamics and attachment assessments, using a case study of a foster carer and her child in an out-of-home-care placement. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for safeguarding the well-being of both caregivers and vulnerable children during this challenging time.

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Child Safety Reporting, Services, and Child Welfare Interventions with Newcomer Families During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Survey Of Ontario Child Welfare Workers

Daniel Kikulwe, Derrick Ssewanyana, Sarah Maiter

This study based in Canada explored views on the changes in child safety reporting and interventions with newcomer families during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Trajectories of Care Leavers According to Indicators of Psychosocial Adjustment: A cohort analysis

Carme Montserrat, Joan Llosada-Gistau

The present study conducted in Spain analyzed the relationship of care leavers once they become adults with the child protection system as parents, the penitentiary system, and residential resources for people with disabilities, analysing the results according to gender, country of origin, type of foster care when they were minors, type of support received as young care leavers and years in care.

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Grandparenting and the Golden Years: Understanding the Factors and Mental Health Outcomes of Grandparent Caregivers in Older Adults

Badr Ratnakaran MBBS, Antoinette Valenti Shappell FAPA, Kiran Khalid MBBS

This report outlines the various trends and reasons for the rise of grandparents involved in caring for grandchildren in the U.S. It also describes the different types of households involving grandparents and grandchildren, including grandfamilies, skipped-generation, and three-generation families, and summarize various theories of grandparent stress including role strain theory and social exchange theory.

Delivering Effectively for Children Impacted by Migration: Role of Portable Social Protection and Services

Urvashi Kaushik, Sruti Mohanty, Mukta Naik, Hyun Hee Ban

This chapter highlights the need for social protection and welfare benefits to be portable with the ability for migrants families to access entitlements as they move between locations. This chapter focuses on how this is implemented in India's labour economy.

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Effectiveness of Mental Health and Wellbeing Interventions for Children and Young People in Foster, Kinship, and Residential Care: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Rob Trubey, Rhiannon Evans, Sarah McDonald, Jane Noyes, Mike Robling, Simone Willis, Maria Boffey, Charlotte Wooders, Soo Vinnicombe, G. J. Melendez-Torres

The purpose of this CHIMES review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions evaluated via randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for improving mental health and wellbeing outcomes for care experienced children and young people.

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Caring Records: Professional Insights into Child-Centered Case Note Recording

Martine Hawkes, Joanne Evans, Barbara Reed

This paper reveals insights into how professionals working in the Australian child protection system understand and are supported in child-centered case note recording and recordkeeping practices. It also identifies the possibilities for the crucial role that interdisciplinary collaboration and alignment between social work and recordkeeping informatics can play in transforming and supporting recordkeeping approaches and practices that prioritise and uphold the rights and dignity of the child.

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Reconsidering the Best Interests of the Child Construct

Jonathan C. Huefner, Frank Ainsworth

This article provides an overview of criticisms of the best interests construct and suggestions that the construct is a dated view about what is in a child’s best interests. There is a need for a new balance between explanations about child abuse and neglect (CAN) that takes account of poverty, social disadvantage, and the interests of children and their families.

Compassion Fatigue in Out of Home Care Workers: A Systematic Review

Tessa Benveniste, Damien R Smith, Charlotte C Gupta, Stephanie E Chappel, Madeline Sprajcer

Evidence suggests that providing out-of-home care to children is associated with high levels of compassion fatigue, possibly due to various work-related factors. This global systematic review examined the existing literature to determine the extent to which out of home care work results in compassion fatigue. To do so, it established which out of home care settings compassion fatigue has been measured in, how, and what factors contribute to developing compassion fatigue in this work.

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The Child’s Right to Family Life When Living in Public Care: How to Facilitate Contact that Preserves, Strengthens, and Develops Family Ties

Tina Gerdts-Andresen, Marie Valen-Sendstad Andersen, Heidi Aarum Hansen

This study addresses children’s right to family life when placed in public care and questions how the Child Welfare Service and the Child Welfare Tribunal understand and facilitate this right within a Norwegian context.

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Reintegration of Street-Connected Children in Kenya: Evaluation of Agape Children's Ministry's Family Strengthening Programme

Johanna K. P. Greeson, John R. Gyourko, Sarah Wasch, Christopher S. Page

This is a program evaluation of Agape Children's Ministry's Family Strengthening Programme in western Kenya that works to reunite children from the streets with their families.

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Experiences and Responses of Child Protection Professionals During COVID-19: Lessons Learned from Professionals Around the Globe

Carmit Katz, Afnan Attrash-Najjar, Kathryn Maguire-Jack, Natalia Varela, Sidnei Rinaldo Priolo-Filho, Annie Bérubé, Olivia D. Chang, Delphine Collin-Vézina, Ansie Fouché, Ma'ayan Jacobson, David Kaawa-Mafigiri, Nadia Massarweh

The current international study sought to identify the experiences and responses of child protection professionals to child maltreatment during COVID-19.

Breaking the Cycle: Effect of a Multi-Agency Maternity Service Redesign on Reducing the Over-Representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Newborns in Out-Of-Home Care: A Prospective, Non-Randomised, Intervention Study in Urban Australia

Birri O'Dea, Yvette Roe, Yu Gao, Sue Kruske, Carmel Nelson, Sophie Hickey, Adrian Carson, Kristie Watego, Jody Currie, Renee Blackman, Maree Reynolds, Kay Wilson, Jo Costello, Sue Kildea

The objective of this study was to determine if an Indigenous-led, multi-agency, partnership redesign of maternity services at a maternity hospital in Brisbane, New Zealand would decrease the likelihood of Indigenous babies being removed at birth and being placed in out-of-home care..

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During the Chaos of War: U.S. Adoptions and Risks for Unaccompanied Ukrainian Refugee Children

Karen S Rotabi-Casares, Patricia F Fronek, Justin S Lee

This article examines the adoption of Ukrainian children, by U.S. citizens as the Ukrainian government ceases adoptions of children during the chaos of war. Intercountry adoption dynamics are presented with data from 2021, prior to the conflict in 2022.

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During the chaos of war: US adoptions and risks for unaccompanied Ukrainian refugee children

Reconsidering Recognition in the Lives of Children and Young People in Care: Insights from the Mockingbird Family in South Australia

Emi Patmisari, Helen McLaren, Michelle Jones

This study explored the experiences of children and young people in the community-based support model of the Mockingbird Family, in South Australia, during implementation and roll-out. The study involved semi-structured interviews with a diverse group of 54 participants, including 21 children and young people, 12 foster carers, and 14 agency workers.

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Webinar: Care Reform Poly Crisis

UNICEF East Africa Regional Learning Platform

This webinar examined care in the context of COVID-19, climate change, and conflict. Speakers explored how the pandemic has left a lasting legacy on the care system in Uganda and examined the impacts of climate change-related drought on children's care in Kenya. They also explored efforts to deliver effective care for children during conflict in Ethiopia.