The Children Act Amendment 2016: Key Objectives, the Journey, Key Amendments, Next Steps

Uganda's National Council for Children, Uganda Parliamentary Forum for Children (UPFC), and Private Sector Foundation Uganda

This bulletin highlights the key objectives and key amendments of Uganda's Children Act Amendment of 2016. It also outlines the process by which the Bill was developed and approved and lays out next steps for implementing the Act and ensuring the rights of children in Uganda.

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Impact of Nutritional Status on Cognition in Institutionalized Orphans: A Pilot Study

Sanjana M Kamath, Kavana G Venkatappa, and Ergod Manjunath Sparshadeep - Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research

The aim of this study is to assess the nutritional and cognitive status in institutionalized orphans which might help to formulate effective interventions for improving the nutritional status of vulnerable children in future.

Parenting, Environment, and Early Child Development in Sub-Saharan Africa

Marc H. Bornstein, Diane L. Putnick, Paul Oburu, Jennifer E. Lansford, Kirby Deater-Deckard, Robert H. Bradley, Riku Moriguchi, Pia Rebello Britto - Handbook of Applied Developmental Science in Sub-Saharan Africa

This chapter describes the contemporary situation of children in sub-Saharan Africa with successive foci on child growth, the home environment, parenting, and discipline using data from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS).

The Effects of Socioeconomic Vulnerability, Psychosocial Services, and Social Service Spending on Family Reunification: A Multilevel Longitudinal Analysis

Tonino Esposito, Ashleigh Delaye, Martin Chabot, Nico Trocmé, David Rothwell, Sonia Hélie and Marie-Joelle Robichaud - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

This paper examines the extent to which socioeconomic vulnerability, psychosocial service consultations, and preventative social services spending impacts the reunification for children placed in out-of-home care.

Child Welfare and Successful Reunification through the Socio-Educative Process: Training Needs among Biological Families in Spain

M. Angeles Balsells, Crescencia Pastor, Pere Amorós, Ainoa Mateos, Carmen Ponce and Alicia Navajas - Social Sciences

This study investigates the specific training needs of the biological family during the transition phase of the reunification process in which the child prepares to return home.

Placement Stability, Cumulative Time in Care, and Permanency: Using Administrative Data from CPS to Track Placement Trajectories

Sonia Hélie, Marie-Andrée Poirier, Tonino Esposito, and Daniel Turcotte - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

The purpose of this study is (1) to examine trends in placement use and placement stability since the reform and (2) to document the current frequency of each type of placement setting, the cumulative time in care before the exit to permanency, and the sustainability of the permanency outcome. 

Benevolent Cruelty: Forced Child Removal, African Refugee Settlers, and the State Mandate of Child Protection

Georgina Ramsay - PoLAR Political and Legal Anthropology Review

This article focuses on the experiences of women who have been resettled in Australia as refugees from Africa, and who have, upon their resettlement, had their children forcibly removed from their care as a result of concerns over child protection. 

Similarities and Differences in the Psychosocial Development of Children Placed in Different 24-h Settings

Harmke Leloux-Opmeer, Chris Kuiper, Hanna Swaab, Evert Scholte - Journal of Child and Family Studies

Similarities and differences in the (short-term) psychosocial development of children in foster care, family-style group care, and residential care were investigated in a sample of 121 Dutch children one year after their initial placement.

A controlled early group intervention study for unaccompanied minors: Can Expressive Arts alleviate symptoms of trauma and enhance life satisfaction?

Melinda A. Meyer DeMott, Marianne Jakobsen, Tore Wentzel-Larsen, Trond Heir - Scandinavian Journal of Psychology

This is the first controlled study of an expressive arts group intervention with unaccompanied minor asylum seeking children. The aim of the study was to examine whether such an intervention may alleviate symptoms of trauma and enhance life satisfaction and hope.

Estimating Numbers of Orphans and Vulnerable Children – A Test of Regression Modeling

Paul Brodish, Zulfiya Charyeva, Karen Foreit - MEASURE Evaluation

This study expands on an earlier study that reported a tight linear fit between national adult HIV prevalence and the percentage of children living in a household with at least one HIV-positive adult. The authors extended this analysis to all existing DHS data sets with HIV testing, to determine the feasibility of using regression modeling to estimate the size of two priority groups: (1) children living with at least one adult who is HIV-positive, and (2) orphans and coresident children living with at least one adult who is HIV-positive. 

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Educational stability policy and the interplay between child welfare placements and school moves

Elysia V. Clemens, Kristin Klopfenstein, Matt Tis, Trent L. Lalonde - Children and Youth Services Review

The purpose of this study was to determine the proportion of school moves that can be reduced through implementation of the educational stability provisions of the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act (FCA, 2008) and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015), and to identify opportunities to minimize the number of transitions that children and youth in foster care experience in the US.

Concept mapping the needs of grandmothers who take care of their grandchildren in formal foster care in Flanders

Frank Van Holen, Julie Van Loock, Laurence Belenger, Johan Vanderfaeillie - Children and Youth Services Review

Concept mapping was used to identify the needs of grandparents who take care of their grandchildren in formal foster care in Flanders (Dutch speaking part of Belgium). 

The impact of early childbirth on socioeconomic outcomes and risk indicators of females transitioning out of foster care

Svetlana Shpiegel, Michele Cascardi - Children and Youth Services Review

In this study, data from the US National Youth in Transition Database were used to evaluate the associations between childbirth at three time points (prior to age 17, ages 17–19, and ages 19–21) and females’ socioeconomic outcomes and risk indicators at age 21 (n = 3173). 

Temperamental sensitivity to early maltreatment and later family cohesion for externalizing behaviors in youth adopted from foster care

Irene Tung, Amanda N. Noroña, Steve S. Lee, Audra K. Langley, Jill M.Waterman - Child Abuse and Neglect

This study examined predictions of externalizing behaviors (EB) from childhood to adolescence/young adulthood from temperament, preadoption maltreatment, and adoptive family cohesion.

The Changing Face of Out-of-home Care in Australia – Developing Policy and Practice for the 21st Century

Meredith Kiraly and Cathy Humphreys - Children Australia

This Opinion Piece traces the rise of statutory kinship care in Australia from the progressive reduction of residential care and the struggle to recruit sufficient foster carers to meet demand for protective care.

The Children Behind the Wall

Lumos

This publication from Lumos describes the institutionalization of children the world over and its impacts, calling for an end to institutions and highlighting some of the particular groups of children who are most deprived of liberty.

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Family Disruption

Cameo F. Stanick, Lindsay K. Crosby, Molly K. McDonald - Handbook of DSM-5 Disorders in Children and Adolescents

This chapter explores the types of family disruption most commonly associated with various youth diagnostic concerns.