Keeping Families Together in Central Asia

UNICEF Europe, UNICEF Central Asia

This UNICEF policy brief finds that an estimated 203 children for every 100,000 children live in residential care across Central Asia – almost double the global average of 105 per 100,000. In this brief, UNICEF proposes seven policy recommendations to facilitate the closure of large-scale institutions and transition to family-based alternatives to institutional care in Central Asia.

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Who is a Minor? Age Assessments of Refugees In Germany and the Classificatory Multiplicity of the State

Ulrike Bialas

This study examined the categories that states use to classify and govern migrants. Unaccompanied minors and adult asylum seekers are treated very differently regarding their asylum cases and residence permits. The study focused on Germany, where the courts and youth welfare offices commission age assessments to decide whether young migrants will be considered minors or adults. These assessments are carried out by forensic medical examiners and social workers, respectively, who work with very different understandings of what constitutes age.

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Mental and Neurodevelopmental Health Needs of Aboriginal Children With Experience of Out-of-Home Care: A Western Australian Data-Linkage Study

Benjamin Harrap, Alison Gibberd, Melissa O’Donnell, Jocelyn Jones, Richard Chenhall, Bridgette McNamara, Koen Simons, Sandra Eades

The objective of this study was to identify additional mental and neurodevelopmental health needs of Aboriginal children born in Western Australia, who are placed in out-of-home care (OOHC), relative to Aboriginal children born in Western Australia who were not placed.

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Country on the Move: Comparing the Impacts of Service Provision During the Waves of Displacement Before and After Full-Scale Aggression Against Ukraine

Kateryna Buchko, Irena L. C. Connon, Lena Dominelli

This study explores Ukrainian responses to internally displaced people during the first and second waves of war-induced displacement and internal migration in Ukraine, which took place after the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and after the full-scale invasion of 2022. It also addresses the unique challenges faced by Ukrainian social work professionals in supporting displaced people, service people and their families, disabled veterans, and orphaned children as the war continues and also for resettlement in a post-war context.

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‘Is it a Positive or a Negative?’ Children’s Participation in Discharge of Care Order Proceedings

Jessica Roy, Jo Staines, Beth Stone

This paper explores the involvement of children in discharge of care applications and the tensions children’s guardians and other stakeholders may face when aiming to both uphold children’s rights to participate and their right to protection from harm.

Bridging the Gap between Childhood Institutionalization and Adulthood: A Qualitative Study from Five Transitional Centers in Armenia

George S. Yacoubian, Lena Bardakjian, Sareen Minasian, Tiffany Selverian, Liliana S. Yacoubian, Sophie J. Yacoubian

This study explores the role that transitional centers in Armenia play in the transitioning process of leaving institutional care and entering independent adulthood.

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The Direct Effect of Basic Need Services, and Social Support on Positive Mental Health Among Institutionalized Children: The Mediating Role of Psychological Capital

Adane K. Melese, Athena Pedro, Nceba Z. Somhlaba

This study aimed to investigate the direct impact of perceived social support, basic need services, and Psychological Capital on the mental health of children in childcare settings in Ethiopia.

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How Might Shared Decision-making Meetings Reduce the Need for Children to Be in Care? A Rapid Realist Review

Lorna Stabler, Chloe O’Donnell, Donald Forrester, Clive Diaz, Simone Willis, Sarah Brand

The aim of this review is to articulate the key mechanisms through which shared decision-making meetings can work to help keep children safely out of care and at home. Data from the literature was supplemented with consultation to ensure relevance to the UK setting.

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“My Heart Is In The Right Place, But I Don’t Feel The Court’s Heart Is Beating”: Perspectives on Feeling Valued from Multiple Nonprofessional Stakeholders in Child Welfare Court

Linda-Jeanne M. Mack, Corey S. Shdaimah, Danielle R. Phillips

This article provides a unique comparison of four non-professional stakeholder groups involved with dependency courts overseeing child protective services cases in the state of Maryland in the United States.

The Lived Experiences of Cluster Foster Parents in Caring for Foster Care Children with Special Needs in Mpumalanga, South Africa

Nakedi Presley Manamela, Selelo Frank Rapholo, Thembinkosi Peter Singwane

This qualitative study of cluster foster parents in Mpumalanga, South Africa, revealed that they are faced with extreme challenges such as lack of support, knowledge, and limitation of resources in fostering children with special needs.

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Challenges Experienced by Caregivers Working in Institutions For Children. A Case of Four Children’s Homes in Zimbabwe

Patience Chinyenze

This paper is based on a qualitative study that collected data from 24 caregivers working at four childcare institutions in Harare, Zimbabwe. Findings from the study revealed that challenges experienced by caregivers include high caseloads and lack of resources, regulations which do not promote proper child development, inadequate training for caregivers, and nonexistence of a representative body for caregivers and the existence of multiple reporting systems for children.

From Care to Corrections: A Scoping Review of Pathways from Child Protection to Adult Criminal Justice Systems

Susan Baidawi, Danielle Newton, Philip Mendes, Jenna Bollinger, Jade Purtell

This scoping review identified and synthesized evidence from studies across the globe examining adult justice system contact among individuals who have experienced child protection system involvement (including placement in out-of-home care [OOHC]).

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“Virtual Mothering”: A Study of Mothering Practices of Trinidad and Tobago Mothers Stranded Abroad After COVID-19 Border Closures

Cheryl-Ann Sarita Boodram

This study used a qualitative methodology to explore the lived experiences of five Trinidad and Tobago mothers stranded abroad and shows the ways in which the COVID-19 border closures altered their caregiving practices with children left behind.