“A child who is hidden has no rights”: Responses to violence against children with disabilities

Janet Njelesani - Child Abuse & Neglect

Guided by social-ecological theory, this study explores responses to violence against children with disabilities, including preventative measures and treatment of victims in the West African countries of Guinea, Niger, Sierra Leone, and Togo.

What does empathy sound like in social work communication? A mixed‐methods study of empathy in child protection social work practice

Amy Lynch, Fiona Newlands, Donald Forrester - Child & Family Social Work

This study contributes to the development of understanding of empathy as a social work skill through a mixed‐methods analysis of 110 audio recordings of meetings in a child protection service between workers and parents, applying a coding framework for analysis.

Adapting the Friends of the Children programme for child welfare system‐involved families

Amy M. Salazar, Kevin P. Haggerty, Susan Walsh, Bailey Noell, Erinn Kelley‐Siel - Child & Family Social Work

This paper reviews the Friends of the Children (FOTC) long‐term mentoring programme in the US and how it was adapted to serve children and families with child welfare system involvement.

The Therapeutic Family Care Program: A 10-year community implementation of Treatment Foster Care in Ontario, Canada

Dillon T. Browne, Jacqueline Johnson, Erin Beatty, Mary Price Cameron, Duane Durham, Aron Shlonsky - Developmental Child Welfare

The present study describes a community implementation of treatment foster care (TFC) for children and youth involved with child welfare in Ontario, Canada.

Outcomes in adulthood of adoption after long-term foster care: A sibling study

Anders Hjern, Bo Vinnerljung, Lars Brännström - Developmental Child Welfare

To inform decisions about permanent care arrangements, the authors of this study used Swedish national population registers to create a sibling population consisting of 194 children born 1973–1982 who had been in out-of-home care (OHC) at least 5 years before adolescence but were never adopted (50% boys) and their 177 maternal birth siblings who also had been in OHC at least 5 years before their teens but were adopted before adolescence (52.5% boys).

Supporting foster carers to meet the needs of looked after children: A feasibility and pilot evaluation of the Reflective Fostering Programme

Nick Midgley, Antonella Cirasola, Chloe Austerberry, Erica Ranzato, Grace West, Peter Martin, Sheila Redfern, Richard Cotmore, Theresa Park - Developmental Child Welfare

This study presents the feasibility and pilot evaluation of the Reflective Fostering Programme (RFP), a recently developed, group-based program to support foster carers, based on the concept of “reflective parenting.”

The challenges of designing a feasibility study of low cost home based interventions in family foster care

Baviskar, Siddhartha; Sørensen, Kresta Munkholt; Madsen Sjö, Nina - EUSARF 2018 Conference

It is well documented that children placed in out-of-home care in Denmark perform poorly on a wide range of short-term and long-term outcomes compared to other children. This paper describes the core components of an innovative project that will attempt to address some of the major weaknesses of previous interventions and which, if successful, will be rolled out across foster care families nationwide.

The effects of the KEEP foster parent training intervention on child externalizing and internalizing problems

Joseph M. Price, Scott Roesch, Cleo M. Burce - Developmental Child Welfare

The aims of this investigation were to (a) examine the effectiveness of the KEEP intervention at reducing behavior problems among children in foster care, as assessed by the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), during implementation of the intervention by a community agency using a randomized design and (b) determine whether the intervention is effective at reducing internalizing forms of behavior problems.

The neglect–enrichment continuum: Characterizing variation in early caregiving environments

Lucy S. King, Kathryn L. Humphreys, Ian H. Gotlib - Developmental Review

In this paper, the authors advance a framework for examining the nature and consequences of neglect, which they posit can be represented as variations along a continuum from severe psychosocial neglect to environmental enrichment.

Predictors of loneliness among the left-behind children of migrant workers in Indonesia

Cut Maghfirah Faisal, Sherly Saragih Turnip - Journal of Public Mental Health

The purpose of this paper is to compare loneliness between the left-behind children of migrant workers and the non-left-behind ones, and identify the most significant predictors of loneliness among the left-behind children.

ICTs as catalysts in child protection programmes: current landscape in South Asia & a concept to inform future use

Balwant Godara, Nihaalini Kumar, Frederique Boursin, Gatienne Jobit, Amara Amara, Thierry Agagliate - Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development

Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) are increasingly, and increasingly effectively, being used in development and humanitarian work. Whereas health and education lead this use, application to child protection remains sparse and ill-understood. This paper helps address these two gaps.

The impact of independent living programs on foster youths' educational outcomes: A scoping review

Chun Liu, Christian Vazquez, Kristian Jones, Rowena Fong - Children and Youth Services Review

The purpose of this scoping review is to assess the effectiveness of independent living programs on educational outcomes among youths aging out of the foster care system in United States.

Identifying effective interventions for promoting parent engagement and family reunification for children in out-of-home care: A series of meta-analyses

Christine Maltais, Chantal Cyr, Geneviève Parent, Katherine Pascuzzo - Child Abuse & Neglect

The aim of this meta-analysis is to identify the most effective interventions to promote parental engagement and family reunification in high-income countries.

The Report of the Committee for Analysing Data of Mapping and Review Exercise of Child Care Institutions under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and Other Homes

Government of India, Ministry of Women and Child Development

This National Mapping Exercise covering all Child Care Institutions(CCIs)/Homes in the country, except 34 CCIs/Homes in Uttar Pradesh, sheds light on the functioning of CCIs/Homes across the country, in the context of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015. The findings of this report are expected to provide necessary guidance to all stakeholders regarding improvements required in policy formulation and implementation in future.

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A content analysis of case records: Two-generations of child protective services involvement

Andrea Lane Eastman, Lisa Schelbe, Jacquelyn McCroskey - Children and Youth Services Review

The present investigation leveraged unstructured, case narrative fields in child welfare records to enhance knowledge about Child Protective Services (CPS) involvement among children born to mothers in care.

Perceptions of Failed Foster Care

Nathaniel Mitchell, Walden University

The purpose of this action research study was to investigate social workers’ perceptions of the problems that prevent successful family reunifications after foster care. The study explored social workers’ perceptions of barriers that prevent family reunifications in central Mississippi, USA.

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“My body is strong and amazing”: Embodied experiences of pregnancy and birth among young women in foster care

Elizabeth M. Aparicio, Svetlana Shpiegel. Claudette Grinnell-Davis, Bryn King - Children and Youth Services Review

This phenomenological study included 18 in-depth interviews with six mothers aged 19–22 years in or transitioning from foster care.

Child Welfare Evaluation Virtual Summit Series

Children's Bureau

After the cancellation of the 2013 US National Child Welfare Evaluation Summit, the Children’s Bureau decided to develop short videos as a means of sharing ideas and issues that could not be presented at the conference. The result is the Virtual Summit Series, a group of 17 videos that combine illustration, animation, motion graphics, and content from national experts.

2018 Home Visiting Yearbook

James Bell Associates and the Urban Institute - National Home Visiting Resource Center

The 2018 Home Visiting Yearbook uses 2017 data to present the most up-to-date look at home visiting on the US national and state levels.

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Barnahus Quality Standards: Guidance for Multidisciplinary and Interagency Response to Child Victims and Witnesses of Violence

Olivia Lind Haldorsson, Child Circle - Council of the Baltic Sea States Secretariat and Child Circle

Drawing on international and European law and guidance and the Barnahus model, this document introduces ten good practice standards, the “European Barnahus Standards”, for multidisciplinary and interagency services for child victims and witnesses of violence in Europe adapted to the child.

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Working with unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people: cultural considerations and acceptability of a cognitive behavioural group approach

Dorothy King and Glorianne Said - Cognitive Behaviour Therapist

This paper outlines a psychological skills group for unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people with a focus on cultural adaptations in the context of a UK mental health service.

Effect of overseas parental employment migration on healthcare seeking for common childhood illnesses and nutritional status among left-behind young children: A systematic review

Ritu Kunwar Prabhat Lamichhane, Claire Vajdic, David J Muscatello - Journal of Child Health Care

The authors of this paper aimed to examine the available evidence on the impact of overseas parental migration on healthcare seeking for common childhood illnesses and the nutritional status of children left-behind under five years of age.

Mental health and psychosocial problems among Chinese left-behind children: A cross-sectional comparative study

Tang Wanjie, Wang Gang, Hu Tao, Dai Qian, Xu Jiajun, YanYanchun, Xu Jiuping - Journal of Affective Disorders

This study compared the prevalence of mental health and psychosocial problems between left-behind children (LBC) and controls in Sichuan province, China.

Systematic review and meta‐analysis found higher levels of behavioural problems in male left‐behind children aged 6–11 years

Guang‐Bo Qu, Wei Wu, Ling‐Ling Wang, Xue Tang, Ye‐Huan Sun, Jie Li, Jun Wang - Acta Paediatrica

The primary aim of this meta‐analysis was to compare the incidence rates and factor scores of behavioural problems in Left‐behind children (LBC), who now account for more than one‐fifth of Chinese children, and non‐LBC.

The prevalence of depressive symptoms in ‘left-behind children’ in China: a meta-analysis of comparative studies and epidemiological surveys

Yuan-Yuan Wang, et al - Journal of Affective Disorders

This comprehensive meta-analysis examined the pooled prevalence of depressive symptoms in ‘left-behind children (LBC)’ in China and its associated factors.

The longitudinal associations among grandparent–grandchild cohesion, cultural beliefs about adversity, and depression in Chinese rural left-behind children

Qianyu Li, Wenxin Zhang, ingxin Zhao - Journal of Health Psychology

This study examined the effects of grandparent–grandchild cohesion on the cross-lagged associations between depression and cultural beliefs about adversity in a sample of 625 rural left-behind children in China.

Alternative Child Care and Deinstitutionalisation: A Case Study of Ecuador

Dr Chrissie Gale and Mg Patricia Calero Teran - CELCIS & SOS Children's Villages

The European Commission Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DG DEVCO) commissioned SOS Children’s Villages International to undertake case studies of arrangements for ‘alternative child care’ in six non-European countries across three continents to help inform the EU’s future strategy for provision of support for children in countries outside Europe.  This report is a case study of one of the six countries, Ecuador.

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Alternative Child Care and Deinstitutionalisation: A case study of Chile

Dr Chrissie Gale - CELCIS

The European Commission Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers commissioned SOS Children’s Villages International to undertake case studies of arrangements for ‘alternative child care’ in six non-European countries in three continents to help inform the EU’s future strategy for provision of support for children in countries outside Europe. This report is a case study of one of the six countries, Chile.

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Impact of Emergency Shelter Utilization and Kinship Involvement on Children’s Behavioral Outcomes

Lauren A. Hindt, Grace Jhe Bai, Brynn M. Huguenel, Anne K. Fuller, Scott C. Leon - Child Maltreatment

The present longitudinal study explored the impact of initial emergency shelter placement on long-term externalizing behavior (i.e., aggression, delinquency) and internalizing symptom (i.e., anxiety, depression) trajectories, and whether kinship involvement moderated the effect of shelter placement on behavioral outcomes.

Prevalence and Risk Factors for Early Motherhood Among Low-Income, Maltreated, and Foster Youth

Sarah A. Font, Maria Cancian, Lawrence M. Berger - Demography

In this study, the authors assessed differences in the risk of early motherhood among low-income, maltreated, and foster youth and investigated whether differences likely reflect selection factors versus effects of involvement with Child Protective Services (CPS) or foster care.

Depression among Chinese LBC: Understanding Depression in context of a family-oriented culture

Lanyan Ding - The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska

This research examined the relationships among family structure (leftbehind status), caregiving, and child depression using archival data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) in both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses.

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Harnessing the Potential of Communication for the Well-Being of Transnational Families

Rosel San Pascual - Communicating for Social Change

In this chapter of Communicating for Social Change, the author presents an analysis of the micro- and macro-level challenges of transnational separation of Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW)-parents and their left-behind children, which consequently beget psychosocial distresses among transnational family members.

Group-based parenting program to improve parenting and children's behavioral problems in families using special services: A randomized controlled trial in a real-life setting

Piia Karjalainen, Olli Kiviruusu, Eeva T. Aronen, Päivi Santalahti - Children and Youth Services Review

This randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluated the effectiveness of the Incredible Years® (IY) Parenting Program in modifying children's behavioral problems, parenting practices and parents' psychological well-being among families under child protection and using other special support services.