Supporting Integration: A Toolkit for Practitioners Working with Children and Young People on the Move

Family for Every Child

The ‘Supporting Integration’ toolkit documents and shares good practice guidance for practitioners working with child migrants. The toolkit was developed as part of a three year project which involved research into the integration of children moving from the Middle East to Europe, and aims to enhance integration support and services, ensuring that children and young people are provided with a care that fosters their development and well-being.

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2023 State of the Social Service Workforce Report: A Decade of Progress, A Future of Promise

Global Social Service Workforce Alliance

This report examines the evolution of social service workforce strengthening in the light of the three core pillars of the Social Service Workforce Strengthening Framework: planning, developing and supporting. It identifies significant progress and accomplishments that have been made to strengthen the social service workforce at the global level as well as in three specific countries: Romania, Uganda and Viet Nam.

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Learning Brief: Applying the Collaborating, Learning and Adapting Framework

Changing the Way We Care

Since care reform is a long and complex process, requiring collaboration between many diverse actors, with different change pathways in diverse contexts, the Changing the Way We Care initiative set out to learn from different demonstration countries, build national and regional knowledge, and reinforce global momentum for family care. This learning brief describes some of that journey.

This brief shares how the initiative used CLA related to the social service workforce strengthening and case management.

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Mental Health and Wellbeing Interventions for Care-Experienced Children and Young People: Systematic Review and Synthesis of Process Evaluations

Sarah MacDonald, Rob Trubey, Jane Noyes, Soo Vinnicombe, Helen E. Morgan, Simone Willis, Maria Boffey, G.J. Melendez-Torres, Michael Robling, Charlotte Wooder, Rhiannon Evans

This global systematic review incorporated a comprehensive search of available literature from 1990 and captures the extant literature relating to process evaluations for interventions which address care-experienced children and young people’s mental health and well-being, and is one of the first syntheses of process evaluations in social care.

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Resilience Among Children in Foster Care: Variability in Adaptive Functioning and Associated Factors

Pablo Carrera, Maite Román, Jesús M. Jiménez-Morago

This study aimed to explore variability in adaptive functioning in social competence, mental health, and school adjustment in a sample of children in foster care in Spain, and to assess which factors differentiated resilient children (i.e., showing adaptive functioning across domains) from those who were not resilient.

Child Protective Services and Out-of-Home Care for Children During COVID-19: A Scoping Review and Thematic Analysis

Carmit Katz, Afnan Attrash-Najjar, Noa Cohen, Talia Glucklich, Ma'ayan Jacobson, Natalia Varela, Sidnei Rinaldo Priolo-Filho, Annie Bérubé, Olivia D. Chang, Delphine Collin-Vézina, Ansie Fouché, Sadiyya Haffejee, Ilan Katz, Kathryn Maguire-Jack, et al

Limited research has investigated the impact of COVID-19 on Out-of-Home Care (OOHC) and child protective services (CPS) worldwide or explored how CPS overcame the challenges of helping children in OOHC. This review aims to address this gap in the research to unveil the ‘positive legacy’ left by CPS in their work with children in OOHC during COVID-19.

Insight: Disability Inclusion in Kenya's Care Reform

Changing the Way We Care

Disability inclusion means breaking down barriers to promote a society that values diversity and accessibility for everyone. In 2023, Changing the Way We Care Kenya included a disability inclusion reflection learning exercise aimed at collecting views and feedback, and documenting how the initiative had impacted on lives of caregivers and children with disabilities, and how disability issues were be included in the care reform agenda.

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Insight: Disability Inclusion in Kenya's Care Reform

Case Management for Children Reintegrating into Family and Community-Based Care

Changing the Way We Care

Case management is used with both families at risk of separation and those where children have already separated and are in the process of being reintegrated, including biological family or placed into an alternative family (e.g., foster or kinship). The end goal of case management is that children are safe and nurtured within a family that is able to care for them, and access needed services that address risks and increase resilience.   

Strategies for Strengthening Mental Health Education for Left Behind Children in Rural Areas

Yang Boran

This article explores the importance of strengthening mental health education for left behind children in rural areas and proposes various strategies to meet their mental health needs. The study emphasizes the importance of parental participation, school counseling mechanisms, diverse educational activities, and social support.

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The Taken Children of Ukraine

Patricia Fronek, Karen S Rotabi-Casares, Marina Lypovetska

This article focuses on The Taken Children of Ukraine during the first 6 months of the war and its implications for social workers engaged in work with children and their families.

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Charting Brighter Futures: Utilizing Data for Accelerated Action to End Child Marriage

UNICEF

On 21st September 2023, the Governments of Canada and Zambia, in partnership with UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to End Child Marriage and the Child Marriage Monitoring Mechanism, hosted a High-Level Side Event during the Seventy-Eighth Session of the United Nations General Assembly. The event was titled 'Charting Brighter Futures: Utilizing Data for Accelerated Action to End Child Marriage and Achieve SDG 5.3'.

The Global Social Service Workforce Alliance 2023 Annual Symposium: A Decade of Progress, A Future of Promise

Global Social Service Workforce Alliance

To commemorate their 10th anniversary as an Alliance, this year’s Symposium took place on October 26, 2023, and offered a retrospective view of the Cape Town conference and the impact it achieved, both in the participating countries and globally. Then, through a deep dive into the experiences of three other countries— Romania, Rwanda and Viet Nam—it will explore the different ways countries have made progress in strengthening their workforce over the past decade and will highlight the continuing and emerging challenges facing the workforce in each country.

Findings and Recommendations From Financial Assessments of Residential Institutions

Catholic Relief Services

Daniela Mamaliga, Director of Partnerships for Every Child, presents the findings and conclusions of a comprehensive 2022 financial assessment conducted by CTWWC in six residential institutions. The financial assessments aimed to inform political decisions on the future of the six institutions, including their transformation/reorganization plans. Ms. Mamaliga highlights that though the average annual cost for caring for a child is increasing in all six institutions, even as number of children and staff is decreasing in some of them.

The Role of Social Services and the Importance of Investing in the Social Service Workforce

Catholic Relief Services

As an experienced social worker and practice lead at Social Work Scotland, Vivien Thomson shares valuable insights underscoring the importance of investing in the social service workforce to drive meaningful care reform. Drawing from lessons learned in Scotland's Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) policy framework, Ms. Thomson, illuminates the critical role of social workers and the need to empower them as the glue that holds together multi-agency teams.

Working Together to Create Meaning: Narratives of Care Leavers in Eastern Europe

Zoë Kessler, Susan Levy, Mark Smith

This article uses life history research to reveal a new understanding of institutional care. The study draws on interviews with care leavers from a Latvian orphanage who narrate life histories and identify critical life events and moments of resistance to times of adversity.

Domestic Violence and the Welfare of the Nigerian Child: An Evaluation of the Role of Child Protection Services and Law Enforcement Authorities

Wilson Diriwari

This paper aims to contribute to an understanding of how Child Protection Services and Law Enforcement Agencies in Nigeria can combat domestic violence against children. It seeks to provide recommendations, on strengthening these entities as other important stakeholders involved in preventing detecting, responding to, and protecting children from domestic violence.

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A Gender-Responsive Pandemic Accord is Needed for a Healthier, Equitable Future

Shirin Heidari, Els Torreele, Ahmet Metin Gülmezoglu, Sharifah Sekalala, Naomi Burke-Shyne, Gabrielle Landry Chappuis

This comment in the October 2023 issue of The Lancet discusses gender equity in health care and how improving access to sexual and reproductive health services can lead to a considerable reduction in maternal mortality rates. Other reports emphasise how collecting and analysing sex-disaggregated and gender data can help identify disparities in access to education, health care, and other services that are crucial for overall development.

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Parental Migration and Education: Lived Experiences of Dalit and Adivasi Children in a Village of Madhya Pradesh

Rajshree Chanchal, Ajit Kumar Lenka

The article grapples with the tacit interplay of poverty, caste, and gender and its effects on the education of children in a village. It explores how pandemic-induced school closure impacted the life chances of marginalised children during and after the pandemic in the ‘deprived geography’ of rural Madhya Pradesh, India.

Hong Kong: Hello, Can You Hear Me? Implementing Article 12 of the UNCRC in the Hong Kong Legal Setting

Anne Scully-Johnson - Cambridge University Press

This research is part of a wider project commissioned by the Hong Kong Committee on Children’s Rights (HKCCR), a non-governmental organisation originally formed in 1992 to promote, advance and ensure the rights of the child in Hong Kong. The aim of the wider project was to establish an independent baseline study of the implementation of Article 12 across all relevant sectors in Hong Kong, from constitutional and high-level policy-making to health and education to matters of leisure, culture and built environment, amongst others.

Reducing Foster Care Placement Through Equity-Focused Implementation of Family First

Megan Rivera, Natalia Cooper, Doug Steiger, Laura Tatum

From 2021 to 2023, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has taken administrative actions to prioritize the implementation of Family First prevention services. These actions minimize traumatic deployments of CPS, reduce the use of family separations, and bolster support for families providing kinship care. In this brief, the authors highlight where progress has been made—and where the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) could still take additional steps in 2024.

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Increasing the Likelihood of Kinship Placements: Testing the Effectiveness of an Intensive Family Search and Engagement Intervention

Emily Smith Goering, Sarah Kaye, Lucia Reyes, Stephanie Beleal, Alyse Almadani, Caitlin Proctor-Frazier, Elisa Rosman

This longitudinal study evaluates the effectiveness of BLINDED intervention, an intervention that utilizes family search and engagement practices to place children who enter foster care in kinship placements as quickly as possible in the U.S.

Parental Absence as an Adverse Childhood Experience Among Young Adults in Sub-Saharan Africa

Francis B. Annor, Ermias W. Amene, Liping Zhu, Caroline Stamatakis, Viani Picchetti, Sarah Matthews, Stephanie S. Miedema, Colvette Brown, Viva C. Thorsen, Pedro Manuel, Leah K. Gilbert, Caroline Kambona, Rachel Coomer, Joseph Trika, et al

The objectives of this study were to examine (1) the associations between parental absence for six months or more, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), mental health problems, and substance use among young adults in sub-Saharan Africa, (2) whether parental absence and other ACEs are independently associated with mental health outcomes and substance use, (3) and if parental absence explains additional variance above and beyond those explained by other ACEs.

Outcomes of Youth with Foster Care Experiences Based on Permanency Outcome – Adoption, Aging Out, Long-Term Foster Care, and Reunification: A systematic review

Abigail Rose Lindner, Ryan Hanlon

This is a systematic review of literature published from 2002 to 2022 to assess the differences in outcomes of children and youth who were adopted out of foster care compared to children and youth in foster care (CYFC) who were in other permanency placements (reunified, aged out, long-term foster care). The review yielded twelve (N = 12) studies from Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

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Children and Youth Services Review

Living Situation of Juveniles After Secure Residential Treatment: Exploring the Role of Family Centeredness, Child, and Family Factors

Jorinde L. Broekhoven, Lieke van Domburgh, Floor van Santvoort, Jessica J. Asscher, Inge Simons, Annemarieke M. M. M. Blankestein, Gonnie Albrecht, Rachel E. A. van der Rijken, Arne Popma

To promote the return of juveniles to a home-like environment (e.g. living with (foster)parents) after secure residential treatment (SRT), it is important to know which factors are related to this outcome. The current study, based in the Netherlands, examined which characteristics of the juvenile, family, and SRT, including family centeredness and use of systemic interventions, are related to the living situation after discharge.

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The Voice of the Child and the Implementation of the Child's Right to be Heard in Parental Responsibility Matters and Cases

Orsolya Szeibert

This article published in the Hungarian Journal of Legal Studies is part of a complex overview of the connections between the child’s right to be heard and the child’s best interests and parental responsibility matters and cases. The focal point of the paper is how Hungarian codification, judiciary and academic legal literature have changed over the last decade and how they have adapted to the modern child-focused standards.

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Reintegration of Russian Children Returned From War Zones in the Middle East: Directions, Actors, Barriers

Maria Kozlova, Igor Mikheev, Alfiya Lyapina

This article analyzes the integration process of children returned from ISIS territory in three regions of the Russian North Caucasus from where the largest number of ISIS fighters with Russian citizenship originated. Following the concepts of “reintegration of returned migrants” and “cultural citizenship”, it explicates the role of key actors in the processes of adaptation and integration of children and their families, as well as analyzes the nature of the barriers they overcome to restore their lost civil status and identity.

Inequitable Access to Relative Caregiving: Implications of Foster Care Regulations in Finland, New Zealand, and the United States

Michael Hoffmeister

This analysis considers foster care regulations in three jurisdictions in Finland, New Zealand, and Wisconsin, USA, and the effects of policy decisions on eligibility for relative caregivers and placement options for children in out-of-home care.

Webinar Recording: Indigenous Communities, Child-Family Separation, and the Catholic Church: What Do Truth and Healing Require?

Collaborative on Global Children's issues

During this webinar, participants explored the role of the Catholic Church in the separation of Indigenous children from their families and the long-lasting effect on Indigenous communities.

Fomento de la resiliencia en los servicios sociales mediante la gestión de la demanda: RESUMEN EJECUTIVO

European Social Network (ESN)

Este Resumen ejecutivo del informe “Fomento de la resiliencia en los servicios sociales mediante la gestión de la demanda” se publica como resultado de la reunión anual de 2023 del Grupo de trabajo sobre “Resiliencia y transformación de los servicios sociales” de European Social Network.

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Costruire la resilienza dei servizi sociali attraverso la gestione della domanda: RIEPILOGO GENERALE

European Social Network (ESN)

La presente sintesi del briefing “Costruire la resilienza dei servizi sociali attraverso la gestione della domanda” viene pubblicata a conclusione della riunione annuale 2023 del Gruppo di lavoro “Trasformazione e resilienza dei servizi sociali” dello European Social Network.

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A Social-Ecological View of the Factors Affecting the Effectiveness of Reintegration Interventions Targeting Children Out of Family-Based Care Situations: A Scoping Review

Bewunetu Zewude, Getnet Tadele, Kibur Engdawork, Samuel Assefa

The purpose of this review was to describe in more detail the findings and range of research undertaken regarding the reintegration of children out of family-based care situations, thereby providing a mechanism for summarizing and disseminating research findings to policy makers, practitioners, and researchers who might otherwise lack time or resources to undertake such works themselves. The review has been undertaken with the motive of answering the question
of what is known from the existing empirical literature about the effectiveness and challenges of intervention programs that are meant to sustainably reintegrate children out of family-based care?

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Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 456 On the temporary relocation (evacuation) of children and persons living or enrolled in institutions of various types, forms of ownership and subordination for a 24-hour stay, and their return

Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine

This Procedure determines the mechanism of safety of the children and persons living or enlisted on the round-the-clock stay in organizations of different types, patterns of ownership and subordination (further - children and persons), during warlike situation by acceptance in case of need died to their temporary movement (evacuation), ensuring placement, proper leaving, education, and also return in the place of their permanent residence (stay), and in case of departure out of limits of Ukraine - to Ukraine.

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