Critical Social Work and Unaccompanied Refugee Minors’ Social Inclusion: An Example of Critical Best Practice

Aikaterini Oikonomou, Agapi Kandylaki

This article presents an example of critical best social work practice with unaccompanied minor asylum seekers. Based on a critical perspective, it focuses on social and community work interventions in the first reception centre, established in Greece, before the huge influx of refugees in 2015, aiming to support, empower and achieve social integration of the hosted youths.

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Impact of COVID-19 on Child Welfare Practice and Implications for Future Practice: Perspectives from youth, family, frontline workers, and other professionals

Haksoon Ahn, Yao Wang, Kimberly A. Williams, Elsa Moeller, Zhanea James

This US-based study examines the perspectives of families and professionals on child welfare practice during the COVID−19 pandemic.

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Public Child Welfare Journal

Psychosocial Support Services to Enhance Wellbeing of Orphaned and Vulnerable Learners in Eswatini Early Childhood Centres and Primary Schools

Patronella Bimha, Maureen Nokuthula Sibiya

This exploratory, sequential, mixed-methods study analyses factors that enhance the provision of psychosocial support services and the perceptions of educators towards psychosocial support delivery to orphaned and vulnerable learners in Eswatini.

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Cumulative Incidence of Child Protection System Contacts Among a Cohort of Western Australian Aboriginal Children Born 2000 to 2013

Benjamin Harrap, Alison Gibberd, Melissa O'Donnell, Koen Simons, Jocelyn Jones, Fernando Lima, Daniel McAullay, Kathleen Falster, Emily Banks, Sandra Eades

The authors of this study aimed to provide more recent evidence on the population-level cumulative incidence of contacts for Aboriginal children with child protective services in Western Australia.

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Mitigating the Unmet Psychosocial Support Needs of Left-behind Learners in Child-Headed Households: Exploring ‘Educare’ Support at a Zimbabwean School

Ricanos Jaure, Alfred Henry Makura

This research chapter sought to explore the fusion of education and care in schools in Zimbabwe as a holistic system of support for the left-behind at a school where left-behind children expend most of their time.

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Anti-Child Marriage Legal Guide: End Violence Against Children Program (Asia Pacific)

World Vision

This Anti-Child Marriage Guide produced by World Vision aims to empower and educate users as how to best navigate regulatory hurdles that may arise when assisting children affected by child marriage. This fourth legal guide addresses frequently asked questions relating to protecting victims of child marriage in Australia, Mainland China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

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“Foster Care is a Roller Coaster”: A Mixed-Methods Exploration of Foster Parent Experiences with Caregiving

Taylor Dowdy-Hazlett, Shelby L. Clark

This U.S.-based mixed-methods study explored foster parent satisfaction with intent to turnover and disrupt placement in 362 foster parents through regression analyses. It included foster parents in six mid-Southwestern states who participated in an online survey between June 2021 and January 2022.

Children with Disabilities in Eastern and Southern Africa: A statistical overview of their well-being

UNICEF

This UNICEF report aims to promote the use of data to make children with disabilities in the region more visible, bringing about a fuller understanding of their life experiences. It offers evidence crucial to decision-making to fulfill obligations, both moral and legal, to give every child an equal chance in life.

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Evicted by Climate Change: Confronting the Gendered Impacts of Climate-Induced Displacement - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FOR POLICYMAKERS

CARE

Climate-induced displacement is an option of last resort. It preys on those who are unable to adapt to the ecological and social consequences of climate change, whether due to lack of resources or other inequities. For most of these people, climate-induced displacement is triggered by direct physical harm from extreme weather events or slow-onset impacts, but also by indirect consequences on food insecurity and conflict over natural resources and land rights.

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Expulsé·e·s par le changement climatique: répondre aux impacts genrés des déplacements climatiques - RÉSUMÉ À L’ATTENTION DES RESPONSABLES POLITIQUES

CARE

Les déplacements causés par le climat constituent une option de dernier recours. Ils concernent les personnes qui ne sont pas en capacité de s’adapter aux conséquences écologiques et sociales du changement climatique, en raison d’un manque de ressources ou d’autres inégalités.

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Protecting Against Predators: A Scoping Study on the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Young People in Ireland

Mary Canning, Marie Keenan, Ruth Breslin

This scoping study explores forms of sexual exploitation of children and young people in Ireland, including those whose life experiences make them more vulnerable including being in care, going ‘missing’ or running away from home or a care placement.

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Telomere Erosion and Depressive Symptoms Across Development Following Institutional Care

Charlotte Heleniak, Bonnie Goff, Laurel J. Gabard-Durnam, Eva H. Telzer, Kathryn L. Humphreys, Daniel S. Lumian, Jessica E. Flannery, Christina Caldera, Mor Shapiro MD, Jennifer Y. Louie, Fan Shen

This longitudinal U.S.-based study examined the link between caregiving-related early adversity and elevated risks for both depressive psychopathology and prematurely shortened telomeres across the lifespan of children exposed to early institutional care.

Evaluation of Family Reunification after Foster Care in the State of Minas Gerais - Brazil

Aline do Carmo França-Botelho

This study aimed to brief analyse data from the most recent SUAS census in Brazil, focusing on one of the states of the federation to verify how the referrals of children and adolescents who go through foster care are being carried out. The data showed that in certain places there is discrepancy in reintegration and adoption, the latter being the most common.

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“Foster Care is a Roller Coaster”: A Mixed-Methods Exploration of Foster Parent Experiences with Caregiving

Taylor Dowdy-Hazlett, Shelby L. Clark

This mixed-methods study included foster parents in six mid-Southwestern states in the U.S. foster parents serve a critical role in the child welfare system; however, many report being dissatisfied with their role. As such, dissatisfied foster parents are at risk of disruption and turnover, ultimately resulting in placement moves for youth in care. Placement moves have negative impacts on youth well-being, prompting a need to explore issues related to placement longevity related to foster parent satisfaction.

Nurturing Care Framework Progress Report 2018-2023: Reflections and looking forward

World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF

This World Health Organization (WHO) progress report looks back on the five years since the Nurturing care framework was launched. It documents achievements and presents areas for future action. Annotated with stories of change, the report provides a snapshot of progress in relation to each of the five strategic actions of the Framework and shows the breadth of activities that have been undertaken.

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Kinship Care in Kakuma Refugee Camp: Kenya

UNICEF - Regional Learning Platform on Care Reform in Eastern and Southern Africa

This case study documents the journey of Okot, one of many children in the Kakuma camp in Kenya, living with relatives. There are over 8,000 unaccompanied and separated children living in the Kakuma and Kalobeyei camps, the majority of whom are in kinship care (children cared for by relatives or friends of the family).

Finnish Care Leavers‘ Social Inclusion During the Transition to Adulthood

Minna Kaasinen, Anja Terkamo-Moisio, Pirkko Salokekkila, Arja Haggman-Laitila

The aim of this qualitative study published in the Children and Youth Services Review journal was to describe care leavers’ experiences of social inclusion in Finland. The results can provide new insight into a vulnerable, marginally researched group with high support needs and a propensity for social exclusion.

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Survivor-Informed Support for Trafficked Children in Scotland

Maggie Grant, Maria Fotopoulou, Scot Hunter, Margaret Malloch, Paul Rigby, Kieran Taylor - University of Stirling

The aim of this study was to fill a gap in knowledge in relation to what constitutes recovery and effective support over a longer time frame for separated children and young people who have experienced trafficking in Scotland. The study illuminates processes that have not been previously explored with this group of children and young people in Scotland.

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Non-Kinship Foster Care in Nigeria: Socioeconomic and demographic drivers of mothers’ willingness to foster

Stanley Oloji Isangha, Tosin Yinka Akintunde, Cherry Hau Lin Tam, Wai Man Anna Choi

This study examined the socioeconomic and demographic drivers of willingness to foster non-kin children among mothers in Nigeria. The findings of this study provide implications for research, social work practice, and education in Nigeria and Africa.

A Comprehensive Multilevel Analysis of the Bucharest Early Intervention Project: Causal Effects on Recovery From Early Severe Deprivation

Lucy S. King, Katherine L. Guyon-Harris, Emilio A. Valadez, Anca Radulescu, Nathan A. Fox, Charles A. Nelson, Charles H. Zeanah, Kathryn L. Humphreys

The Bucharest Early Intervention Project is the first randomized controlled trial of foster care as an alternative to institutional care. The authors synthesized data from nearly 20 years of assessments of the trial to determine the overall intervention effect size across time points and developmental domains. The goal was to quantify the overall effect of the foster care intervention on children’s outcomes and examine sources of variation in this effect, including domain, age, and sex assigned at birth.

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Child of Two Worlds: How foster care workers perceive their skills in dealing with worldview differences in foster care

Danielle van de Koot-Dees, Martine Noordegraaf, Bernhard Reitsma

This article looks at the strategies foster care workers employ when dealing with worldview differences between a foster family and the birth family reviewing examples from the Netherlands, Denmark and the US.

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Child and Family Social Work

“I hope my voice is heard”: A Mixed-Methods Study of Youths’ Perceptions of Residential Care

Shamra Boel-Studt, Hui Huang, Christopher Collins

This US-based study examined youth’s perspective of the quality of care and experiences in residential group care. This study was approved by an Institutional Review Board. Data were collected as part of a larger statewide pilot of the Quality Standards Assessment (QSA).

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Children and Youth Services Review

Fluid Transitions – “Weak” Constellations of Participation in the Process of Leaving Care

Carolin Ehlke, Wolfgang Schröer

This conceptual article describes how, in terms of organization theories, shifts in the chronological transition to adulthood produce “weak” constellations of participation during the process of leaving care. The authors highlight the different degrees of participation by those leaving care and the ways in which it is expressed.

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Children and Youth Services Review

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Unaccompanied Refugee Minors: Prevalence, Contributing and Protective Factors, and Effective Interventions: A Scoping Review

Charles Oberg, Hayley Sharma

The objective of this global study was to review the current literature regarding PTSD in unaccompanied refugee minors (URM). The authors concluded that the high levels of mental health problems experienced in URM are due to exposure to traumatic experiences, separation from parents, and lack of social support.

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Adverse Childhood Experiences and Residential Care Environment: The mediating role of trauma-related symptoms and psychological maladjustment in adolescents

Lorena Maneiro, Nerea Llerena, & Laura López-Romero

This study analyzes the sequential relationships between exposure to adverse childhood experiences, trauma-related symptoms, psychological maladjustment, and the perception of group climate and peer interactions for those in out-of-home placements in Spain.

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Bridges between Families and Foster Children: Family Reintegration and Adoption of Disabled Children and Adolescents

Patrícia da Silva Bezerra, Yuri Leandro do Carmo de Souza, Matheus dos Santos da Silveira, Edmylla Francyelle dos Santos Silva, Simone Souza da Costa Silva

This study aimed to describe the perception of caregivers and the role of professionals in the process of family reintegration and adoption of children and adolescents with disabilities in a host institution in Belém/PA, Brazil.

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Case Management: A Scalable Model for Reintegration of Children without Parental Care in Kenya

Changing the Way We Care (CTWWC)

To ensure a significant improvement in service delivery to children and their families, and specifically to the successful reintegration of children from residential care into families and communities, a case management approach, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and tools were required to support state and non-state service providers to standardize the way they promoted family care. This short insight document describes how the case management package was developed and rolled out.

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A Foster Care System Where Every Child Has a Loving Home

The Audacious Project - TED Talk

In the U.S., youth in foster care are nearly twice as likely as war veterans to suffer from PTSD. Placed in foster care at just 11 months old, 2023 Audacious Project grantee Sixto Cancel experienced the faults of the system firsthand. Now, he's the founder of Think of Us, an organization working to reform child welfare by centering kinship care, or placing a child with an extended family member or a familiar adult. Learn more about his plan to help thousands of kids searching for a loving home with one simple, systemic switch.

Bulgaria: Report Card 2023 - What is the Average Government Score for Childcare?

National Network for Children

National Network for Children (NNC) released its monitoring Report Card 2023 which evaluates the progress of Bulgarian state care institutions in eight areas – Child participation, Child Welfare, Family Environment and Alternative care, Protection from all forms of Violence, Child Justice, Early Childhood Development, Child Health, Education, Sport, Culture and Leisure.

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How Support Needs for Kinship Care Vary by Caregiver Characteristics

Family for Every Child

This is the fourth webinar in the Family for Every Child's kinship care learning series which explored the different types of kinship caregivers (e.g. grandparents, siblings, aunts and uncles, male kinship carers, friends of the family) and how their different characteristics impact the risk and support needs of kinship care placements.

Children & Young People During COVID-19: How were they impacted & what we can learn for the future?

Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action

The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action , with the support of the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies, conducted participatory research to explore the impact of COVID-19 related school closures on children and young people in three humanitarian settings: Lebanon, Democratic Republic of Congo and Colombia.