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.

Peer Problems Among Postinstitutionalized, Internationally Adopted Children: Relations to Hypocortisolism, Parenting Quality, and ADHD Symptoms

Clio E. Pitula, Carrie E. DePasquale, Shanna B. Mliner, Megan R. Gunnar - Child Development

Seventy-eight postinstitutionalized (PI) children adopted at ages 17–36 months were assessed 2, 8, 16, and 24 months postadoption on measures of cortisol and parenting quality, and compared to same-aged children adopted from foster care (FC, n = 45) and nonadopted children (NA, n = 45).

Implementation of deinstitutionalization of child care institutions in post-soviet countries: The case of Azerbaijan

Huseynli A - Child Abuse & Neglect

This study examined the status of the State Program on Deinstitutionalization and Alternative Care (SPDAC), a public policy aimed at transforming 55 institutions covering 14,500 children during 2006-2016 in Azerbaijan. 

The experience with independent living services for youth in care and those formerly in care

Heather M. Thompson, Armeda Stevenson Wojciak, Morgan E. Cooley - Children and Youth Services Review

The purpose of this study was to describe the receipt of independent living services of youth who were formerly in care and who are currently living independently, while also looking at the skills and resources of youth who are currently in foster care in the US. 

Extracurricular activity participation and educational outcomes among older youth transitioning from foster care

Tony White, Lionel D. Scott, Jr, Michelle R. Munson - Children and Youth Services Review

This study examined factors associated with extracurricular participation and whether participation in extracurricular activities is associated with completing high school and attending college among a sample of older youth transitioning from foster care (n = 312).

Child Neglect in Arizona: Prevalence of neglect types reported to Arizona’s Department of Child Safety for calendar years 2013-2015

Erica Quintana - Morrison Institute Child Welfare Leadership Advisory Board

The objective of this project was to review a sample of reports made to Arizona's Department of Child Safety (DCS) with neglect allegations and identify the types of neglect present in the hotline narrative and investigation narrative. 

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Arizona's foster care boards don't look like their communities. Here's why that matters

Maria Polletta - The Republic | azcentral.com

This report describes the disproportionality of children from racial and ethnic minorities in the foster care system in Arizona and how the overwhelmingly white, Anglo-American makeup of the Foster Care Review Boards leads to cultural bias in ths sytem and can perpetuate this problem.

The Family Support Service Practical Guide: A set of Methodological Guidelines for the Regional Social Assistance Structures

Tatiana Dnestrean, Svetlana Rîjicova, & Stela Grigoraș - Partnerships for Every Child, Advancing Partners and Communities

This guide represents a methodological support that describes the procedures for the provision, organization and operation of the Family Support Service.

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Case Management Practical Guide: A set of Methodological Guidelines for the Regional Social Assistance Structures

Svetlana Rîjicova & Stela Grigoraș - Partnerships for Every Child, Government of the Republic of Moldova & Advancing Partners and Communities

This guide is designed for social workers employed in the social services addressed to families and children in Moldova. In this version, the case management methodology focuses on family strengthening and the development of family’s competences, with the ultimate aim of achieving every child’s well-being. 

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Race for Results: Building a Path to Opportunity for All Children

Annie E. Casey Foundation

Following up on a 2014 report of the same name, this report (Race for Results) describes the disproportionate barriers facing children of immigrant families in the US, and it recommends strategies that policy, community and civic leaders can use to guide their decisions so that all our children have a fair chance to thrive. 

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Unwanted Youth: Unaccompanied Minors and Family Detention in the United States

Suzan Song - Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

The goals of this study are as follows: 1) to gain a better understanding of the impact of geopolitical violence on youth and families; 2) to describe the mental health dimensions of the traumas of separation from family, reunification with estranged family, flight from one’s home country to the United States, and the needs in the United States; and 3) to learn how to use clinical and family therapy clinical techniques in a coordinated and interdisciplinary system of care.

Determinants of Effective Utilization of Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children by Caregivers in Kenya: A Case of Tigania West, Meru County

Stephen Njenga Mwangi & Dr. Anne Ndiritu - International Academic Journal of Information Sciences and Project Management

The purpose of the study was to investigate the determinants of the effective utilization of cash transfer for orphans and vulnerable children by caregivers in Tigania West SubCounty which has 1320 beneficiaries in the programme. 

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Family Reunification With an Unknown Family

Saara Amri - Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

The objective of this presentation is to highlight, through the presentation of a clinical case example, how a community-based social services agency, such as Northern Virginia Family Service (NVFS), responds to the psychosocial needs of unaccompanied minors and their families and addresses and mediates barriers to successful family reunification.

Early care and education arrangements and young children's risk of foster placement: Findings from a National Child Welfare Sample

Sacha Klein, Lauren Fries, Mary M. Emmons - Children and Youth Services Review

This study explores the possibility that early care and education (ECE) services (e.g., child care, preschool, day care) can help the Child Welfare System achieve its goal.

Impact of care at foster homes on the health-related quality of life of HIV-infected children and adolescents: a cross-sectional study from India

K. G. Gopakumar, Kamalakshi G. Bhat, Shantharam Baliga, Nitin Joseph, Neha Mohan, Avinash K. Shetty - Quality of Life Research

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of care at foster homes on the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of children living with HIV (CLHIV), attending a referral ART Centre, and to compare their HRQOL with children living in their own homes.

The Use of Visual Methods and Reflexive Interviews in the Research with Children Living in Foster Care

Alex Sandro Gomes Pessoa, Jaqueline Knupp Medeiros, Débora Belizário da Fonseca, Linda Lienbeberg - Vulnerable Children and Youth in Brazil

This chapter aims to discuss the methodological implications of research with children and adolescents who are living in foster care, with emphasis on the use of visual methods and reflexive interviews.