The aims of this document are to: 1. Provide an overview of child protection systems strengthening in emergencies practice to date, and based on this, 2. Propose certain key considerations with regards to systems for child protection practitioners. 

This paper analyzes the concluding sections of assessment reports on applicants for intercountry adoption in Sweden to answer the following question: what must be said about an individual or a couple in order for her/them to be seen as a suitable adoptive parent?

This paper examines the benefits and challenges of de-institutionalizing disability residential services in Croatia through Open Society Foundation’s Mental Health Initiative (MHI). 

This is a Call to Action issued by the Doha International Family Institute commemorating the International Year of the Family.  

This is a resource guide designed for PEPFAR implementing partners to help them effectively design and implement economic strengthening activities for vulnerable children. The guide lists gender, age, social inclusion, conflict, accessibility, chronic illness, and environment as reasons that certain children and households are vulnerable.

This study compares programs and services that support youth in care during their transition to adulthood and independent living in Chicago, USA to those in Barcelona, Spain.

This report tells the story of “forgotten children,” children who are relegated to the margins of society due to discrimination and subjected to the hardships of poverty. The report is aimed at identifying what is required to meet the needs of these children and to ensure their basic rights to survive and thrive, to learn, and to be protected.

The aim of this guide is to draw together SCF’s recent experience of family tracing.

In this meta-analysis of 75 studies on more than 3,888 children in 19 different countries, the intellectual development of children living in children's homes (orphanages) was compared with that of children living with their (foster) families.

The objective of this child protection systems mapping and analysis is to provide stakeholders with a descriptive profile of their existing system, and an initial assessment of its contextual appropriateness and relevance to the populations being served. 

The present volume contains the resolutions adopted by the General Assembly from 15 September to 24 December 2009, including the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children on page 376.

This symposium, sponsored by the CPC Network, Women’s Refugee Commission, and FHI 360, brought together leading global practitioners, researchers, policy experts and donors to explore the current best practices and evidence on the use of economic strengthening interventions to prevent child separation from, and support child reintegration back into, families and communities.

This two-page brief from USAID describes the “Keeping Children in Healthy and Protective Families” project, a project that is part of 4Children that “focuses on strengthening family care among households at high risk of children separating or where children can be reintegrated after having been placed in residential care.”

This report presents the findings of a regional study on children’s participation in Southern Africa. 

This report from Save the Children examines the experiences of “children on the move,” the types of supports they need, and how protection systems can be adapted to meet those needs. 

This doctoral thesis by Hye-Young Lim examines the laws around the recognition of child-headed households in South Africa, particularly in the context of HIV/AIDS.

This mapping and analysis was conducted in late 2009 in Sierra Leone to analyze the existing laws, structures and services for child protection in the country and found these laws and systems to be falling short of reaching their intended impact. 

The purpose of this integrative chapter on well-being and the family is to present the analysis of a number of family-based factors that can influence child well-being.

This paper reports on a research capacity building initiative designed to address the lack of research and evidence on the efficacy of child welfare services in Canada.

The present study aimed to assess the relationship between interpersonal traumatic experiences and specific psychopathological symptoms in a high-risk population of girls and boys living in youth welfare institutions in residential care in Switzerland.

This research aimed to gain a better understanding of kinship care, its practice issues, and its role in the South Australian alternative care system. 

This study examines the effects of early institutional care on infants' brain development.

Based on an in-depth analysis of Cameroonian policies for care and support to orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), this chapter will show that despite the inclusion of this issue as a strategic priority in fighting against AIDS, Cameroonian authorities are non-significant managers.

This study analyzes the experiences of adolescents living with HIV or AIDS.

This study reports on children’s experiences of living with HIV-positive parents within the family context of Bangladesh. 

In this study, data from 60 nationally representative household surveys (36 countries) were analyzed to establish if orphanhood and adult household illness consistently identified children with worse outcomes and also to identify other factors associated with adverse outcomes for children.

This chapter analyses how social identity influences children’s recruitment into armed conflict and their reintegration. 

A retrospective exploratory study on 73 family group decision making conferences for children referred to institutional public services in Kenya to investigate the short, medium and long term conference outcomes on child’s safety, permanency and wellbeing.

This study from CESVI examines the magnitude and characteristics of child labor in Kenya, particularly the “worst forms of child labour (WFCL) in Kenya,” with a focus on the urban context of Nairobi and on the rural context of the Nyanza province.

These Terminology Guidelines were developed by an Interagency Working Group to "offer guidance on how to navigate the complex lexicon of terms commonly used relating to sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children."

This paper presents findings from a doctoral project that explored the experiences of young people growing up in foster care in the United Kingdom.

The filmmaker Daniel Mulloy has directed a new 20-minute film, entitled ‘Home,’ which is inspired by the current refugee crisis. 

The present study focused on whether parenting and family factors explain variance in cognitive and linguistic catch-up in children adopted internationally.

This online resource, complete with videos and infographics, accompanies a report from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees which details the experiences of Syrian refugee children and youth.

This report from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees details the experiences of Syrian refugee children and youth.

This practice paper from the Australian Institute of Family Studies presents an overview of the research on the impacts of trauma on children’s brain development for children placed in out-of-home care and offers basic principles for responding to children’s trauma. 

This report reviews Malawi’s national response for children affected by HIV and AIDS. The report notes significant progress made in improving the lives of children affected by HIV and AIDS and offers key recommendations for further improvements to national policies and strategies.

This mapping and assessment report of Malawi’s Child Protection System offers key recommendations to strengthen the child protection system, including enforcing legislation, coordinating mechanisms, building capacity of the social service workforce, harmonization of child protection services, and strengthening accountability mechanisms.

This article discusses professional discretion in relation to placing a child outside the family, as understood by Malawian social workers. 

This paper from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) offers some recommendations on optimizing cash transfers in order to have the greatest impact on those affected by HIV/AIDS.

The primary goal of this research was to examine whether Malawi Social Cash Transfer Pilot Scheme, initially implemented in a rural district in central Malawi, improved health outcomes for children aged 6–17.

This report from SOS Children’s Villages assesses Malawi’s compliance with, and implementation of, the UN Guidelines on the Alternative Care of Children. 

This report from SOS Children’s Villages examines the range of services available to families in Malawi to prevent family separation as well as the administrative measures and national policy frameworks governing these services. 

This paper reflects on the experiences of Save the Children in implementing a multi-country community-based participatory research (CBPR) program to increase understanding of kinship care in DRC, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

This study analyzed the current social protection environment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and examined the “vulnerabilities and risks facing children living in poverty in Kinshasa, Bas Congo and Katanga provinces.” 

Using the DFID sustainable livelihood approach, this qualitative study evaluated the social capital being accessed by adolescent girls transitioning from two institutions in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Aiming to support the design of effective intervention strategies, this study examines the hypothesized causal effect of foster children's poor school performance on subsequent psychosocial problems, here conceptualized as economic hardship, illicit drug use, and mental health problems, in young adulthood.