Journeys of Faith Study Series

Faith to Action Initiative

This six-part study series from the Faith to Action Initiative, Caring for Orphans and Vulnerable Children: A Study Guide for Journeys of Faith, is designed to support small faith group study accompanying ‘Journeys of Faith: A Resource Guide for Orphan Care Ministries Helping Children in Africa & Beyond.’ 

Aging Out of Care in Ethiopia: Challenges and Implications Facing Orphans and Vulnerable Youth

Julia M. Pryce, Sarah Lyn Jones, Anne Wildman, Anita Thomas, Kristen Okrzesik, and Katherine Kaufka-Walts - Emerging Adulthood

This interpretive study examines the experiences of 54 Ethiopian emerging adults who had aged out of institutional care facilities. Findings are derived from interviews and focus groups in which questions and activities focused on the challenges faced by participants and the supports they relied on throughout the transition process.

Labor Migration and Time Use Patterns of the Left-behind Children and Elderly in Rural China

Hongqin Chang, Xiao-yuan Dong, Fiona MacPhail - World Development

This analysis of the impact of internal migration on the time allocation patterns of the left-behind elderly and children in rural China, 1997–2006, contributes to the literature on changes in the well-being of the left-behind population. 

Parental migration and the mental health of those who stay behind to care for children in South-East Asia

Elspeth Graham, Lucy P. Jordan, Brenda S.A. Yeoh - Social Science & Medicine

This paper uses data collected in 2008 and 2009 for a project on Child Health and Migrant Parents in South-East Asia (CHAMPSEA) to address a largely neglected research area by investigating the mental health of those who stay behind in Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam to care for the children of overseas migrants. 

International parental migration and the psychological well-being of children in Ghana, Nigeria, and Angola

Valentina Mazzucato, Jeanne Vivet, Victor Cebotari, Angela Veale, Allen White, Marzia Grassi - Social Science & Medicine

This study aims to bridge gaps in areas of knowledge by quantitatively investigating the association between transnational families and children's psychological well-being. It analyzes a survey conducted in three African countries in 2010-11 (Ghana, Angola, and Nigeria) amongst pupils of secondary schools, comparing children in transnational families to those living with their parents in their country of origin.

‘Left behind’ but not left alone: Parental migration & the psychosocial health of children in Moldova

Michaella Vanore, Valentina Mazzucato, Melissa Siegel - Social Science & Medicine

Using data collected from a nationally-representative household survey conducted in Moldova between September 2011 and February 2012, this paper analyses the psychosocial health outcomes of children of migrant parents by comparing them with children without migrant parents (n = 1979).

Imagining migration: Placing children’s understanding of moving house in Malawi and Lesotho

Lorraine van Blerk, Nicola Ansell - Geoforum

Through an examination of over 800 thematic drawings and stories, regarding ‘moving house’, produced by children aged 10–17 years in urban and rural communities of Lesotho and Malawi, this paper explores southern African children’s representations of migration.

Functioning patterns among older adolescents in foster care: Results from a cluster analysis

Svetlana Shpiegel, Kerrie Ocasio - Children and Youth Services Review

This study employed a cluster analysis to identify subpopulations in a large, national sample of 17-year-old youth in the USA based on the following indicators: educational attainment, connection to a supportive adult, adolescent parenthood, homelessness, substance abuse referral and incarceration.

The Application of the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-Operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption of 1993 in Brazil

Marcos Vinicius Torres Pereira & Lara Oliveira Gonçalves - Panorama of Brazilian Law

This article talks about the application of the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-Operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption of 1993 in Brazil. 

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Alternative Care in Emergencies Toolkit

Louise Melville Fulford, Rebecca Smith, The Interagency Working Group on Unaccompanied and Separated Children

The Alternative Care in Emergencies Toolkit is designed to facilitate interagency planning and implementation of alternative care and related services for children separated from or unable to live with their families during and after an emergency.

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Forced From Home: The Lost Boys and Girls of Central America

Women's Refugee Commission

This report from the Women’s Refugee Commission describes the recent increase in migration of unaccompanied children from Central America to the United States and provides an overview of the situation of these children, including the factors that motivate their migration - primarily the violence they experience in their home countries.

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The Revised Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS): A Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Government – Civil Society Partnership - India

Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India

The Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) of India outlines, and contributes to the implementation of, the Government’s responsibility to establish an effective and efficient child protection system. 

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Overseen but often overlooked: Children and Young People ‘Looked After at Home’ in Scotland - Report 1: Reviewing the literature

Vicki Welch, Jennifer Lerpiniere, Sue Sadler, Emma Young - CELCIS

This document is the first report from a study commissioned by Barnardo’s Scotland. The study explores experiences, needs and outcomes for children and young people in Scotland who are (or have been) looked after at home (ie subject to a home supervision requirement or order). 

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The wellbeing of foster children and their relationship with foster parents and biological parents: a child’s perspective

Anne M. Maaskant, Floor B. van Rooij, Henny M.W. Bos & Jo M.A. Hermanns - Journal of Social Work Practice: Psychotherapeutic Approaches in Health, Welfare and the Community

In this study 59 children between 10 and 18 years placed in long term foster care in the Netherlands completed standardized questionnaires on the relationship with their parents respectively foster parents and their wellbeing.

Making the Invisible Visible: An Enumeration of Children on the Streets in Malawi

Retrak, Chisomo Children’s Club, and the Malawi Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability, and Social Welfare

Through this enumeration study, Retrak, Chisomo Children’s Club, and the Malawi Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability, and Social Welfare sought to address the lack of information on the number of children living and working on the streets in Malawi.

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Ending corporal punishment of children – a handbook for working with religious communities

Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children, Churches' Network for Non-violence (CNNV) & Save the Children Sweden

This handbook provides links to tools and resources for engaging with and enlisting the support of religious communities and faith-based institutions towards the prohibition and elimination of corporal punishment of children.

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From the Perspective of UNCRC: Changes in Policies and Care Provisions in Eastern Europe in the Last 25 Years

Dr (habil) Maria Herczog, President of Eurochild, Former member of the UNCRC Committee

This presentation was given at the ISPCAN Conference in Bucharest, Romania in September 2015. The presentation reviews similarities and differences in national care reform efforts in the Eastern Europe region, highlights the main care-related issues in the region 25 years ago, describes the reforms and improvements made in the region as well as the challenges and responses to reforms, and provides recommendations for the way forward.

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The contribution of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child to understanding and promoting the interests of young people making the transition from care to adulthood

Emily R. Munro, John Pinkerton, Philip Mendes, Georgia Hyde-Dryden, Maria Herczog, Rami Benbenishty - Children and Youth Services Review

This paper explores how the UNCRC reporting process, and guidelines from the Committee outlining how States should promote the rights of young people making the transition from care to adulthood, can be used as an instrument to track global patterns of change in policy and practice. 

The Prevalence of Household Risk Factors for Children Age 0-17, Estimated for 2000-2015 Using DHS and MICS Surveys

Thomas Pullum - ICF International and USAID

This report uses 80 surveys conducted by The Demographic and Health Surveys Program (DHS) and 55 Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), between 2000 and 2014 in 70 different countries, to estimate the prevalence of the components and combinations of vulnerability.

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Homebound Girls in Jordan

Information and Research Center – King Hussein Foundation & Save the Children

The purpose of this qualitative research was twofold: the first was to explore the phenomenon of homebound girls in Jordan and to understand the reasons that led to their confinement. By shedding light on and investigating this phenomenon, the second purpose of this research, in turn, was to identify possible interventions to allow these girls access to education and strengthen their social development.

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Climate change and urban children: Impacts and implications for adaptation in low- and middle-income countries

Sheridan Bartlett - Human Settlements Programme, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)

This paper discusses the probable impacts for children of different ages from the increasing risk of storms, flooding, landslides, heat waves, drought and water supply constraints that climate change is likely to bring to most urban centres in Africa, Asia and Latin America. 

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Mapping Child Protection Systems in Place for Palestinian Refugee Children in the Middle East

Manara Network for Child Rights, Save the Children Sweden, Defence for Children International - Palestine Section, Developmental Action Without Borders

This report aims at describing and analysing existing protection mechanisms available for Palestinian refugee children with a focus on Lebanon and the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).

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Outcomes for Children from Household Economic Strengthening Interventions - A Research Synthesis

Josh Chaffin & Cali Mortenson Ellis - Women’s Refugee Commission, CPC Learning Network, Save the Children

This review focuses on the findings from high-quality published evaluation research into economic strengthening (ES) programs, implemented by NGOs, in resource-poor environments in the developing world, where external evaluators measured impacts on any of a wide variety of indicators of children’s or youth’s protection and wellbeing.

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Evaluations of outcomes for children and youth from NGO-supported microeconomic interventions: a research synthesis

C.M. Ellis and Josh Chaffin - Enterprise Development and Microfinance: An international journal

This review is a systematic research synthesis of randomized impact evaluations of NGO-implemented interventions in low-income countries that work to build income and/or economic assets either of the caregiver, the household, or the individual child, adolescent, or youth, where the evaluation looked at any child-level or youth-level outcomes. 

Applying a Family-Level Economic Strengthening Intervention to Improve Education and Health-Related Outcomes of School-Going AIDS-Orphaned Children: Lessons from a Randomized Experiment in Southern Uganda.

Ssewamala FM, Karimli L, Torsten N, Wang JS, Han CK, Ilic V, Nabunya P. - PubMed

This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a family-level economic strengthening intervention with regard to school attendance, school grades, and self-esteem in AIDS-orphaned adolescents aged 12-16 years from 10 public rural primary schools in southern Uganda. 

Child Welfare: Steps Have Been Taken to Address Unregulated Custody Transfers of Adopted Children

United States Government Accountability Office

In this report, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) examined (1) the reasons adoptive families consider unregulated child custody transfers, and services that exist to support these families before they take such an action; (2) what is known about the prevalence of these transfers; and (3) actions selected states and federal agencies have taken to address such transfers. 

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Services de Renforcement Familial et de Prise en Charge Alternative en Afrique Subsaharienne: Document de Contexte

Child Frontiers

Ce document de contexte et les briefs nationaux individuels ont été commandés afin d'examiner le statut actuel des services de renforcement familial et de la prise en charge alternative dans dix-huit pays d'Afrique subsaharienne francophone ainsi que quatre pays anglophones et

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