This book offers a comparative analysis of child and youth welfare systems across eight European countries, highlighting how diverse legal, historical, and institutional contexts shape responses to young people with complex support needs. Through contributions from researchers and practitioners, it reveals shared tensions—such as care versus control and participation versus coercion—while providing a multi-perspective foundation for transnational learning and policy reflection.

This report documents the finding of the exercise undertaken by the Children and Families Together (CAFT)-India consortium to assess how Indian states are positioned for disability-inclusive care reform. Drawing from data across States, this highlights each State’s existing care systems and inclusion practices, offering valuable insights for policymakers, practitioners, and organizations advancing inclusive child protection and care reform in India.

This report presents suggested adaptations to include disability-related questions across three key case management tools under the Indian Juvenile Justice Act 2015 – the Social Investigation Report, Individual Care Plan and Case History Form. It also documents the consultative process undertaken for these adaptations and offers practical recommendations to help child protection systems better identify, support, and include children with disabilities.

This report examines how India’s child protection laws interact with disability legislations, highlighting areas where greater focus is required to bring consonance to ensure that the rights of children with disabilities in need of care and protection are upheld.

This study addresses the urgent need for family-based care for children without parental care, as emphasised by the UN General Assembly’s 2019 resolution, India’s Juvenile Justice Act 2015, and Mission Vatsalya. The primary aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Thrive Scale™ tool developed by Miracle Foundation India in generating measurable, data-driven decisions to plan and implement suitable interventions for family strengthening.

This article compares the existing legislative, policy and practice supports for young people transitioning from out-of-home care (known as care leavers) aged 18–25 years in three jurisdictions: Sweden, Norway and Australia. Attention is drawn to the impact of the different welfare regimes in these countries (i.e., social democratic vs liberal), the inconsistencies across different states and regions, and the eligibility and adequacy of existing support programmes.

This article reviews global evidence on the impacts of institutional care versus family-based alternatives and examines how these findings inform foster care reform in Ogun State, Nigeria. It synthesizes research from 2009–2025 to identify key developmental outcomes, implementation lessons, and policy priorities for transitioning away from institutional care.

This three-year initiative focused on strengthening family reintegration and preventing unnecessary child separation in Delhi, India

This scoping review examines evidence from Asia and culturally comparable contexts to understand the experiences and support needs of young people transitioning from out-of-home care, with a particular focus on Indonesia. The findings highlight widespread gaps in formal leaving-care and aftercare support, alongside promising practices, the importance of informal networks and independent living skills, and the influence of stigma, gender, and resilience on care leavers’ transitions to adulthood.

This mixed-methods study, drawing on qualitative and quantitative data from all 15 counties in Liberia, examines the drivers and scale of children living in street situations through interviews with children, parents, government, UN, and civil society actors.

This Chapter in the Book, Participatory Approaches in Child and Family Social Work explores the significance of advocacy in promoting the rights and well-being of children in care.

New data from the Children’s Commissioner for England found 669 children living in unregistered children’s homes as of 1 September 2025—a 12% decrease from the previous year. While the reduction is welcome, these placements remain unlawful and unsafe, highlighting an ongoing failure to adequately protect vulnerable children.

In 2024, the 1st Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children (VAC) brought together 103 governments to make formal commitments to prevent and respond to VAC. This review analyses the pledges announced at the time of the conference, while acknowledging that some governments may have subsequently refined or expanded their commitments, as noted in the limitations.

The piece argues that Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, is mishandling the growing crisis of street children by relying mainly on enforcement actions — such as rounding up boys seen begging or washing windscreens along busy roadways — rather than addressing the underlying causes of

The KUOW article explores a striking reduction in the number of children in southern Uganda who have lost a parent, dropping from nearly one in four in the early 2000s to just 6% by 2022, and links this trend to global HIV treatment efforts. New research suggests that U.S.

This interactive graphic depicts the vital processes, mechanisms, and care options necessary for supporting children at risk of being or already separated from their parents. It illustrates how best practices work together to prioritize family care, reduce unnecessary separation, and support

This study examines the group foster care model at Hope Community Village in Kerala, India as an innovative, family-based approach to supporting children in need of care and protection. Findings show the model delivers rights-based, comprehensive care aligned with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while highlighting challenges related to funding, policy, staffing, and social acceptance, and demonstrating its potential as a replicable framework for child protection.

This paper presents a rights-based framework for assessing when care orders are justified in child protection, integrating human rights standards, statutory criteria, and international jurisprudence around the principles of necessity, proportionality, and the child’s best interests. It offers practical guidance to improve consistency and accountability in decision-making, supporting evidence-based reform while reducing arbitrary or disproportionate child removals and prioritizing family preservation where possible.

This brief presents the case for engaging paraprofessional social service workers as part of a strengthened child protection and care system in Ukraine. The advocacy brief outlines how paraprofessionals—working under the supervision of qualified professionals—can help address workforce shortages, particularly in crisis-affected and resource-constrained contexts.

Youth Independent Living outlines the role of supported and supervised independent living as a key care option for adolescents and young people transitioning out of alternative care in Ukraine. Grounded in international legal frameworks and global evidence, the brief explains how independent living services support youth to safely transition to adulthood while prioritizing their best interests over institutional care.

This brief outlines why and how the voices of children, young people and caregivers with lived experience of the care system should be central to child protection and care reform in Ukraine. The brief clarifies key concepts and levels of participation, emphasizing that meaningful engagement goes beyond tokenism and must ensure influence, feedback and accountability.

This paper introduces the Collective Impact (CI) approach as a structured, equity-focused framework for advancing complex care reforms involving multiple actors. It explains how coordinated action across government, civil society, communities and non-traditional partners can move efforts from fragmented or isolated interventions toward shared goals, common metrics and sustained systems-level change.

The paper provides an overview of Ukraine’s legal and policy framework related to child protection and care reform. The document reviews key national laws, strategies and regulations to assess their alignment with international child rights standards and the objectives of the reform to ensure that every child grows up in a family environment.

This paper outlines the economic case for investing in family- and community-based care as a foundation for children’s well-being and long-term human capital development. Focusing on Ukraine, the paper highlights systemic underinvestment in social services and argues that rebalancing public spending toward an integrated “cash plus care” approach would generate significant economic and social returns.

This document outlines a minimum package of social services aimed at preventing child-family separation, supporting reintegration of children from institutional care into families, and sustaining family-based care. The package includes eight core services: resilience-building support; accompaniment for families raising orphans; early intervention; inclusive education assistance; day care for children with disabilities; social support for families in difficult life circumstances; social integration for care leavers; and supported living for young people with disabilities.

The Technical Guidance for Oblast-Level Better Care Start-up outlines how to implement Ukraine’s Better Care programme at the regional level, in line with the National Strategy for Ensuring the Right of Every Child to Grow up in a Family Environment (2024–2028). It assigns clear roles to government, local authorities, civil society, and development partners, and provides a step-by-step approach for oblasts: forming Better Care Councils and community taskforces, conducting situational analyses, creating costed plans, setting monitoring frameworks, and delivering ISSB and family-based care.

The Costing Model and Resource Requirements report presents a comprehensive financial analysis of Ukraine’s National Strategy to ensure every child grows up in a family environment. It estimates the resources required to implement the Strategy and its multi-year implementation plan across national, oblast and hromada levels, with a focus on strengthening families, expanding family-based care, reintegrating displaced children and transforming institutional care.

The report analyses existing parenting support policies, programmes and service models relevant to child protection and care reform. Drawing on international evidence and national sources, the review highlights the role of parenting support in preventing family separation, strengthening caregiving capacities and improving child well-being across the life course.

This video highlights the rise of a locally led movement in Ethiopia, where Christian leaders and organizations are transforming child welfare practices following the end of intercountry adoption. It showcases the impact of the CAFO-supported DEBO Alliance as churches and advocates embrace domestic adoption and best practices to bring hope and lasting care to vulnerable children and families.

This publication examines the role of an integrated social protection system in strengthening family resilience, preventing family separation and supporting child protection and care reform. The brief outlines how coordinated cash transfers, social services and case management can more effectively address multidimensional vulnerabilities faced by children and families, particularly in the context of conflict, displacement and decentralization.

This scoping review synthesises evidence from 77 studies (2014–2024) on violence against children in foster, residential, and kinship care, finding neglect to be the most common form of maltreatment, alongside physical, emotional, sexual, and peer violence across settings. While evidence on effective interventions is limited, the review highlights key risk factors and consequences, underscores the protective role of supportive relationships and trauma-informed care, and calls for stronger family-based care, oversight, and child-centred practices to reduce harm and promote well-being.

This study examines the views of Australian foster and kinship carers on the importance of cultural connection for children from culturally diverse backgrounds, finding broad agreement that culture is central to identity and wellbeing. The findings highlight challenges in delivering cultural care and underscore the need for training in cultural humility, improved cultural data collection, and collaborative cultural care planning that includes children and birth parents as key decision-makers.

This study explores the lived experiences of adolescents in grandparent kinship care in South Korea, drawing on interviews with 22 grandparent–adolescent pairs to examine how young people respond to adversity, build support, and exercise agency. Despite widespread experiences of parental abandonment and stigma, adolescents demonstrated resilience and intentionality, highlighting the need for stronger, coordinated services to support grandparent kinship families within Korea’s underdeveloped foster care system.

A strong social service workforce (SSW) is the backbone of effective child protection systems. Across Eastern and Southern Africa, social service workers play a critical role in preventing and responding to violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation of children. Yet, the workforce remains underfunded and understaffed, limiting its ability to deliver essential services. To address this gap, UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) has developed this Synthesis Report , providing a detailed guide to developing an investment case, drawing on lessons from Kenya and Zambia.

A strong social service workforce (SSW) is the backbone of effective child protection systems. Across Eastern and Southern Africa, social service workers play a critical role in preventing and responding to violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation of children. Yet, the workforce remains underfunded and understaffed, limiting its ability to deliver essential services. To address this gap, UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) has developed this Policy Brief summarizing the rationale and approach for building an investment case for strengthening the SSW.

Cross-border case management (CBCM) is a component of child protection case management that supports children on the move and their families who cross international borders, requiring identification and registration, safe cross-border information sharing, and coordinated action among authorities across jurisdictions. This programmatic guidance provides practitioners with recommendations to implement CBCM in line with international refugee protection standards and the best interests of the child, emphasizing engagement with national authorities, continuity of protection, durable solutions, and the upholding of children’s rights within broader child protection systems.

This paper proposes an expanded conceptual and normative framework for child protection systems to promote coherence, inclusivity, and accountability in both development and humanitarian contexts. Drawing on global data, recent initiatives, and a dual-axis framework distinguishing norms of operation and intent, it offers a field-tested definition to guide national planning, partner alignment, and systems-focused reform that upholds every child’s right to protection.

This report from the Coram Institute for Children marks the 50th anniversary of Coram Voice and highlights the Bright Spots programme, which captures the perspectives of children and young people in care and care leavers to inform local and national policy. Drawing on 27,000 responses collected between 2015 and 2024, the study focuses on what matters most to children and young people in their lives, emphasizing their voices rather than care system outcomes or reasons for entering care.

This qualitative study explores the emotional, psychological, and social experiences of adoptive mothers in India through in-depth interviews, identifying key themes related to adoption processes, wellbeing, family dynamics, personal values, and societal influences. The findings highlight how these experiences interact with biopsychosocial factors, underscoring the need for more informed, mother-centred policies and support mechanisms in the adoption system.

This study examines how socio-psychological factors influence parents’ attitudes toward fostering children in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, using a correlational design and survey data from parents in urban and rural communities. Findings show that family communication patterns and disciplinary beliefs significantly predict positive attitudes toward fostering, highlighting the need for sensitization and education initiatives led by government and social welfare organizations.

This study examines whether institutional rehabilitation for street girls in Pakistan is genuinely transformative by assessing services at the Zamung Kor Model Institute through a gender- and child-centred lens. While findings show improvements in safety, emotional regulation, and educational engagement, persistent gaps in trauma-informed care, vocational pathways, and post-discharge support highlight the need to reconceptualize rehabilitation as a continuous, community-linked process.

This book explores the challenges facing orphans and vulnerable children in Zimbabwe within the broader context of the Global South, highlighting how poverty, inequality, HIV/AIDS, and economic instability deepen children’s vulnerability. Drawing on Ubuntu philosophy, neoliberalism, and African Renaissance perspectives, it underscores the importance of community-led, culturally sensitive, and African-driven approaches to inform policy and practice supporting OVCs.

This article examines kinship care as an unwritten but legally significant source of child protection law, drawing on concepts of living law to show how informal caregiving practices operate across diverse legal and cultural contexts yet remain largely invisible within formal legal systems. Using comparative analysis from Europe and the Global South, it highlights both the strengths and risks of informal kinship care and calls for a child-centred, legally pluralistic approach to better align community norms with state and international law.

Ten kinship carers and a research team from the charity Kinship and Lancaster University coproduced this toolkit in three fun and creative workshops. The research team included peer researchers and workshop facilitators with experience as kinship carers.

This report examines opportunities and challenges in co-producing research on kinship care, highlighting the need to involve carers as equal partners rather than treating them solely as research subjects. Drawing on a study conducted between 2022 and 2025 and accompanied by a practical toolkit, it emphasizes inclusive approaches that leverage kinship carers’ lived experiences to produce research relevant to policy and practice across all types of kinship care.

This paper critically examines India’s child protection framework, highlighting that despite comprehensive legislation like the JJ Act, POCSO, and programs such as Mission Vatsalya, systemic gaps in implementation, funding, institutional capacity, and data collection leave millions of children—particularly those in Child Care Institutions (CCIs)—vulnerable to abuse, neglect, and child marriage.

This report presents findings from a 2022 consultation with kinship caregivers across British Columbia, highlighting their experiences navigating children and family services. Analysis revealed the need for recognition and respect for kinship families, improved access to consistent and equitable supports, trauma-informed and culturally grounded practices, and stronger collaboration with service providers, with caregivers’ calls for action emphasizing system improvements to sustain caregiving and promote children’s well-being.

This study examines the experiences of 962 care-experienced adults from over 20 countries, focusing on the supports and barriers they encountered transitioning to adulthood after separation from parental care. Findings highlight the critical roles of supportive relationships, mental health and resilience, and access to education and resources, while also noting how financial hardship and limited services hinder successful transitions, informing recommendations for strengthened support systems.

This study evaluates the shelter conditions and caregiver–orphan relationships in orphanages in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Findings indicate that while most orphans are satisfied with basic shelter, their relational and developmental needs are often unmet, highlighting the need for well-trained residential care staff and the recommendation that institutional care be used only as a last resort to support successful reintegration into communities.