This blog describes a new initiative led by Lumos Foundation in partnership with UNICEF Moldova to expand early childhood intervention services for children with disabilities across Moldova, aiming to prevent family separation and improve developmental outcomes.

This podcast explores why many U.S. Christians continue to financially support orphanages despite believing children thrive best in families, highlighting a gap between values and giving behaviors. Drawing on Barna research, it examines misconceptions, emotional drivers, and practical barriers influencing donor choices, while encouraging a shift toward family-based care and more ethical, community-centered engagement.

This article explores how well parent advocacy training programs prepare advocates for their roles in the child welfare system, drawing on perspectives from advocates, parents, and child protective services workers. It finds that while foundational training is valuable, more comprehensive, experiential, and collaborative approaches—especially in areas like legal knowledge, mental health, and system navigation—are needed to better equip advocates and strengthen family engagement outcomes.

This paper examines how broader economic and labour market forces influence family separation and the placement of children in residential care in Cambodia, amid ongoing child care deinstitutionalisation reforms. While global evidence highlights the harm caused by residential care and promotes family and community-based alternatives, Cambodia’s reform efforts remain largely reactive and institution-focused, paying limited attention to structural drivers of family separation.

This paper sets out guidelines on the specific challenges arising when domestic violence crosses international borders. It puts forth 15 core principles to guide states, courts and other professionals in better addressing cross-border family violence. It is intended to support implementation and encourage cooperation across jurisdictions and sectors in order to enhance the protection of children and families.

This article examines how Arab-Israeli children experience participation in decision-making committees within child protection services. It explores the cultural and systemic factors that both enable and hinder their meaningful participation, highlighting the need for more culturally sensitive and child-friendly approaches.

This article explores how social welfare officers in Tanzania experience and manage the reintegration of institutionalised orphans back into family care. It examines the strategies they use, the challenges they face, and the broader systems needed to support sustainable, child-centered reintegration.

This webinar, held March 27, 2026 by the Care Leaders Council, provided an international exchange among people with lived experience in care, aimed at analyzing regulatory progress, best practices, and challenges in the transition to ind

Thailand has a long history of social work and a legal framework recognizing the profession. However, social needs are growing in scale and complexity, while the social service workforce remains under resourced, unevenly distributed, and insufficiently supported. The assessment examined professional social workers, other social service professionals, paraprofessionals, and volunteers across government and non government sectors at national and sub national levels.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest federal nutrition program in the United States, serving about 42 million people and helping reduce food insecurity, with roughly 40% of recipients being youth. This policy brief focuses on how recent federal changes put youth aging out of foster care at risk of losing SNAP benefits and recommends reinstating eligibility waivers, strengthening state transition services, and protecting data on food insecurity for this vulnerable population.

This report examines the transition of young people aging out of institutional care into independent adulthood. It highlights how many care leavers face significant challenges after turning 18, including limited access to education, employment, and stable housing, as well as a lack of life skills and supportive social networks.

My Life Storybook is a child-centered tool developed by children in collaboration with Child in Family Focus - Kenya (CFFK), the Kenya Ministry or Labour and Social Protection, and other relevant stakeholders to help children in care  document their history, reflect on their experiences, and strengthen their sense of identity and belonging. The tool is currently being used in CFFK's programs to support reintegration and family strengthening.

This study explores why street children resist removal interventions and often return to the streets in Zambia, drawing on perspectives from children, caregivers, and guardians. It finds that factors such as poverty, family conflict, abuse, and inadequate conditions in care facilities drive both initial street involvement and reintegration failure, highlighting the need for more comprehensive and coordinated interventions.

This article examines the challenges of family reunification for children in alternative care in South Africa, identifying factors related to parents and children that can make reunification unfeasible. It argues that while reunification is a key right, it must be balanced with child safety, emphasizing the need for stronger permanency planning for children who cannot return home.

This article examines how child protection systems continue to reflect colonial power by disproportionately intervening in Indigenous families and undermining cultural practices and kinship systems. It highlights growing Indigenous-led movements to reclaim authority over child welfare, emphasizing self-determination and the rebuilding of care systems grounded in Indigenous laws, values, and relationships.

This study explores how minors in out-of-family care in Belgium experience placements and what improvements they recommend, based on interviews with youth in residential facilities. It finds that placements are often confusing and disruptive, and emphasizes the need for more child-centered, developmentally appropriate care that addresses both emotional needs and everyday living conditions.

This article explores the parenting support needs of young mothers in Aotearoa New Zealand who grew up in out-of-home care, highlighting how their childhood experiences shape their access to and perceptions of support. It finds that these mothers face significant barriers and fears in engaging with services, underscoring the need for specialized, independent parenting support as part of after-care.

This paper reflects on an author’s return to former orphanage sites in Australia—now repurposed as commercial properties—where personal memories of abuse and neglect resurface. It explores how survivor testimony and memory activism can challenge the erasure of these histories, highlighting tensions between commercial interests and efforts to memorialize sites of past harm.

This study examines the physical and psychological well-being of children and adolescents in residential care facilities in Mexico, addressing a major gap in systematic data. It finds that well-being levels are often below desired standards and that institutional responses only partially meet child protection principles, highlighting the need for improved practices, training, and coordination.

This paper explores the experiences of informal caregivers in South Africa supporting youth with intellectual disabilities and/or autism as they transition from residential care to adulthood. It finds that caregivers play a vital role but face significant challenges, including inadequate transition planning, limited aftercare services, and insufficient formal support.

This briefing is intended to prompt discussion about how the use of artificial intelligence could improve the experiences of families and professionals in the family justice system in the UK. It also outlines the challenges and risks involved, and the governance required for safe usage.

This article examines how child protection policy is implemented at the local level in North Central Timor, highlighting existing legal frameworks, institutional arrangements, and budget allocations. It finds that while regional governments have established regulations and programs, formal child protection policies are lacking at the village level despite some related activities supporting children’s rights.

This article presents a meta-analysis of 41 studies examining the prevalence, risk factors, and consequences of emotional abuse and neglect among children in Arab countries, finding that nearly half of children are affected. It highlights key drivers such as parental divorce and low education, as well as serious outcomes like behavioral disorders and suicidal ideation, and calls for culturally tailored prevention and stronger child protection systems.

This systematic review synthesised qualitative research on care-experienced children’s pathways into and through the criminal justice system, highlighting how factors such as trauma, a search for belonging, systemic challenges, and intersectionality shape their experiences. The findings underscore the need for trauma-informed approaches, stronger support systems, and reduced unnecessary criminal justice involvement to better respond to the needs of care-experienced children.

This study of adolescents in residential care in Portugal found that perceptions of psychological adjustment differ significantly between adolescents and their caregivers, with adolescents consistently reporting more emotional, behavioral, and peer-related difficulties. The findings highlight low agreement between informants and emphasize the need for multi-informant, developmentally sensitive assessments, greater inclusion of adolescents’ perspectives, and improved caregiver training and tailored mental health support.

Child Development Accounts (CDAs) are government-funded savings or investment accounts established at birth to support children’s future education, with evidence showing both economic benefits for families and positive psychological effects for children. This article focuses on how to comply with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, CDA policies must ensure universal access, progressive public funding based on need, and early account establishment, including for children in institutional care to prevent discrimination.

Institutional mechanisms established under India’s Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and the Integrated Child Protection Scheme play a central role in safeguarding children’s rights through case management, rehabilitation, and coordination. This systematic review of literature (2010–2025) finds that while these systems are essential, they face persistent challenges such as limited resources, inadequate training, and weak monitoring, with improved outcomes linked to community-based and rights-based approaches.

Since taking office in 2025, the second Donald Trump administration significantly expanded immigration enforcement while weakening safeguards for due process, family unity, and parental rights, resulting in record detention levels and widespread impacts on immigrant families. This research by Women’s Refugee Commission and Physicians for Human Rights found that many deported parents were denied the opportunity to make arrangements for their children, leading to increased family separations that may become long-term or permanent.

Parents living through conflict, displacement, and humanitarian crises faced extraordinary pressures that affected both their own wellbeing and their children’s development. This Global Parenting Initiative webinar brought together global and field-level perspectives to explore how parenting and psychosocial support could be better aligned within humanitarian systems.

Această evaluare națională examinează contextul, calitatea și eficacitatea programelor de educație parentală pentru îngrijitori din Republica Moldova dintr-o perspectivă transformatoare de gen, cu un accent deosebit pe contribuția lor la prevenirea violenței, la promovarea egalității de gen și la

In 2025, UNICEF and UNFPA conducted a national review of parenting programmes in Moldova to assess their role in addressing violence against children and women and to inform more effective, gender-transformative interventions. The study provides evidence to support the development of a Theory of Change and evaluation framework for strengthening prevention efforts.

Despite Kenya’s Cash Transfer for Orphans and Vulnerable Children program, coverage and benefit levels remain insufficient in arid regions like Samburu Central, where many eligible households are not reached and transfers meet less than half of basic needs. Using national survey and administrative data, the study finds that higher transfer amounts, longer participation, community-based targeting, and especially improved program accessibility significantly enhance household livelihood outcomes, highlighting the need to expand access, increase payments, and strengthen targeting.

This report contains the conclusions, observations, and recommendations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities regarding the procedure for investigating serious or systematic violations established in Article 6 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention.

El presente informe contiene las conclusiones, las observaciones y las recomendaciones adoptadas por el Comité sobre los Derechos de las Personas con Discapacidad sobre el procedimiento de investigación de violaciones graves o sistemáticas que se establece en el artículo 6 del Protocolo Facultativo de la Convención.

This study explores the daily functioning and lived experiences of Israeli female care leavers, highlighting how early life environments, transitions to adulthood, and individual routines shape their participation in everyday life. Findings emphasize the importance of functional skills, supportive routines, and resilience factors, pointing to the need for tailored interventions that address cognitive, behavioral, and health-related challenges.

Este rápido análisis regional ofrece una visión estratégica general del Recursos Humanos dedicados a la protección de niños, niñas y adolescentes (NNA) en Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador y Perú. Se llevó a cabo en respuesta a la falta de datos claros para la planificación y el desarrollo del personal.

This rapid regional analysis provides a strategic overview of the child protection workforce in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. The analysis examines each country’s current workforce composition and capacity, the institutional systems and practices in place to plan for, train, and support these staff, and opportunities for targeted investment and innovative practice.

This Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) Plan outlines Zambia’s strategic approach to strengthening child protection through behaviourally informed programming and community engagement. Developed by the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services with support from UNICEF and partners, the plan focuses on reducing violence against children, preventing child marriage, increasing birth registration, and promoting family-based care.

This article explores the experiences of non-Roma foster parents who raise Roma children in the Czech Republic, where Roma children persistently remain over-represented in institutional care. Drawing on the Critical Race Theory and thematic narrative analysis, the study examines how foster parents navigate issues of ethnicity, stigma and institutional bias.

This study examines the disconnect between Ghana’s child protection laws and their implementation, arguing that the gap stems from tensions between global rights-based frameworks and local, duty-oriented cultural practices rather than resource limitations. It proposes a hybrid governance approach that aligns formal legal systems with traditional kinship structures and promotes culturally responsive practice to strengthen child protection outcomes.

This study examines foster parents’ perspectives on Albania’s foster care system to identify policy and implementation gaps in family-based alternative care. Findings highlight legal inconsistencies, resource constraints, and coordination challenges, underscoring the need for stronger support systems and more coherent implementation to ensure effective child protection and deinstitutionalization efforts.

This article reviews the emerging research on cross-border placements of children in care, including kinship care and intensive pedagogy models, amid rising global migration. It highlights ongoing concerns around legal frameworks, accountability, and limited comparative data, while outlining key implications and priorities for future social work research.

This study analyzed data from residential care settings in Victoria, Australia, to examine how missing episodes intersect with worker-identified concerns about sexual and criminal exploitation among children and young people. Findings suggest that going missing may signal ongoing, overlapping patterns of exploitation-related harm—rather than isolated vulnerability—highlighting the need to view these incidents as part of sustained exploitation trajectories.

This comprehensive child welfare resource provides U.S. state and national data on child maltreatment, foster care, kinship caregiving, permanency, and older youth in care. The data are essential to help policymakers understand how many children and youth come in contact with the child welfare system, and why.

This study examines the critical role of Social Auxiliary Workers (SAWs) in supporting and protecting children awaiting foster care placement within under-resourced, community-based settings in South Africa. It explores the services they provide, their collaboration with other actors, and the challenges they face, addressing a key research gap to inform stronger child protection policy and practice.

This study explored adapting the Parenting for Lifelong Health (PLH) program in Zimbabwe to explicitly address both violence against children and violence against women by incorporating gender-transformative approaches and actively engaging fathers. Findings showed strong interest in the program, highlighting the need for relationship skill-building, economic support, and intentional father involvement to create safer, more resilient family environments.

The report is a meta-evaluation of Save the Children Finland’s Global Child Protection programme, implemented from 2022 to 2025 in four countries in Africa – Burkina Faso, Côte d´Ivoire, Somaliland and Zambia – spanning development, humanitarian and peace-building contexts.

Building on Spring Impact's previous ISPCAN Network webinar on the fundamentals of scaling impact, this session dives deeper into what it truly takes to scale child sexual abuse prevention-focused initiatives.

This guidance is intended to support colleagues who are already engaged in this area of work in strengthening the Community-Level Social Welfare Workforce (CLSWW) through a reflective, collaborative, and Child Protection Systems Strengthening (CPSS) approach. The guidance outlines a practical assessment and strategy development process in a step-by-step manner, enabling country offices —together with government counterparts and other child protection organizations—to identify strengths, gaps, and priorities, and to plan and implement targeted actions accordingly.

This global brief examines how sustained humanitarian funding cuts since early 2025 are affecting children’s safety, access to protection services, and the overall capacity of child protection systems across humanitarian contexts. Drawing on insights from 401 practitioners across 68 countries, alongside key informant interviews, the analysis shows that what began as short-term financial disruption has evolved into systemic deterioration.