Out of home care in Norway and Sweden - similar and different

Elisabeth Backe-Hansen, Ingrid Højer, Yvonne Sjöblom, Jan Storø

This article provides an overview of the current situation in the out-of-home care in Norway and Sweden. Development in later years is described and discussed, including the trends towards privatization of the welfare system in both countries and the role of private, commercial actors within the care sector including out-of-home care for children and young people.

The 'dance' of kinship care in England and Ireland: Navigating a course between regulation and relationships

Emily R. Munro, Robbie Gilligan

There has been a significant growth in the use of formal kinship care in the UK and Ireland in the last 20 years. The paper charts some of the reasons for the 'organic growth' of kinship care and the multiple dynamics that have shaped this.

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Child protection and out of home care: Policy, practice, and research connections Australia and New Zealand

Elizabeth Fernandez, Nicola Atwool

This article provides an outline of the early development of care and protection in Australia and New Zealand as a backdrop to an overview of child protection systems and policies and the current child protection profile in both countries. An overview of trends in relation to out of home care, including routes into care, care arrangements and permanency policies is provided.

Current trends, figures and challenges in out of home child care: An international comparative analysis

Jorge F. del Valle and Amaia Bravo

This article closes a special edition focused on the state of child protection in 16 countries chosen to represent very different cultural contexts, historical backgrounds, and social welfare systems with special attention to out-of-home care placements, principally family foster care and residential care, though several aspects related to adoption were included as well.

Nepal: Kinship Care at Community is Better Model to Ensure Psychosocial and Economic Security of Orphans Living with HIV than from Care Homes

Acharya SL, Pokhrel BR, Ayer R, Belbase P, Ghimire M, Gurung O

The objective of this study was to investigate which model of care and support is more appropriate for improving psychosocial and economic security of AIDS orphans in Nepal.

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Education for Orphans in Africa: Predictors Impacting School Attendance

Chanel Nagaishi and Jini L. Roby

This powerful chart illustrates preliminary research findings using data from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) in 5 African countries (Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, Uganda and Zimbabwe) to better understand how orphan status affects the school attendance of children in Africa and the extent to which living in kinship care can act as a protective factor in this context.

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Kinship Care for the Safety, Permanency, and Well-being of Children Removed from the Home for Maltreatment: A Systematic Review

Marc Winokur, Amy Holtan, Keri E. Batchelder

This systematic review published by the Campbell Collaboration reviewed controlled experimental and quasi experimental studies in which children removed from the home for maltreatment and subsequently placed in kinship care were compared with children placed in non-kinship foster care for child welfare outcomes in the domains of well-being, permanency, or safety.

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Myanmar: Kinship Care Handbook

Jane Calder and Bep Van Sloten

This Handbook aims to provide guidance for Save the Children staff, NGO partners, Community Child Protection Groups and community volunteers in Myanmar in protecting the welfare of children living with extended family members.

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USA: Stepping Up for Kids -what government and communities should do to support kinship families

Annie E. Casey Foundation

This comprehensive policy report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation summarizes what is known about kinship care in the United States, identifies the problems and issues these families face, and recommends how best to support caregivers as they step up to take responsibility for children in their extended families and communities.

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Save the Children: Position Statement on Families

Save the Children

This position statement by Save the Children highlights the central place of families in numerous international legal instruments and how the concept has been understood. It also clarifies its own understanding of families and reviews key provisions under international law regarding their crucial role and responsibilities, and that of States towards them.

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Family Group Conferencing and Kinship Care: Australasian perspectives

Professor Marie Connolly of the University of Melbourne

This webinar presentation by Professor Marie Connolly of the University of Melbourne introduces the history and background of Family Group Conference (FGC) in New Zealand and Australia and discusses the influence of FGC on the development of formal or statutory kinship care in the region.

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Country Care Review: Yemen

Better Care Network

This country care review includes the care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child as part of its examination of the fourth periodic report of Yemen under the Convention on the Rights of the Child at its sixty-fifth Session (13 Jan 2014 - 31 Jan 2014).

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Country Care Review: Congo

Better Care Network

This country care review includes the care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child as part of its examination of the combined second to fourth periodic report of the Congo under Convention on the Rights of the Child at its sixty-fifth Session (13 Jan 2014 - 31 Jan 2014).

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Country Care Review: Germany

Better Care Network

This country care review includes the care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

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Country Care Review: Holy See

Better Care Network

This country care review includes the care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child as part of its examination of the second periodic report of the Holy See under Convention on the Rights of the Child at its sixty-fifth Session (13 Jan 2014 - 31 Jan 2014).

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Better Care Network Strategic Plan 2014 - 2017

Better Care Network

In 2013, Better Care Network (BCN) initiated an important process of developing a new Strategic Plan identifying the main strategic focus for its work over the next four years (2014-2017). The plan is based on an analysis of BCN’s achievements to date, the strategic areas in which BCN can have most impact in the future by working with key actors to strengthen the response to children without adequate family care.

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Case Study of the Care and Protection of Separated Children in the Sinje Refugee Camp, Liberia

Miatta Abdullai, Edwin Dorbor, and David Tolfree

This paper outlines the response of Save the Children to the civil war outbreak in Liberia. Using the concept of child participation, the organization was able to address the needs of the children, which included family tracing and reunification, child protection and education.

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USA: Data Brief on recent Demographic Trends in Foster Care 2002-2012

U.S. Administration on Children, Youth and Families

Over the last decade, the U.S. foster care population has undergone a substantial reduction in size and experienced a shift in its racial and ethnic composition. Using data from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), this data brief summarizes those changes and provides new detail that identifies the geographic areas most responsible for these national trends.

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The State of the World's Children 2013: Children with Disabilities

UNICEF

In its 2013 State of the World’s Children Report, UNICEF has chosen to highlight the particular issues, needs, and circumstances of children with disabilities worldwide. The report includes a description of the common issues that children with disabilities face, models for inclusive policy and practice, and an agenda for action moving forward.

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Children under the age of three in formal care in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: A rights-based regional situation analysis

Gallianne Palayret, Jean-Claude Legrand, Anna Nordenmark Severinsson, Nigel Cantwell, Helene Martin-Fickel

Through a comprehensive statistical analysis and literature review, this UNICEF report provides a child rights-based up-to-date review of the situation of children under the age of three in formal care in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CEECIS).

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The Neglect of Child Neglect: A meta-analytic review of the prevalence of neglect

Marije Stoltenborgh, Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg , and Marinus H. van IJzendoorn

This article describes the results of a meta-analytic review aimed at providing an estimate of the prevalence of physical and emotional neglect by integrating prevalence figures from the body of research reporting on neglect. It discusses and makes recommendations on the dearth of studies investigating the prevalence of child neglect, despite evidence of its severe consequences on millions of children, and a global prevalence estimated to be above 15%.