This webinar provides nine lessons learnt on care reform from the COVID-19 pandemic with examples from Malawi, Uganda and Kenya.

In 2021 and 2023 Changing the Way We Care (CTWWC) completed a household survey of children and caregivers, in demonstration countries Guatemala, Kenya and Moldova, to understand their experience of CTWWC services, the protective factors in their families, and the status of child well-being. Part of CTWWC’s evaluations, the resulting findings are designed to help CTWWC and other care reform actors to understand the successes and challenges of reintegration from residential care and the provision of family strengthening support. 

This report contains the complete Kenya and Guatemala Household Survey results.

This report describes the process used for designing and facilitating focus group discussions with children and young adults, that informed the household survey design.

The Trainers Package is primarily for Government of Rwanda Child Protection and Welfare Officers, representatives of the NCPD and others who work directly with children and families on reintegration of children, including children with disabilities, from residential institutions to family care. It can also provide useful information to people working in other local government roles, for example District Disability Mainstreaming Officers and Gender &
Family Promotion Officers, as well as people working in non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or community based systems (for example, Inshuti z’Umuryango - Friends of the Family) who support children and families, and particularly those who have contact with children during the reintegration process.

This is a Training Module for the Inshuti z’Umuryango volunteer community-based cadre to support the implementation of the Tubarerere Mu Muryango (TMM) Programme (‘Let’s raise children in families’) led by the National Child Development Agency (NCD).

This present report describes the childcare reform process in Rwanda during 2020 and 2021, against the background of the overall reform initiated since 2012

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) produces an extensive range of publications and e-products on a variety of human rights-related subjects. This broad portfolio provides information of interest to governments, national institutions, civil society, academia, the general public and the media, among other stakeholders. OHCHR publications and e-products aim to increase knowledge and raise awareness about human rights and fundamental freedoms, and to publicize ways of promoting and protecting them worldwide. They also seek to encourage debate on topical human rights issues under discussion at the United Nations.

The Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Learning Platform hosted a webinar on June 22, 2022, featuring speakers from UNICEF's head office and the Better Care Network who provided detailed examples on the importance of data in Uganda's care reform processes. This purpose of this webinar was to examine the importance of using data to inform care reform, and how data can be collected and used effectively.

Adopcja międzynarodowa nie powinna być realizowana w trakcie lub bezpośrednio po sytuacji kryzysowej. Pozostając w zgodzie z decyzją rządu Ukrainy o zawieszeniu adopcji międzynarodowych, wzywamy państwa przyjmujące, organy międzynarodowe i organizacje humanitarne do przyjęcia zharmonizowanego podejścia i wprowadzenia moratorium na przysposobienie międzynarodowe dzieci z Ukrainy. Zgodnie z powszechnie przyjętą zasadą dotyczącą obowiązków państw wynikających z prawa międzynarodowego, w sytuacjach kryzysowych, takich jak konflikt zbrojny, adopcja nie jest właściwym działaniem wobec dzieci pozbawionych opieki. Dzieci, które zostały rozdzielone z rodzicami w trakcie kryzysu humanitarnego, nie można uznać za osierocone. Do czasu ustalenia, co się stało z jego rodzicami lub innymi bliskimi krewnymi, każde dziecko rozdzielone z opiekunami należy traktować jako posiadające żyjących krewnych bądź opiekunów prawnych, a co za tym idzie – niepotrzebujące adopcji.

Міждержавне усиновлення не слід починати під час або відразу після надзвичайної ситуації. Відповідно до призупинення українським урядом міждержавного усиновлення ми закликаємо держави прийому, міжнародні організації й гуманітарні установи застосувати гармонізований підхід і закликати до мораторію на міждержавне усиновлення дітей із України.

This resource is designed to help professionals and carers understand the latest neuroscience research on childhood abuse and neglect, with insights and advice from clinicians, teachers, and social workers on how to put your learning into practice.

This guide aims to share some of the latest research findings with those who are working every day to support children who have experienced complex trauma in the form of maltreatment.

This report presents key steps that the international community has taken to protect children in situations of armed conflict, with a specific focus on the Security Council-mandated Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) to document grave violations against children and to foster accountability by identifying perpetrators.

Since the onset of the war in Ukraine, a number of people fleeing from Ukraine to neighbouring countries has been observed. This report presents findings based on cumulative and daily registrations, by the General Inspectorate for Border Police (GIBP), since 24 February 2022 onwards, of movement flows of Ukrainian refugees and third-country nationals (TCNs) entering from Ukraine to the Republic of Moldova from all Border Crossing Points (BCPs) and exiting the country from all BCPs, towards Romania and towards Ukraine, as well as via flights. In addition, it presents data on those who entered since 24 February and are still present in the country.

This webinar focused on the themes and recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s Day of General Discussion (DGD) about the rights of children and young people in alternative care and the implications for children and adolescents in Scotland.

This study explores the state of kinship care in British Columbia (BC), Canada 10 years after the implementation of major policy reform designed by the provincial government to improve services to kinship caregivers.

There is evidence that children in residential care institutions (RCI) have higher rates of psychological problems, suicide and criminal behaviour. There is only one study in Sri Lanka which has examined the psychological well-being of children in RCIs. This study aims to provide further evidence to formulate policies related to the mental health of institutionalized children in the local context.

Child welfare and juvenile justice placed youths show high levels of psychosocial burden and high rates of mental disorders. It remains unclear how mental disorders develop into adulthood in these populations. The aim of this study, based on adolescents in Swiss residential care, was to present the rates of mental disorders in adolescence and adulthood in child welfare and juvenile justice samples and to examine their mental health trajectories from adolescence into adulthood.

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the traumatic experiences endured by children in institutional care in Kiambu County, Kenya. The target population for this study was all children in 50 registered institutions of care within Kiambu County aged between 11 and 17 years.

This pilot study investigated a sample of caseworkers’ perceptions as related to social services for improving family unity post-reunification, as well as barriers that exist for families accessing social services in rural southeast Georgia in the US.

The main goal of this exploratory and descriptive study is to understand the perceptions of Portuguese child protection professionals concerning Family foster care. 101 participants, from different professional backgrounds and child protection contexts, filled out a questionnaire. Main findings show a heterogeneous degree of familiarity to FFC, and a generally positive although reserved attitude to it.

This study investigated the prevalence of and factors associated with complete mental health (CMH) among a nationally representative sample of Canadians who had contact with child welfare services before age 16.

This paper presents findings from a study on care leavers’ experiences of transitional housing at three institutions in Zimbabwe. Using the social sustainability conceptual framework, the study found that transitional housing offers continuity of care, relationships, and a smoother, gradual transition from care to independence.

With the rapid economic development in China, large numbers of migrants are moving to metropolitan areas in search of better jobs. They are faced with the dilemma of whether to leave their children behind in the countryside due to various socioeconomic factors. The aim of the study was to analyze the impact of different migration arrangements on child welfare.

In China, the figure for left-behind children (LBC) of migrants stood at 68. 77 million in 2015. Despite being seen as a whole in the last few decades, LBC today differ broadly in parental migrating status. This study focused on LBC with both parents migrating (BLBC), LBC with only mothers migrating (MLBC), LBC with only fathers migrating (FLBC), and previous LBC with one or both parents migrating (PLBC), separately. The authors explored the extent to which LBC were being affected by each migrant parent on both mental health and risk behaviors.

Children placed in residential care are significantly over-represented in youth justice systems. Drawing on interviews and focus groups with service providers, this exploratory study examines practice factors that impact on the criminalization of this group of children across multiple services and systems, including in the residential care environment, police, lawyers, courts and youth justice systems, as well as multi-systems practice with this group in one Australian state.

This study analyzes the influence of school, family and society on the psychological development of left-behind children in China from the perspective of the factors that affect their psychological problems.

Institutional childcare is associated with developmental delays and setbacks. Since alternative options are not always available, it is important to investigate youth in institutional settings to evaluate how to provide optimal care.

El presente documento pretende presentar una estrategia integral que involucre cuidadosamente al sector basado en la fe de Guatemala, con el objetivo de apoyar y promover el cambio en la forma en que el cuidado de los NNA es proporcionado por estos actores importantes y alineado con la visión de CTWWC. La estrategia está dirigida a quienes trabajen en la promoción de la transformación de servicios y el derecho a vivir en familia, y su trabajo está directamente relacionado con organizaciones basadas en  la fe, es decir, directores de hogares de abrigo y protección, Obispos, sacerdotes, pastores, líderes religiosos y laicos comprometidos con el desarrollo humano integral de los NNA.

Removal from family of origin to state care can be a highly challenging childhood experience and is itself linked to an array of unfavourable outcomes in adult life. This systematic review which included Canada, the US, western Europe, and Australia, aimed to synthetise evidence on the risk of adult mortality in people with a history of state care in early life, and assess the association according to different contexts. 

Several youth facilities have devoted considerable resources to improving the quality of practice and the interest in understanding the safety needs of youth in residential care has grown. However, there is limited research that considers how youth in residential facilities themselves define and experience safety, what their safety concerns are, and how they would like systems and staff to respond to their needs. Therefore, this current study investigated youth perceptions of safety in residential facilities in Norway and their experiences of and reaction to staff behaviors and attitudes.

A large proportion of children in the foster care system experience placement instability, which works against the three national goals for children in the child welfare system: permanency, safety, and well-being. Placement instability has been linked with increased child externalizing behaviors and increased parenting stress. Child-Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) is one intervention which combats issues associated with placement instability. The authors outline the needs of children and families in the foster care system, the benefits of relationship-focused play therapy interventions, and provide rationale for the use of CPRT among child welfare agencies.

This paper found that there was marked overrepresentation of First Nations children in the child welfare system in Ontario, Canada. These children were three times as likely to be investigated as white children and more likely to be placed when controlling for investigation concerns. The paper concluded that recent policy changes have not brought change to this overrepresentation.

Children in care face adverse health outcomes throughout their life course compared with their peers. In England, over the past decade, the stark rise in the number of cared-for children has coincided with rising child poverty, a key risk factor for children entering care. The authors aimed to assess the contribution of recent trends in child poverty to trends in care entry.

Next Steps for Our Kids (Next Steps) sets out an ambitious reform agenda building on the positive outcomes seen through the implementation of the previous A Step Up for Our Kids Strategy (A Step Up) and addresses the continuing challenges seen in the child and youth protection system in Australia. Next Steps is an evolution of A Step Up and will see various original elements matured, extended and expanded.

This Insight draws on research and policy, as well as practice experience to explore friendship, why it matters and how it can be better supported. It looks critically at the nature of friendship and the impact that aspects of the ‘care system’ can have on children and young people making and maintaining friends. It highlights how significant friendships can be for children and young people who are ‘looked after’ in the UK.

Concurrent planning is a process by which all options for permanency are considered simultaneously for children in foster care. Children are placed with caregivers (resource parents) who are open to adoption if reunification with birth parents does not occur. This U.S.-based quantitative study explored resource parents’ perceptions of the concurrent planning process via surveys at two time points. Participants included resource parents of 77 infants assessed at 2 months and 1 year after placement.

This study investigates how experiences and practices of transnational care arrangements are negotiated from the perspective of the nonparental carers. It specifically aims to understand its dynamics and patterns in shaping care relationships, normative familial values and the hope to reconstitute the family amidst migration-induced care.

This report follows the route of asylum seekers arriving in Tapachula. It draws on a March 2022 visit during which the researchers conducted field documentation and interviews with asylum seekers, government officials, UN agencies, and civil society organizations providing services to migrants. The report highlights abuses, arbitrary treatment, and steep obstacles faced by asylum seekers at each step of their process.

This report aims to increase awareness of the scale and severity of the economic crisis in Lebanon over the past three years. It describes how the crisis disproportionately affects children and is likely to have short-and long-term consequences on their future.

The aim of this publication is to highlight the protective aspects related to the child’s identity rights, with a focus on the family relations element, as embedded in international, regional and national standards. The publication provides direction on how to build identity safeguards, drawing on past lessons and capitalising on current opportunities. To do this, the right to identity is explored through a range of examples of existing challenges, promising practices and testimonies.

This advocacy guide provides ideas and tools for making a case in favour of the inclusion of SBC approaches in the portfolio of solutions embraced by local and national governments, donors and other stake-holders. It includes both a foundational framework as well as worksheets that can be used to elaborate and contextualize advocacy messages intended for delivery to key stakeholders. This guide can be used in concert with the INSPIRE Indicator Guidance and Results Framework and the INSPIRE Handbook.

This U.S. based study systematically summarizes the effectiveness of peer parent programs in child welfare on case outcomes, specifically permanency, time-in-care, and re-entry post reunification.

This paper presents a case study that discusses the lived experiences of two LGBTQA + young people who have been in out-of-home care in Australia, focusing particularly on the influence of relationships on their developing sexual identity.

El estudio de caso, plasmado en una página, está dirigido a posibles donantes, público interesado y actores vinculados a la reforma del cuidado infantil, que desean aprender sobre los procedimientos relacionados con el primer caso exitoso de reunificación familiar a cargo de la Iniciativa Cambiando la Forma en que Cuidamos que opera en Guatemala y además sobre el importante papel de la gestión de casos. El presente estudio de caso fue escrito en julio del 2020, un año después de la reunificación.

This toolkit was developed with and for philanthropic funders who want to better understand how to support child and youth participation. It builds on an ECFG study published in 2021, Shifting the Field: Philanthropy’s Role in Strengthening Child- and Youth-Led Community Rooted Groups, which maps current practices in philanthropic support for child- and youth-led work at the community level and provides strategic advice to donors on how to strengthen their funding modalities through participatory approaches.