The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on children who become looked after in Derby City

Heather Peet and Corina Teh - Adoption & Fostering

This article compares the needs and background characteristics of children who became looked after by an English local authority between April and July in 2019 and the same three months in 2020, with the aim of identifying any impact of the Covid-19 pandemic which broke out in March 2020 and continued for some months thereafter.

The Mission Mentoring Programme: an initiative for council employees to become mentors to looked after children

Pandelitsa Cosma, Anita Soni - Adoption & Fostering

This article presents a case study of a young man who participated in the Mission Mentoring Programme - an innovative scheme that supports council employees to become mentors for looked after children - and found it helpful for his transition to adulthood and intended employment.

Relationships of young adults with foster care backgrounds: Tensions and management strategies

Elli‐Maria Tahkola, Riitta‐Leena Metsäpelto, Maria Ruohotie‐Lyhty, Anna‐Maija Poikkeus - Child & Family Social Work

The present study focuses on experiences of relational tensions and management strategies in family relationships among 18 young adults with foster care backgrounds who participated in interviews.

Specific effects of neglect and physical abuse on adolescent aggressive behaviors by gender: A multicenter study in rural China

Chun Kang, Hongjuan Chang, Yanmei Zhang, Juan Han, Heng Meng, Chang Peng, Fajuan Rong, Mengni Wang, Yizhen Yu - Journal of Affective Disorders

This study aimed to examine the specific effects of neglect and physical abuse on adolescent aggressive behaviors and to further explore the potential sex-specific effect.

Experiences of Children Living in Foster Families in Kajiado County, Kenya

Josephine Naita Waweru, Henry Tucholski, Catherine Kisasa, Catherine Mwarari, Anatasio Nyagah, Beatrice Churu - Institute of Youth Studies Tangaza University College

This study adopted a phenomenological research design, purposively sampling 26 preteens and teenagers living, during the school term, in a Charitable Children's Institution (CCI) that doubles up as their School and then moving to live with foster families during the school holidays. The focal areas of the field study were the young people's experiences in the CCI, the transition to the foster families, and the young people's experiences in foster care.

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Abuse after abuse: The recurrent maltreatment of American Indian children in foster care and adoption

Ashley L. Landers, Sharon M. Danes, Avery R. Campbell, Sandy White Hawk - Child Abuse & Neglect

This study examined the recurrent maltreatment of American Indian children in foster and adoptive homes, specifically the physical, emotional, sexual, and spiritual abuse subtypes, as well as poly-victimization of American Indian children in comparison to their White peers.

Redistribution and recognition in social work practice: Lessons learned from providing material assistance in child protection settings

Saar-Heiman, Yuval Krumer-Nevo, Michal - American Journal of Orthopsychiatry

The provision of material assistance, which is widespread in child protection settings, has received negligible scholarly attention. This article aims to describe and conceptualize this underresearched practice and to explore the challenges workers face when implementing it. The study described here included 20 in-depth interviews conducted with social workers working in an innovative Israeli child protection program called Families on the Path to Growth.

Experienced support from family, school and friends among students in out‐of‐home care in a school‐based community survey

Rikard Tordön, Gunilla Sydsjö, Marie Bladh, Jennie Svanström, Carl Göran Svedin - Child & Family Social Work

For this study, responses from 311 students in out‐of‐home care (OHC) were compared with peers living in birth parent care (BPC) and in single birth parent care (sBPC) in a regional school survey, directed to students in compulsory school eighth year and upper secondary school second year.

A Lifeline at Risk: COVID-19, Remittances and Children

Saskia Blume and Nour Moussa - World Bank Blogs

In this World Bank Blog Post, Saskia Blume and Nour Moussa of UNICEF's Children on the Move Team describe how "millions of ‘children left behind’ are taking the brunt of this fallout as their family members who moved internally or abroad in hopes of sustaining them, cut down on remittances" as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

An Examination of Past Trends in School Reports to Child Welfare: Considerations for Reported Child Maltreatment

Barbara Fallon, Joanne Filippelli, Nicolette Joh-Carnella, Delphine Collin-Vézina, Rachael Lefebvre, Brenda Moody, Nico Trocmé, Ashley Quinn - Child Maltreatment

This study examines whether increased interaction and observation of young children by school professionals leads to an increase in school-based reports to child welfare authorities and in the identification of child maltreatment victims.

Children of Shanghai

Care for Children

This documentary features China’s first generation of foster children. These young people reveal how they moved on from life in orphanages to achieve success and their foster parents recall their battles to help them overcome prejudice and serious developmental difficulties. The documentary also tells the story of the founding of Care for Children, an organization that has placed almost a million Chinese children from orphanages with local foster families.

Keep caring: Systemic inquiry into services for young people transitioning from out-of-home care

Commission for Children and Young People

With young people at the centre, this inquiry examines the needs and aspirations of young people leaving care and the capacity of the service system to respond to those needs and aspirations. The report makes 15 recommendation to enhance the service system’s capacity to improve the experiences and life outcomes for young people transitioning from care by responding to their needs, challenges and aspirations.

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Protección Infantil

Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO)

Este documento de CAFO ofrece respuestas a las siguientes preguntas: ¿Qué es la Protección Infantil? y ¿Cómo puede mi programa implementar la protección y seguridad infantil? El documento también presenta estudios de casos.

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Webinar: Why is tackling child poverty a pre-requisite to sustainably exit the crisis?

Eurochild

This webinar was part of Eurochild’s breakfast webinars to mark World Children’s Day 2020. The webinar looked at how the European Child Guarantee initiative can help address the growing challenge of child poverty, particularly the deepened economic divides that have resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic, and brought the perspective of the Spanish government, which has made the fight against child poverty a particular priority.

Putting children at the heart of Europe’s recovery: Eurochild’s breakfast webinars to mark World Children’s Day 2020

Eurochild

Eurochild, in partnership with its national members hosted a webinar series to bring a children’s rights perspective to Europe’s recovery. Questions addressed: What is an ‘economy of well-being’ & why & how does it prioritise children? Why is tackling child poverty a pre-requisite to sustainably exit the crisis? Why and how does protecting children’s rights strengthen our democracies?

Excluded from the Excluded: People with Intellectual Disabilities in (and out of) Official Development Assistance

Inclusion International

This report analyzes data available through the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC)’s Creditor Reporting System (CRS), which reveals that many mainstream development projects fail to include people with intellectual disabilities, including children. The report includes guidance for ensuring CRPD-compliant project funding, including examples of community living projects that align with the CRPD, such as supporting the transition of people with disabilities from institutions to independent living and providing training for families on supporting their children with disabilities at home.

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Inter-Sectoral Standard Operating Procedures for Child Protection and Family Welfare: Guidelines, Tools and Forms for Casework and Management

Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, UNICEF

This Inter-Sectoral Standard Operating Procedure for child protection and family welfare (ISSOP) provides a harmonized framework of agreed standards, principles and procedures for all child protection and family welfare stakeholders in Ghana to understand each other’s roles and responsibilities.

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Capacity Building Strategy for Social Welfare Services Workforce

Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, UNICEF

Based on social welfare workforce assessment, a long-term capacity building strategy was developed to assist the Government of Ghana - specifically the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) and the Office of the Head of Local Government Service (OHLGS) - to strengthen its social welfare workforce in order to respond appropriately to the needs of vulnerable and marginalized children and other populations in the country.

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The 17th Civil Society Organizations to the African Charter on the Welfare and Rights of the Child Forum (CSO Forum): Children Without Parental Care

Mtoto News, Civil Society Forum to the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of Children

This webinar, a side event of the Civil Society Organizations (CSO) Forum organized by the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, features a discussion of the challenges of alternative family and community-based care for children without parental care, with a particular focus on funding and coordination of services.

Guidelines for Deinstitutionalization of Residential Homes for Children (RHC): Transitioning to Family-Based Care in Ghana

Department of Social Welfare, UNICEF

This document is aimed at complementing the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Licensing, Monitoring and Closure of Residential Homes for Children (RHC) by supporting the implementation of the closure of RHCs that have not been licensed or do not meet the standards in the SOPs.

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Census on Street Children in the Greater Accra Region, Ghana

Department of Social Welfare, Ricerca e Cooperazione, Catholic Action for Street Children, Street Girls Aid

The main objective of the Census was to create a database on Street Children that could be used as a platform to enable Government to design relevant policies and spearhead the delivery of services in partnership with NGOs, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), Community Based Organisations (CBOs), families, communities and other stakeholders, to prevent and/or greatly reduce the phenomenon of Street Children in Ghana.

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Creating ‘Deep Knowledge’ and Transformative Change: A Critical Social Work Approach to Researching Formal Kinship Care

Juliette Borenstein, Margarita Frederico, Patricia McNamara - The British Journal of Social Work

The aim of this article is to demonstrate how critically oriented research can deliver useful and actionable knowledge directly to the field and promote transformative change.

Child Vulnerabilities And Family-Based Childcare Systems: COVID-19 Challenges Of Foster Care And Adoption In India

Ratna Verma and Rinku Verma - Institutionalised Children Explorations and Beyond

This article has been developed based on a systematic review of research studies conducted in the last 10 years on family-based childcare systems and a rapid review of research and assessments conducted in 2020 to explore the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on adoption and foster care in India.

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Three conversation practices illuminating how children’s views and wishes are explored in care proceedings: An analysis of 22 children’s spokespersons’ accounts

MarieHatlelid Føleide - Children and Youth Services Review

This study consists of interviews with 22 children’s spokespersons in Norway. Study findings question whether children in care proceedings understand the invitation to voice their wishes as confined to matters relating to the proceedings.

Understanding wellbeing and caregiver commitment after adoption or guardianship from foster care

Kevin R. White, Nancy Rolock, Laura Marra, Monica Faulkner, Kerrie Ocasio & Rowena Fong - Journal of Public Child Welfare

This study explored data obtained from surveys of caregivers who had previously adopted or assumed guardianship of a child from foster care in two U.S. states. Descriptive analyses summarized the demographic and wellbeing characteristics of children and families, and multivariate regression models estimated the association between these variables and caregiver commitment.

Foster Care: How We Can, and Should, Do More for Maltreated Children

Sarah A. Font and Elizabeth T. Gershoff - Society for Research in Child Development Social Policy Report

In this report, the authors review how policy has shaped the experiences and outcomes of children in foster care in the U.S., where policy has succeeded, and where it falls short of achieving its goals. The authors then identify opportunities for U.S. federal and state policy to better support the safety, health, and well-being of children in foster care.

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The Statistical Analysis of the Academic Achievement of Young People Living in the Child Protection System

Ildikó Erdei, Karolina Eszter Kovács - Central European Journal of Educational Research

This research aims to explore the connections between the future orientation of disadvantaged young people living in residential care homes and foster families, by a comparative analysis of their study results.

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Early childhood intervention for children without parental care in Bosnia and Herzegovina: a feasibility study

Slavica Tutnjević and Jelena Vilendečić - Children and Youth Services Review

The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility of an intervention created to stimulate the development of children under the age of seven, living in an institution for children without parental care in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The aim of the intervention was to match each child with one volunteer, trained to deliver three hours per week of individually tailored, play-based activities, for a minimum of one year.

Call to Action: Building a rights-based child protection system in Ukraine, free from institutions

Hope and Homes for Children and Lumos

This call to action - issued by a coalition of child rights organisations including Hope and Homes for Children, Lumos, Eurochild, and SOS Children's Villages - calls on the Ukrainian government and the European Union to "act before it is too late to protect the rights and future of some of the most forgotten and left behind children."

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The ‘toxic trio’ (domestic violence, substance misuse and mental ill-health): How good is the evidence base?

Guy C. M. Skinner, Paul W. B. Bywaters, Andy Bilson, Robbie Duschinsky, Keith Clements, Dustin Hutchinson - Children and Youth Services Review

This article reports the results of a systematic review of evidence relevant to the relationship between the ‘toxic trio’ factors in combination and child maltreatment, identifying 20 papers.

“They’re not bad parents. They’ve just made bad choices.”: Mental health clinicians’ perspectives of parents involved with child protective services

Hana Yoo, Stefana Racorean, Victoria Barrows - Qualitative Social Work

The current study seeks to address the lack of literature including voices of mental health clinicians regarding their work and clients in the child welfare system by exploring clinicians’ views on the issue of child maltreatment and CPS-involved parents’ parenting.

Recurrent involvement with the Quebec child protection system for reasons of neglect: A longitudinal clinical population study

Tonino Esposito, Martin Chabot, Nico Trocmé, John D. Fluke, Ashleigh Delaye, et al - Child Abuse & Neglect

This study, the largest of its kind in Canada, examines when and for whom recurring conditions of neglect were most likely to occur for all children involved with child protection in the province of Quebec over a span of fifteen years.

Care leavers, ambiguous loss and early parenting: explaining high rates of pregnancy and parenting amongst young people transitioning from out-of-home care

Jade Purtell, Philip Mendes and Bernadette J. Saunders - Children Australia

This paper is a narrative review examining the high prevalence of care leaver early parenting in the context of (i) key transitions from care studies taken from the last few decades, (ii) a structured review using Scopus of studies from 2015–2020 focussed specifically on young people transitioning from care and early parenting and (iii) Boss’s (2010) Ambiguous Loss theory.

Family assistant in meanders of foster care – the perspective of working with the biological family of a child placed in foster care environment

Zmysłowska, Magdalena - Praca Socjalna

This article deals with the issues of family assistance from the perspective of working with the biological family of a child placed in foster care.

From Foster Youth to Foster Scholar: Suggestions for Emancipatory Research Practices

Angela E. Hoffman-Cooper - Children and Youth Services Review

This paper discusses how research related to youth with experience in foster care can be conducted in an emancipatory manner with researchers actively supporting the liberation of youth with experience in foster care through their scholarly contributions.