Pursuing collaboration to improve services for child welfare-involved housing unstable families

Rong Bai, Cyleste Collins, Robert Fischer, David Crampton - Children and Youth Services Review

This study explores facilitators of and barriers to effective collaboration between workers at partner organizations working on a program focused on the reunification of housing-unstable families with their children in out-of-home placement in the US.

All Children – All Families 2019 Report: Celebrating Everyday Change-Makers in Child Welfare

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation

This report highlights more than 70 child welfare agencies across the United States that partnered with the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s All Children - All Families project to improve the services they provide to the LGBTQ community, including children in foster care and prospective foster and adoptive parents.

File

Assessment of Self-Esteem and its Associated Factors among Adolescents Living in Orphanage and with Parents at Home

Sushmita Chakraborty, Shipra Modak, Susmita Halder - Indian Journal of Applied Research

A descriptive study was undertaken to assess self-esteem and its associated factors among adolescents living in orphanage and with parents at home in a selected orphanage and community, West Bengal with the objectives to assess level of self-esteem among adolescents living in orphanage and in home and to find out the associated factors related to self-esteem.

File

‘Being a student with care experience is very daunting’: Findings from a survey of care experienced students in Scottish colleges and universities

Linda O’Neill, Neil Harrison, Nadine Fowler, Graham Connelly - CELCIS

The research presented in this report aimed to broaden and deepen understanding of the barriers and enablers that care experienced students encounter in going to, being at and staying at college and university in Scotland.

File

Alternative Care in India: Issues and Prospects

Seema Naaz and Zubair Meenai - Rajagiri Journal of Social Development

This paper presents the current vulnerabilities faced by children and the scenario of child protection in India. While discussing the legal provisions prevailing in the country, it sheds light on the socio-cultural barriers that are creating resistance within the society in making the Alternative Care model (and the process of deinstitutionalisation of children) a success. Lastly it suggests viable options that may be helpful for the same.

International Migration and Remittance Effects on the School Enrollment of Children Staying Behind: Evidence from Tajikistan

Enerelt Murakami - Asian Development Bank Institute

This paper explores the impact of international migration on school enrollment of children staying behind in Tajikistan, by using data from a large nationally representative household survey. The results show that migration of household members reduces the probability of enrolling in school by 10 percentage points for children who belong to households with migrants. The effect of parental migration is much larger than that of migration of other household members. Receiving remittances reduces the adverse impact of migration by only 1‒3 percentage points.

File

Latent profile analysis of anxiety disorder among left-behind children in rural Southern China: a crosssectional study

Haining Liao, Minyi Pan, Weinan Li, Changqi Lin, Xuhao Zhu, Xingru Li, Jinghua Li, Shudong Zhou - BMJ Open

This study sought to identify the heterogeneous characteristics of rural left-behind children’s anxiety and explore the related factors through a cross-sectional survey using a school-based sample in January 2018 in Qingxin district, Qingyuan city, Guangdong province, China. 

File

Desinternar, sí. Pero ¿cómo?: Controversias para comprender y transformar las propuestas institucionales de protección a la infancia y la adolescencia

Diego Silva Balerio y Pablo Domínguez Collette - UNICEF Uruguay y La Barca

En esta publicación, a partir de la experiencia de trabajo y la reflexión sobre su propia práctica, La Barca ordena, sistematiza y pone a disposición de todos los actores del sistema de protección a la infancia de Uruguay los principales aprendizajes de la tarea realizada en los últimos años.

File

Jóvenes sin Tiempo: Riesgos y oportunidades de los jóvenes extutelados en el tránsito a la vida adulta

Miguel Melendro Estefanía - El Centro Reina Sofía sobre Adolescencia y Juventud y la FAD

La presente investigación trata de los jóvenes sin tiempo y cómo trabajar, con ellos y ellas, en un tránsito inclusivo a la vida adulta, especialmente jóvenes que han pasado una parte importante de sus vidas en recursos residenciales del sistema de protección y que cuando son mayores de edad deben dejarlos para salir a la vida adulta, en un tránsito cargado de complejidades.

File

Llaves para la autonomía: Acompañamiento de adolescentes desde el sistema de protección hacia la vida adulta

UNICEF y DONCEL

El presente curso surge del Acuerdo de Cooperación suscripto en 2014 entre UNICEF Argentina y la Asociación civil por los derechos de niños niñas adolescentes y jóvenes Doncel que tiene por objetivo principal contribuir a desarrollar un modelo de acompañamiento integral para adolescentes residentes en los hogares asistenciales de las provincias argentinas de Misiones, Jujuy, Chaco, Santa Fe y Tucumán en transición del sistema de protección hacia la autonomía y la vida adulta.

File

Construyendo Autonomía: Un estudio entre pares sobre la transición a la vida adulta de jóvenes sin cuidados parentales

UNICEF, DONCEL, y FLACSO Argentina

Las evidencias presentadas en este documento fueron elaboradas a partir de una investigación que se propuso realizar una primera aproximación a la situación de los jóvenes sin cuidados parentales frente al egreso en Argentina.

File

Association between early parental deprivation and cellular immune function among adults in rural Fujian, China

Aki Yazawa, Yosuke Inoue, Guoxi Cai, Raoping Tu, Meng Huang, Fei He, Jie Chen, Taro Yamamoto, Chiho Watanabe - Developmental Psychobiology

This study investigated the role of childhood parental deprivation in the association between quality of life (QOL) and the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) antibody titer, a marker of cellular immune functioning, using data from 734 adults living in seven communities in rural Fujian, China.

Child protection inequalities in Aotearoa New Zealand: Social gradient and the ‘inverse intervention law’

Emily Keddell, Gabrielle Davie, Dave Barson - Children and Youth Services Review

This article reports on a study of the relationships between child protection system contact and small area-level deprivation in New Zealand. The study found that, compared to children living in the least deprived quintile of small areas, children in the most deprived quintile had, on average, 13 times the rate of substantiation, 18 times the rate of a family group conference, and 6 times their chance of placement in foster care. Findings suggest that action is needed to address the causes of deprivation, provide services that respond to families living in poverty, and undertake further research to examine the interactions between demand and supply of services across deprivation levels.

Alternative Family Care: Manual for staff working with reception families and unaccompanied children living in reception families

Nidos, Danish Red Cross, Jugendhilfe Süd-Niedersachsen, Minor-Ndako, Organization for Aid to Refugees

This manual has been developed for professionals working with reception families and the unaccompanied children living with them.

File

Exploring diversity in the educational pathways of care-experienced adults: Findings from a life course study of education and care

Eavan Brady & Robbie Gilligan - Children and Youth Services Review

Guided by the life course principle of expected ‘diversity in life course trajectories’ this paper identifies the pathways taken through education among 18 care-experienced adults (aged 24–36) in Ireland and some of the experiences and events that influenced these pathways.

Mental health of children in foster care, a literature review

Even M, Sutter-Dallay AL - Encephale

In France more than 140 000 children live in foster homes under the responsibility of the French Child Protection Agency. These children have lived in environments that cannot be good for their development and have been separated from their families which have to have consequences on their mental development. A literature review in France and abroad was made to identify the profiles of these children, their risk factors, and the mental disorders they can present.

What Constitutes Risk of Future Maltreatment Among Young Mothers? An Examination of Child Protection Investigations in Ontario, Canada

Bryn King, Barbara Fallon, Ami Goulden, Carolyn O’Connor, and Joanne Filippelli - Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services

This article examines characteristics and decision making related to investigating workers’ determinations that young children of adolescent and young adult mothers are at risk of future maltreatment.

File

Child welfare characteristics in a sample of youth involved in commercial sex: An exploratory study

Johanna K. P. Greeson, Daniel Treglia, Debra Schilling Wolfe, Sarah Wasch, Richard J. Gelles - Child Abuse & Neglect

The aims of this study were (1) to estimate child welfare characteristics in a sample of homeless young people in the US who engaged in commercial sex (CS); and (2) to compare young people who were sex trafficked (ST) to those who engaged in some other form of CS.

Achieving Broad-Scale Impacts for Social Programs

Ron Haskins, Kenneth A. Dodge, and Deborah Daro - The Future of Children

In this brief, Ron Haskins, Kenneth A. Dodge, and Deborah Daro call for a system of psychosocial care for young families in the US, highlighting the the Family Connects program which aims to reach every family with a newborn child in a given community through a system that combines home visiting by trained nurses; community alignment through a directory of services to connect families to the resources they need; and data and monitoring through an electronic data system that acts as a family-specific psychosocial and educational record.

File

2019 Trafficking in Persons Report

U.S. State Department

The U.S. State Department Trafficking in Persons Report sheds light on the practices of modern slavery around the world and highlights specific steps governments can take to protect victims of human trafficking, prevent trafficking crimes, and prosecute traffickers in the United States and around the world. The report includes several references to the links between orphanages and trafficking in relation to Nepal, Nigeria, Cambodia, Haiti, Sri Lanka, Moldova, and other countries.

File

The Care Leaver Experience: A Report on Children and Young People’s Experiences in and After Leaving Residential Care in Uganda

Ismael Ddumba-Nyanzi, Melissa Fricke, Angie Hong Max, Mai Nambooze, Mark Riley - Uganda Care Leavers project

In order to address the need for evidence-based research about the care leaver experience, a study was facilitated by the Uganda Care Leavers project - sponsored by Alternative Care Initiatives (ACI), a Ugandan NGO, and BULA, a U.S. 501(c)(3) non-profit organization - to conduct peer-led participatory workshops throughout the country. These care leavers, identified by local community leaders and networks, were invited to participate in workshops where they completed surveys about their experiences, the results of which are presented in this report. Survey results are the basis of this study’s recommendations and suggestions for future care reform.

File

Community-based surveillance of unaccompanied and separated children in drought-affected northern Ethiopia

Matthew MacFarlane, Beth L. Rubenstein, Terry Saw, Daniel Mekonnen, Craig Spencer and Lindsay Stark - BMC International Health and Human Rights

In this study, a mobile phone-based surveillance system was established in a drought-affected district in northern Ethiopia to assess the feasibility of using community focal points to monitor cases of unaccompanied and separated children.

File

Care and protection of tamariki Māori in the family court system

Tania Williams, Jacinta Ruru, Horiana Irwin-Easthope, Khylee Quince, Heather Gifford - te Arotahi Series Paper

This paper urges the government and nation of New Zealand to give effect to long-standing Kaupapa Māori models for developing the new required evaluation measures aimed at reducing the disparities for Māori children and young persons who come to the attention of Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children.

File

Mixed Methods Evaluation of Formal Mentoring: Journey UP for Aging out of Foster Care

Barrett Bonella, Keeley Beirwolf, Lisa Coleman, Camille Sterger, Katharina Pulli, Clarissa Anguiano, Keirsten Barton - Global Social Welfare

This study was aimed at assessing whether the Journey Up Mentorship Program in Salt Lake City improved outcomes for those aging out of foster care in the US state of Utah.

The importance of supports for children's placement and for young people leaving care: A case of social justice

Montserrat Fargas Malet, Dominic Mc Sherry - Paper presented at 9th European Conference for Social Work Research

The Care Pathways and Outcomes Study is a longitudinal study following 374 children who were in care and under five years old on 31/3/2000 in Northern Ireland. The study followed where the young people ended up living, whether they returned to their birth parents, went into kinship or non-relative foster care, or were adopted.

Risk profiles for antisocial behavior in adolescents placed in residential care

Lorena Maneiro, José Antonio Gómez-Fraguela, Laura López-Romero, Olalla Cutrín, Jorge Sobral - Children and Youth Services Review

The aim of the current study is to identify different subgroups of adolescents placed in Residential Care (RC) on the basis of different dynamic factors and analyze their relation with antisocial behavior and family violence.

2019 Kids Count Data Book

Annie E. Casey Foundation

This Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation explores how the child population, and childhood experience, of the US has changed since 1990. It also presents national and state data on 16 indicators of child well-being across four domains — health, education, family and community and economic well-being.

File

Young Children Develop in an Environment of Relationships: Working Paper No. 1

National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University

This working paper from the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child explains how adult-child relationships shape child development, and identifies ways to strengthen policies that affect those relationships in the early childhood years.

File

The Social Image of Families of Children and Youth in Residential Care: A Characterization and Comparison With Mainstream Families With Different Socioeconomic Status

Joana Nunes Patrício, Diniz Lopes, Margarida Vaz Garrido, Maria Manuela Calheiros - Journal of Family Issues

This study explored the social images of families of children and youths in residential care in a sample of 176 participants with and without professional contact with this population.

A Comparison of the Position of Grandmother Carers for Children with Parents in Prison in the UK, Trinidad and Tobago, Romania and Ghana

Ben Raikes, Romeo Asiminei, Karene-Anne Nathaniel, Eric Awich Ochen, George Pascaru, Gloria Seruwagi - The Palgrave Handbook of Prison and the Family

This small pilot project was conducted to start to understand and compare the situation of grandmothers caring for children in a diverse range of countries when their parents are in prison.

Foster Parent Training Manual: “Empowering Caregivers, Strengthening Families”

UNICEF Ghana and Department of Social Welfare of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection

This Manual provides the materials needed for Ghana's Department of Social Welfare and Foster Care Agency (where applicable) to conduct the following foster care related activities: Foster parent recruitment drives; Foster parent orientation sessions; and Foster parent training.

File

Analysis of Current Trends, Flows and Drivers of Children Residing in Residential Care Institutions in “Hot Spot” Mapping Districts

UNICEF Ghana, Department of Social Welfare of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection

This report presents the key findings and recommendations from a comprehensive geographical mapping and analysis of Residential Homes for Children (RHCs) in Ghana.

File

Ghana Department of Social Welfare Foster Care Operational Manual

UNICEF Ghana, Department of Social Welfare of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection

The purpose of this Foster Care Operational Manual is to provide guidance to Department of Social Welfare (DSW) officers and Foster Care Agencies on the delivery of foster care services in line with the Children’s Amendment Act, 2016 and Foster Care Regulations 2018.

File

Standard Operating Procedures for Inspection, Licensing, and Monitoring Residential Homes for Children in Ghana

Department of Social Welfare of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection

These Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the inspection and monitoring of Residential Homes for Children (RHCs) in Ghana are intended to provide guidance to National, Regional and District DSW Officers on how to plan, conduct and report on RHC inspection and monitoring visits and how to enforce directives to either address gaps in compliance with the Standards and/or to close the RHC.

File

Advancing Protection and Care for Children in Adversity 2019-2023: A U.S. Government Strategy for International Assistance

USAID, US Department of Health and Human Services, US Department of Labor, US Department of State, PEPFAR, Peace Corps - United States Government

The goal of the Strategy is to ensure the U.S. Government’s investments for the most-vulnerable children and families around the world are comprehensive, coordinated, and effective in helping place partner countries on a Journey to Self-Reliance by which they can sustainably finance, manage, and deliver services that lead to stable, resilient, and prosperous families and communities.

File

Social and Family Factors Related to Intercountry Adoptees and Immigrants’ Bicultural Identity Integration

Laura Ferrari, Claudia Manzi, Veronica Benet-Martinez, Rosa Rosnati - Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology

A study carried out in Italy based on a sample group of young immigrants (N = 168) and intercountry adoptees (N = 160) tests a model in which social (perceived discrimination) and family factors (parental autonomy support) predict psychological well-being.

Adolescentes y jóvenes sin cuidados parentales en América Latina: Una mirada sobre sus trayectorias hacia la vida independiente

Mariana Incarnato, Andrés Segade, Leticia Ivonne López Villareal - Universidad de Monterrey Cátedra por la Infancia

El objetivo del libro es posicionar regionalmente la situación de los egresados del sistema de protección, demostrando que en los países de latinoamérica hay miles de adolescentes y jóvenes que viven en dispositivos alternativos de cuidado y deben enfrentarse a un egreso de forma abrupta y muchas veces, no planificada.

File