This brief outlines why and how the voices of children, young people and caregivers with lived experience of the care system should be central to child protection and care reform in Ukraine. The brief clarifies key concepts and levels of participation, emphasizing that meaningful engagement goes beyond tokenism and must ensure influence, feedback and accountability.

This paper introduces the Collective Impact (CI) approach as a structured, equity-focused framework for advancing complex care reforms involving multiple actors. It explains how coordinated action across government, civil society, communities and non-traditional partners can move efforts from fragmented or isolated interventions toward shared goals, common metrics and sustained systems-level change.

The paper provides an overview of Ukraine’s legal and policy framework related to child protection and care reform. The document reviews key national laws, strategies and regulations to assess their alignment with international child rights standards and the objectives of the reform to ensure that every child grows up in a family environment.

This paper outlines the economic case for investing in family- and community-based care as a foundation for children’s well-being and long-term human capital development. Focusing on Ukraine, the paper highlights systemic underinvestment in social services and argues that rebalancing public spending toward an integrated “cash plus care” approach would generate significant economic and social returns.

This document outlines a minimum package of social services aimed at preventing child-family separation, supporting reintegration of children from institutional care into families, and sustaining family-based care. The package includes eight core services: resilience-building support; accompaniment for families raising orphans; early intervention; inclusive education assistance; day care for children with disabilities; social support for families in difficult life circumstances; social integration for care leavers; and supported living for young people with disabilities.

The Technical Guidance for Oblast-Level Better Care Start-up outlines how to implement Ukraine’s Better Care programme at the regional level, in line with the National Strategy for Ensuring the Right of Every Child to Grow up in a Family Environment (2024–2028). It assigns clear roles to government, local authorities, civil society, and development partners, and provides a step-by-step approach for oblasts: forming Better Care Councils and community taskforces, conducting situational analyses, creating costed plans, setting monitoring frameworks, and delivering ISSB and family-based care.

The Costing Model and Resource Requirements report presents a comprehensive financial analysis of Ukraine’s National Strategy to ensure every child grows up in a family environment. It estimates the resources required to implement the Strategy and its multi-year implementation plan across national, oblast and hromada levels, with a focus on strengthening families, expanding family-based care, reintegrating displaced children and transforming institutional care.

The report analyses existing parenting support policies, programmes and service models relevant to child protection and care reform. Drawing on international evidence and national sources, the review highlights the role of parenting support in preventing family separation, strengthening caregiving capacities and improving child well-being across the life course.

This video highlights the rise of a locally led movement in Ethiopia, where Christian leaders and organizations are transforming child welfare practices following the end of intercountry adoption. It showcases the impact of the CAFO-supported DEBO Alliance as churches and advocates embrace domestic adoption and best practices to bring hope and lasting care to vulnerable children and families.