Hong Kong: Hello, Can You Hear Me? Implementing Article 12 of the UNCRC in the Hong Kong Legal Setting

Anne Scully-Johnson - Cambridge University Press

This research is part of a wider project commissioned by the Hong Kong Committee on Children’s Rights (HKCCR), a non-governmental organisation originally formed in 1992 to promote, advance and ensure the rights of the child in Hong Kong. The aim of the wider project was to establish an independent baseline study of the implementation of Article 12 across all relevant sectors in Hong Kong, from constitutional and high-level policy-making to health and education to matters of leisure, culture and built environment, amongst others.

Reducing Foster Care Placement Through Equity-Focused Implementation of Family First

Megan Rivera, Natalia Cooper, Doug Steiger, Laura Tatum

From 2021 to 2023, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has taken administrative actions to prioritize the implementation of Family First prevention services. These actions minimize traumatic deployments of CPS, reduce the use of family separations, and bolster support for families providing kinship care. In this brief, the authors highlight where progress has been made—and where the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) could still take additional steps in 2024.

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Increasing the Likelihood of Kinship Placements: Testing the Effectiveness of an Intensive Family Search and Engagement Intervention

Emily Smith Goering, Sarah Kaye, Lucia Reyes, Stephanie Beleal, Alyse Almadani, Caitlin Proctor-Frazier, Elisa Rosman

This longitudinal study evaluates the effectiveness of BLINDED intervention, an intervention that utilizes family search and engagement practices to place children who enter foster care in kinship placements as quickly as possible in the U.S.

Parental Absence as an Adverse Childhood Experience Among Young Adults in Sub-Saharan Africa

Francis B. Annor, Ermias W. Amene, Liping Zhu, Caroline Stamatakis, Viani Picchetti, Sarah Matthews, Stephanie S. Miedema, Colvette Brown, Viva C. Thorsen, Pedro Manuel, Leah K. Gilbert, Caroline Kambona, Rachel Coomer, Joseph Trika, et al

The objectives of this study were to examine (1) the associations between parental absence for six months or more, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), mental health problems, and substance use among young adults in sub-Saharan Africa, (2) whether parental absence and other ACEs are independently associated with mental health outcomes and substance use, (3) and if parental absence explains additional variance above and beyond those explained by other ACEs.

Outcomes of Youth with Foster Care Experiences Based on Permanency Outcome – Adoption, Aging Out, Long-Term Foster Care, and Reunification: A systematic review

Abigail Rose Lindner, Ryan Hanlon

This is a systematic review of literature published from 2002 to 2022 to assess the differences in outcomes of children and youth who were adopted out of foster care compared to children and youth in foster care (CYFC) who were in other permanency placements (reunified, aged out, long-term foster care). The review yielded twelve (N = 12) studies from Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

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Children and Youth Services Review

Living Situation of Juveniles After Secure Residential Treatment: Exploring the Role of Family Centeredness, Child, and Family Factors

Jorinde L. Broekhoven, Lieke van Domburgh, Floor van Santvoort, Jessica J. Asscher, Inge Simons, Annemarieke M. M. M. Blankestein, Gonnie Albrecht, Rachel E. A. van der Rijken, Arne Popma

To promote the return of juveniles to a home-like environment (e.g. living with (foster)parents) after secure residential treatment (SRT), it is important to know which factors are related to this outcome. The current study, based in the Netherlands, examined which characteristics of the juvenile, family, and SRT, including family centeredness and use of systemic interventions, are related to the living situation after discharge.

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The Voice of the Child and the Implementation of the Child's Right to be Heard in Parental Responsibility Matters and Cases

Orsolya Szeibert

This article published in the Hungarian Journal of Legal Studies is part of a complex overview of the connections between the child’s right to be heard and the child’s best interests and parental responsibility matters and cases. The focal point of the paper is how Hungarian codification, judiciary and academic legal literature have changed over the last decade and how they have adapted to the modern child-focused standards.

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Reintegration of Russian Children Returned From War Zones in the Middle East: Directions, Actors, Barriers

Maria Kozlova, Igor Mikheev, Alfiya Lyapina

This article analyzes the integration process of children returned from ISIS territory in three regions of the Russian North Caucasus from where the largest number of ISIS fighters with Russian citizenship originated. Following the concepts of “reintegration of returned migrants” and “cultural citizenship”, it explicates the role of key actors in the processes of adaptation and integration of children and their families, as well as analyzes the nature of the barriers they overcome to restore their lost civil status and identity.

Inequitable Access to Relative Caregiving: Implications of Foster Care Regulations in Finland, New Zealand, and the United States

Michael Hoffmeister

This analysis considers foster care regulations in three jurisdictions in Finland, New Zealand, and Wisconsin, USA, and the effects of policy decisions on eligibility for relative caregivers and placement options for children in out-of-home care.