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UK Social Work and the War in Ukraine: A BASW Briefing on Context, Ethics and Practice Under the Visa Schemes for Ukrainians

The focus of this BASW document is to support, inform and empower social workers across the UK in their ongoing practice and consideration of issues that arise in relation to people arriving and staying under the UK-Ukraine visa schemes.

Related Topic: Social Service Workforce Strengthening

Children’s Identity Rights in Ukraine - Russian Invasion 

Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Child Identity Protection (CHIP) President, discusses the measures in place to ensure that the many unaccompanied children that crossed into Poland from Ukraine travelled with identity documents that would allow them to access child protection measures as they continued on their journey.

Related Topic: Children's Care In Emergencies

Children on the Move in Latin America and the Caribbean: Review of the Evidence

This UNICEF report aims to synthesize recent evidence concerning the experiences and needs of children affected by human mobility in Latin America and the Caribbean, and on how far programmes and policies are meeting those needs.

Related Topic: Children and Migration

Disability Measurement in Residential Care Facilities in Kenya and its Role within Case Management

This Changing the Way We Care (CTWWC) report details research on children with disabilities and children in residential care settings in Kenya, and the intersection of these two topics. The report also discusses disability measurement within residential care settings, a previous gap in the literature.

Related Topic: Children with Disabilities

Fluid Transitions – “Weak” Constellations of Participation in the Process of Leaving Care

This conceptual article published in the Children and Youth Services Review journal describes how, in terms of organization theories, shifts in the chronological transition to adulthood produce “weak” constellations of participation during the process of leaving care. The authors highlight the different degrees of participation by those leaving care and the ways in which it is expressed.

Related Topic: Leaving Alternative Care and Reintegration

Strengthening Families: How Family Strengthening Can Help Prevent the Unnecessary Separation of Children from their Families

This SOS Children's Villages document makes the case for the importance of investing in family strengthening in countries across Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It has a particular focus on support for families so that any unnecessary separation of children from their families and placement in alternative care can be prevented.

Related Topic: Preventing Separation

Effects of the Removal of Arab Children from their Homes by Court Order: The mothers’ perspectives

This article in the Children and Youth Services Review journal examines the effects of removing children to out-of-home settings both for reasons of child abuse and/or neglect and due to custody disputes on personal, familial and social aspects of the lives of Arab mothers in East Jerusalem.

Related Topic: Children's Care In Emergencies

Bulgaria: Report Card 2023 - What is the Average Government Score for Childcare? 

National Network for Children (NNC) released its monitoring Report Card 2023 which evaluates the progress of state care institutions in Bulgaria in eight areas – Child participation, Child Welfare, Family Environment and Alternative care, Protection from all forms of Violence, Child Justice, Early Childhood Development, Child Health, Education, Sport, Culture and Leisure.

Related Topic: Transforming Institutional Care

The Child – Object or Subject of Child Care?

This paper is a first approach to pursuing questions of subjectification and objectification in the context of children and youth growing up in care settings in Switzerland.

Related Topic: Effects of Institutional Care

Is an End to Child Marriage within Reach? Latest Trends and Future Prospects

This new analysis by UNICEF found that despite a steady decline in child marriage in the last decade, multiple crises including conflict, climate shocks, and the ongoing fallout from COVID-19 are threatening to reverse hard-earned gains.

Related Topic: Child Exploitation

Ending Child Marriage: A profile of progress in India 

India has made remarkable progress toward ending child marriage according to this UNICEF report, though this country remains home to the largest number of child brides worldwide. Despite advancements on many fronts, the rate of decline is not sufficient to reach the target of eliminating the practice by 2030, as set out in the Sustainable Development Goals.

Related Topic: Child Exploitation

“I hope my voice is heard”: A Mixed-Methods Study of Youths’ Perceptions of Residential Care

This US-based study examined youth’s perspective of the quality of care and experiences in residential group care. This study was approved by an Institutional Review Board. Data were collected as part of a larger statewide pilot of the Quality Standards Assessment (QSA).

Related Topic: Residential Care

Orphanage Trafficking and the Sustainable Development Goals

This article published in the April issue of the Institutionalised Children Explorations and Beyond journal, examines the intersections of orphanage trafficking, a form of child trafficking and modern slavery, and the sale and sexual exploitation of children with reference to the Sustainable Development Goals worldwide. It highlights the special protection needs of children residing in institutions and outlines how orphanage tourism and funding undermine care reform efforts of national authorities.

Related Topic: Residential Care

Non-Kinship Foster Care in Nigeria: Socioeconomic and demographic drivers of mothers’ willingness to foster

This study published in the Social Work and Social Sciences Review journal examined the socioeconomic and demographic drivers of willingness to foster non-kin children among mothers in Nigeria. The findings of this study provide implications for research, social work practice, and education in Nigeria and Africa.

Related Topic: Foster Care

A Comprehensive Multilevel Analysis of the Bucharest Early Intervention Project: Causal Effects on Recovery From Early Severe Deprivation

The Bucharest Early Intervention Project is the first randomized controlled trial of foster care as an alternative to institutional care. The goal was to quantify the overall effect of the foster care intervention on children’s outcomes and examine sources of variation in this effect, including domain, age, and sex assigned at birth.

Related Topic: Foster Care

Adverse Childhood Experiences and Residential Care Environment: The mediating role of trauma-related symptoms and psychological maladjustment in adolescents



This study analyzes the sequential relationships between exposure to adverse childhood experiences, trauma-related symptoms, psychological maladjustment, and the perception of group climate and peer interactions for those in out-of-home placements in Spain.

Related Topic: Leaving Alternative Care and Reintegration

Fostering Emotional and Mental Health in Residential Youth Care Facilities: A Systematic Review of Programs Targeted to Care Workers

This Children and Youth Services Review journal study performed a systematic review of research on training programs aiming the fostering of emotional and mental health in residential youth care worldwide. A systematic search was conducted in nine digital databases and other sources (websites, relevant journals, reference lists of included articles and relevant reviews), for publications from 1980 to 2021. 

Related Topic: Residential Care

Research Reinforces: Providing Cash to Families in Poverty Reduces Risk of Family Involvement in Child Welfare

This new body of research from Chapin Hall, a research and policy center that focuses on child welfare and family well-being at the University of Chicago, finds that material hardship increases the risk for child welfare involvement due to neglect and abuse in the U.S., and when families are given cash assistance, child welfare involvement is reduced.

Related Topic: Social Welfare Systems

Bridges between Families and Foster Children: Family Reintegration and Adoption of Disabled Children and Adolescents

This study published in the Ciencias Psicológicas journal aimed to describe the perception of caregivers and the role of professionals in the process of family reintegration and adoption of children and adolescents with disabilities in a host institution in Belém/PA, Brazil.

Related Topic: Foster Care

Finnish Care Leavers‘ Social Inclusion During the Transition to Adulthood 

The aim of this qualitative study published in the Children and Youth Services Review journal was to describe care leavers’ experiences of social inclusion in Finland. The results can provide new insight into a vulnerable, marginally researched group with high support needs and a propensity for social exclusion.

Related Topic: Principles of Good Care Practices

Examining the Mental Health Indicators and Service Needs of Children Living with Foster Families

This study used a large sample of treatment-seeking children across Ontario to compare children living with a foster family to non-foster children, across a number of psychosocial, care needs, and demographic variables.

Related Topic: Foster Care

Reunification and Reintegration of Children with Disabilities into Family Care: Guidance for Residential Care Facilities & Case Management Teams

This CTWWC guidance aims to provide case workers and others at residential care facilities with the considerations they need to look at for the successful reunification and placement of children with disabilities into family care, including understanding disability and how it impacts children’s care, disability-inclusive case management, and preparing children with disabilities for reunification/placement.

Related Topic: Verification and Family Reunification

The Child’s Right to a Nationality and Childhood Statelessness – A Toolkit for Child Rights Actors

This UNICEF/ISI study comprises ‘multiple elements including practical tips on how to meaningfully engage with the Committee on the Rights of the Child on childhood statelessness, complemented by a checklist, template and guidance note on how to make submissions’.

Also see:

• Factsheet: Childhood Statelessness and the Committee on the Rights of the Child 

Related Topic: Children Affected By Armed Conflict and Displacement

Children in Alternative Care in the Child Guarantee National Action Plans: A summative analysis

In this policy brief published by Eurochild and UNICEF, researchers assess the 20 available European Child Guarantee National Action Plans (NAPs) and issue recommendations to examine their coverage of children in alternative care.

Related Topic: Child Care and Protection Policies

Kinship Care in India: A Case Study Documentation

The IACN report draws on the experiences of eight families in kinship care arrangements in India and the children placed with them. It outlines the importance of families for the emotional, physical, and cognitive growth of children.

Related Topic: Kinship Care

Child of Two Worlds: How foster care workers perceive their skills in dealing with worldview differences in foster care

This article published in the Child & Family Social Work journal looks at the strategies foster care workers employ when dealing with worldview differences between a foster family and the birth family reviewing examples from the Netherlands, Denmark and the US.

Related Topic: Foster Care

Buckner Case Study: Transitioning from Residential Care to Family Care in Guatemala

The story of Buckner Guatemala’s transition from residential care to family care is told in this recently released Faith to Action case study. The case study details their experience through three stages of transition—learning, preparation and planning, and full transition—with transparency. It addresses common challenges for transitioning organizations, as well as the strategies Buckner took to overcome them.

Related:

• Transitioning from Residential Care to Family Care in Haiti: Heartline Case Study
• Transitioning from Residential Care to Family Care in South Africa: Beautiful Gate Case Study
• Transitioning from Residential Care to Family Care in South Africa - Beautiful Gate Case Study: Communicating Change with Donors

Related Topic: Transforming Institutional Care

Three-Part Learnings Series from Changing the Way We Care Kenya

Learnings #1: Positive Parenting and Care Reform in Kenya

Learnings #2: Promoting Positive Caregiving for Children at Risk of Separation or in the Process of Reintegration in Kenya 

Learnings #3: Family Strengthening and Care Reform in Kenya 

Applying Safe Behaviours - Preventing and Responding to Peer Violence

In this project ,SOS Children’s Villages worked to enable children, young people and professionals to prevent and appropriately respond to peer violence amongst children and young people in alternative care and vulnerable families.

Related Topic: Child Exploitation

Families Together: Home Visit Guide for Facilitators

This guide is part of the Families Together parenting curriculum for families who have a child reintegrating into the home.

Also see:



• Families Together: Home Visiting Parenting Guide FlipBook
• Families Together: Group Session Facilitation Guide

Related Topic: Parenting Support

Transforming Children's Care Webinar #13: Learning from Participatory Research with Careleavers: Experiences from Latin America and Australia

Drawing from the learning from participatory research in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as Australia, this Transforming Children's Care Collaborative webinar introduced different approaches used to engage individuals with lived experience of alternative care in research efforts.

Kinship Care During Emergencies and Across Borders

This Family for Every Child webinar explores approaches to supporting kinship care during crises (including political and economic crises in Lebanon); the support needs of Ukrainian refugees in kinship care in the UK and examples of how cross-border placements into kinship care can be effectively supported.

Related Topic: Kinship Care

Caring for Vulnerable Children: What Does Answering God’s Call Mean for Churches, Families, Orphanages, and Other Forms of Children’s Care?

During this Georgetown University webinar, participants explored the Christian call to “care for the orphan” shared through Christian tenets, values, and ministries. What is the Catholic Church’s history with regard to orphanages and children’s residential care institutions? How have these practices changed over time in response to growing evidence about better care alternatives?

• Spanish
• French

Related Topic: Effects of Institutional Care

A Foster Care System Where Every Child Has a Loving Home

In the U.S., youth in foster care are nearly twice as likely as war veterans to suffer from PTSD. Placed in foster care at just 11 months old, Sixto Cancel experienced the faults of the system firsthand. Now, he's the founder of Think of Us, an organization working to reform child welfare by centering kinship care, or placing a child with an extended family member or a familiar adult.

Related Topic: Kinship Care

Webinar: Launch of the Transition Cost Estimation Tool

This webinar, hosted by the Transitioning Residential Care Working Group, was the launch event for the recently released Transition Cost Estimation Tool. This digital tool is one of three tools that comprise the Transition Framework Tools. 

Alone and Exploited?: The Impacts of U.S. Immigration Enforcement on Child Migration and Labor

During this webinar hosted by the Georgetown University Collaborative on Global Children's Issues, participants explored the dynamics of migrant child labor in the United States. Will efforts to “crack down” on child labor stop exploitation? How will forthcoming changes to U.S. asylum processes impact migrant children and their livelihoods? Most importantly, what do migrant youth have to say about their experiences?

Related Topic: Children and Migration

How Do We Get the Message Out About the Importance of Closing Institutions? 

This European Network on Independent Living (ENIL) webinar looked at ways in which we can raise awareness among the general public on the right to independent living and the harm of institutionalisation for the entire society.

Related Topic: Effects of Institutional Care

KAZAKHSTAN: Kazakhstan to Introduce Foster Families as Alternative to Institutional Child Care

Aigul Murzagaliyeva - The Astana Times 09 May 2023

UK: 'Momentum for social care reform risks being lost amid Government delays’

Aine Fox - The Independent 05 May 2023

U.S. Often Didn't Screen Workers at Migrant Children Detention Centers, Report Finds

Elliot Spagat - NBC 04 May 2023

ASIA: South Asia Could Eliminate Child Marriage Only in 55 Years – UNICEF

UNICEF 03 May 2023

UKRAINE: A Thousand Miles Apart: A Ukrainian family separated by war

Washington Post 03 May 2023

KENYA: Kenyan Cult Leader Accused of Inciting Children to Starve to Death

Caroline Kimeu - The Guardian 02 May 2023

UKRAINE: Ukraine’s Missing Children Need Global Intervention

Eunice Masson - Mail and Guardian 02 May 2023

UGANDA: Uganda Care Leavers Statement Regarding the Appearance of Ugandan Children from 'Ghetto Kids' on Britain's Got Talent

Uganda Care Leavers 24 Apr 2023

RUSSIA: Masha Moskaleva: Girl Who Drew Anti-War Image Handed to Mother

Robert Greenall - BBC News 06 Apr 2023

EU: Supporting the Integration of Refugee and Migrant Children in Host EU Countries

UNICEF 06 Apr 2023

20 - 22 July 2023

Better Together Conference: Serving Children by Strengthening Families

6 September 2023

5th BICON Conference on Alternative Care for Children in Asia

12 September 2023

Equity and Social Justice In Child, Youth And Family Welfare

July 26

Online Course: Introduction to Peer Research Course

August 31

Call for Submissions: Faith and the Family Forum Submission Guidelines and Process

August 31

Call for Content Submissions: Faith and the Family Forum

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Newsletter participants, currently 5,030 in total, work on issues related to the care and support of vulnerable children across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas. The purpose of the newsletter is to enable members to exchange information on matters of mutual concern. If you would like to share a document, raise a specific issue, request a newsletter subscription, or reach out in any other way to the Network, please send the information to us at [email protected] or visit our website at www.bettercarenetwork.org. 

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