August - September 2018
Featuring the Latest Updates on Children's Care
" Instead of helping children in the care institution, it is better to strengthen the family so that they are able to look after their children as well and mitigating those factors which normally cause children to run away from their families. "

- District Official, Uganda, from Endline Evaluation Report of Deinstitutionalization of Orphans and Vulnerable Children Project in Uganda
Understanding the Situation

This report is the product of a two-year investigation by Disability Rights International (DRI) into institutions and orphanages across Kenya . The report describes the "egregious human rights violations" perpetrated against children with disabilities in Kenya, particularly those who are confined to institutions and "orphanages." 


This study commissioned by the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation of the Kingdom of Cambodia and UNICEF Cambodia sheds light on how different forms of alternative care are being used in the community. Also available in Khmer .

Related Topics: Residential Care , Foster Care,

This report from UNICEF Cambodia is the first of its kind in the country. It brings together the dispersed data into a comprehensive profile of child protection in Cambodia. Also available in Khmer .

Launch of Violence Against Children Survey (VACS) Reports in Three Countries

The Violence Against Children Surveys - led by national governments, with technical support from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as part of the Together for Girls partnership - help increase understanding of and ability to prevent and respond to the epidemic of violence against girls and boys. Uganda , Rwanda , and Lao PDR have recently launched reports presenting the findings from the surveys.



Related Topics: Child Abuse and Neglect
The aim of the systematic review described in this article from the journal of Trauma, Violence, & Abuse was to determine the outcome of child maltreatment in long-term childcare and the scope of the evidence base in this area. Reviewed studies were conducted in the United Kingdom , the United States , Finland , Romania , Tanzania , Canada , Ireland , Australia , the Netherlands , Germany , Austria , and Switzerland .

The aim of the systematic review described in this article from the journal of Trauma, Violence, & Abuse was to determine the outcomes for individuals exposed to severe neglect in congregate care institutions such as orphanages.

The objective of this study from the African Journal of Clinical Psychology was to establish the types of abuse experienced by adolescents with mild and moderate symptoms of anxiety disorder and living in charitable children’s institutions (CCIs) in Nairobi, Kenya .


This Handbook interweaves theory and cutting-edge research with clinical applications. The Handbook includes chapters on  attachment for children in foster care and adoption , as well as on  implications of attachment theory on child care policies . This new edition has also seen the addition of several chapters, including a chapter on attachment, parenting, and genetics.

This scoping study from the Children and Youth Services Review yielded 37 empirical studies published in peer-reviewed journals addressing the dramatic overrepresentation of Indigenous families in North American public child welfare systems.

This study from the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health used nationally representative, population-based data from 61 low- and middle-income countries to estimate prevalence and socio-economic factors associated with leaving children under five years old home alone or under the care of another child younger than 10 years of age.

This research from the journal of Health and Quality of Life Outcomes compared the quality of life (QOL) of children and adolescents in Japan who live in Children’s Homes (CHs) with that of children and adolescents living in traditional families. ( The authors’ understanding of a traditional family in this study is that of children and parents living together in their own home.)

This article from The Journal of the American Medical Association explores the health consequences for children who have been separated from their parents at the U.S. border with Mexico .

This special issue of the Children & Youth Services Review, Volume 92, focuses on unaccompanied immigrant children throughout the world, with a particular focus on the U.S. and European contexts. 


With a focus on the situation in Lebanon , Turkey , Jordan , and Greece , this report from CARE and Promundo aims to provide a better understanding of the gendered impact of the refugee crisis on unaccompanied adolescent boys, aged 13 to 17, and men, single or living separately from their families; and to highlight actual and potential gaps in the humanitarian response.

Policies, Standards, and Guidelines

The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action and Better Care Network are calling for the prompt reunification of separated children with their families and to provide interim care in accordance with the UN Guidelines for Alternative Care of Children.  


This independent assessment was commissioned by the Child Welfare Department and Intercountry Adoption Administration of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation of Cambodia and facilitated by UNICEF. It presents key findings and 23 recommendations, sub-divided into short-term, medium-term and long-term actions, for an effective and efficient implementation of foster care, adoption and family support in Cambodia . Also available in Khmer .



This volume provides a wide spectrum description analysis of the contemporary and well established child protection systems in a range of countries, such as Australia , Canada , Netherlands , Spain , Germany , Israel , South Korea , England , Switzerland and the United States .


This paper sets out the UK government’s response to two reports into foster care: The Education Select Committee Inquiry into Fostering  and the Foster Care in England report , an independent review commissioned by the Department for Education. The response describes the government’s vision for foster care and improvements for the system, based on the recommendations of the two reports .


This resource from the Capacity Building Center for States in the U.S. provides guidance on adapting child welfare services to better meet the needs of youth (ages 15 to 24) in care. 


This User Guide, developed by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and the Centre of Excellence in Alternative Care (India), aims to provide a comprehensive approach to the development of a good quality foster care service in India , which will be useful for a range of practitioners.


The resources in this packet -- developed as part of a joint initiative between Save the Children Australia and World Challenge, through their membership of the ReThink Orphanages Network -- have been developed to support Australian schools to navigate the complexities of engagement with orphanages and residential care institutions overseas as part of service learning and international study programs. 


This report from the Social Market Foundation review the care system in the UK , including outcomes for children in care and the "silent crisis" in the care system. 


This report from the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology describes Canada 's history of forcibly removing children from mothers, particularly unwed mothers, and placing them in adoptive families. It compares this history to the similar Australian context and offers recommendations for offering healing to mothers and children who were harmed by this practice.

Related Topics: Adoption and Kafala

This paper, produced for the Know Violence global learning initiative and published in 2017, looks at the violence children experience in closed institutions in the Central Asian countries, specifically the former Soviet republics: Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , Tajikistan and Uzbekistan .


This resource from the Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) has been created for those who care for and about orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), with the aim of helping them empower and equip children and youth toward success and well-being. The goal is to provide actionable knowledge about the brain that will allow parents, caregivers, and practitioners to help children gain some of the developmental ground they have lost due to early childhood adversity.

Related Topics: Child Development
Learning from Practice

This final report from ChildFund International on the “Deinstitutionalization of Vulnerable Children in Uganda ” (DOVCU) project identifies its successes as well as some shortcomings and key learning that is directly relevant to other projects working to support family care for children.


This presentation, given at the ISPCAN Conference in September 2018, highlights the preliminary findings from the ASPIRES Family Care Projects in Uganda as regards the impacts of cash transfers on child protection benefits. Another presentation from ASPIRES given at the ISPCAN Conference ' Assessing the effects of a combined economic and social intervention in Uganda on child protection and economic outcomes ' is also available.


This report from Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago presents preliminary results from an evaluation of the Home Visiting Pilot Program, serving pregnant or parenting youth in foster care in the US .

Related Topics: Foster Care
In this article from the journal of Qualitative Social Work, the authors present findings that describe resilience-enhancing practices in the lives of 15 South African child protection social workers (CPSWs) who were considered resilient.

This study from the Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology tests the effects of economic intervention—alone and in combination with a family-focused component—on parenting outcomes and children’s reports of violence in rural Burkina Faso .

In this study, the life stories of four foster mothers of victims of maternal sexual abuse in the Netherlands were collected in order to gain insight into the experiences of this rarely studied group. Four key themes emerged in the women's narratives: their attitude towards the abusing female, the foster child's sexual behavior towards the foster mother, the emotional and physical distance of the foster mothers towards their foster child, and lastly, their sense of responsibility. 

This article from the New Zealand Council for Educational Research examines the efficacy of the government’s intensive home-visiting programme, Family Start, for indigenous Māori families, using a "he awa whiria" (braided rivers) approach which integrates Māori and non-Māori knowledge systems.



This video from the Economist explores the history of institutionalization in Romania and the efforts now underway to transition to family-based care and small group homes for children. 


This short video was designed for newly hired child protection in humanitarian action (CPHA) staff, as well as child protection staff who want to learn more about working in emergency settings - and the CPMS in particular.




Total Croatia News, 28 August 2018

The Intercept, 26 August 2018

The Hindu, 25 August 2018

ACLU Blog, 24 August 2018

CBC News, 22 August 2018

The Guardian, 18 August 2018

BBC News, 11 August 2018

BBC Radio 2, 6 August 2018

BBC Mundo, 1 August 2018


First Week of October 2018
Online Course
15 October 2018
Nairobi, Kenya
8 May 2018
Louisville, Kentucky, US
7 October 2018
15 December 2018
31 December 2018
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GENERAL INFORMATION

Newsletter participants, currently 4,167 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  contact@bettercarenetwork.org  or visit our website at  www.bettercarenetwork.org.  

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