Displaying 1 - 10 of 17
The nature of a transition process varies for every organization depending on the existing dynamics and assets in place as well as the partnerships that develop throughout the transition process. This case study outlines the financial impact of the transition of Bridges Safehouse, an organization that provided support to a total of 834 children, youth and adults, through their residential and community-based intervention programs combined. At this point, the residential component comprised 4% of their beneficiaries yet, nearly 65% of their operating budget. In the end, various factors…
Typical large-group institutions for abandoned children or orphans are known to be bad for the development of children, but what about small-group care?
This report presents SOS Children’s Villages (SOSCV) as a natural and non-detrimental setting for abandoned children. In a random effects meta-analysis, the authors combined the scientific evidence on the physical and mental health of children growing up in SOSCV compared with peers growing up in typical institutions and in biological and foster families (N = 1,567). Results showed substantial developmental delays of SOSCV children…
Families over Facilities is a call to action to end the unnecessary institutionalization of children in child welfare. The report details the physical, mental and emotional harm done to children in group settings, the significant unnecessary taxpayer costs associated with the practice, and violations of children’s civil and human rights.
The report provides both a Declaration of Urgency and an Adaptable Toolkit of practical steps state child welfare agencies, case workers, and service providers can take to end institutionalization, keep families together and children out of…
People with disabilities have the right to live in the community, according to Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. However, more than a decade after the adoption of the CRPD by the UN and nearly global ratification, children with disabilities continue to be placed in institutions in every region of the world. Worse still, low-middle income countries that have never had systems of institutionalization have started to build them.
In 2017, the CRPD Committee adopted general comment No. 5 on Article 19 on living independently and being included in the…
Since the 1970s, many state child welfare systems have been the subject of legal controversies, contentious politics, and broad-based reform efforts. The State of Tennessee is no exception. Concerns about its Department of Children’s Services’ (DCS) policies, programs, and outcomes led in 2001 to a class action lawsuit and ultimately resulted in transformational reforms over a period of almost two decades. This case study is intended to help child welfare system leaders, policymakers, and advocates who are engaged in comprehensive system improvement learn from Tennessee’s experience, whether…
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
If you think residential intervention cannot change - think again. Innovative leaders are rethinking and redefining what residential intervention is and where it is delivered. By studying the research and implementing new methods, exemplary providers are improving the outcomes for youth and families. Cutting-edge effective residential intervention now means providers are creatively working with youth and families in the home, in the community, and as briefly as possible – often for three months or less (Blau, Caldwell & Lieberman, 2014).
But…
Abstract
Background
Older youth in out-of-home care often live in restrictive settings and face psychiatric issues without sufficient family support. This paper reports on the development and piloting of a manualized treatment foster care program designed to step down older youth with high psychiatric needs from residential programs to treatment foster care homes.
Methods
A team of researchers and agency partners set out to develop a treatment foster care model for older youth based on Multi-dimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC…
Using social justice as the conceptual foundation, the authors present the structural barriers to socially just intercountry adoptions (ICAs) that can exploit and oppress vulnerable children and families participating in ICAs. They argue that such practices threaten the integrity of social work practice in that arena and the survival of ICA as a placement option. Government structures, disparity of power between countries and families on both sides, perceptions regarding poverty, cultural incompetence, misconceptions about orphans and orphanages, lack of knowledge about the impact of…
Permanency for Children: The Development of the BCS Global Foster-to-Adopt Pilot Project in Ethiopia
This report provides initial documentation of a pilot program launched by Bethany Christian Services in 2009 in Ethiopia. An estimated 5 million Ethiopian children (0-17) were identified as having lost one or both parents, as a result of HIV and AIDS, other diseases such as TB and malaria, extreme poverty and famine and migration (2005). This situation has left families financially stretched beyond their limits in providing the traditional model of orphan support and has resulted in increased reliance on institutional care. In order to address this situation the Bethany Christian…
The Action Plan on Children in Adversity is the first government wide strategic guidance for U.S. Government international assistance for children. The goal of the Action Plan is to achieve a world in which all children grow up within protective family care and free from deprivation, exploitation, and danger. The plan is grounded in evidence that shows a promising future belongs to those nations that invest wisely in their children, while failure to do so undermines social and economic progress. The plan seeks to integrate internationally recognized, evidence-based practices into all of its…