Displaying 1 - 10 of 51
This study aims to advance the understanding of children with special needs in foster care by identifying the characteristics, processes, and outcomes of their placement. The study uses a quantitative approach to identify 190 children with special needs (registered) from among 2,157 foster children in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, Spain and examines key data covering 2008 to 2018. The results show that children with special needs are overrepresented in placements with single-parent foster carers (mainly women), raising questions about the extent to which the care system takes the…
In February 2020 the COVID-19 virus started to spread in Europe. Since then our economies, societies, and daily lives have been turned upside down. This report reflects on the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on children. It compiles information gathered from 25 countries across Europe, and provides recommendations for improving public policies in the short and long-term to support better outcomes for children and families. The assessment is accompanied by reflections on the 2020 European Semester. This report is based on information gathered until August/September 2020, and was released…
Introduction
Out-of-home care, especially treatment residential care programs (TRC) are often described in the media, and even in some professional studies, as obsolete social structures (Consensus Statement, 2014). Residential care settings are out-of-home facilities such as educational youth villages and educational, therapeutic, or rehabilitation residential treatment centers (Grupper, 2013). Their aim is to provide education, treatment, rehabilitation or protection for children and youth, including those at risk and others, to protect these young people and work toward making a…
Abstract
How has confinement by COVID-19 affected the welfare system for children and adolescents? The aim of this article is to reflect on the consequences of the global pandemic on the child welfare system, analysing the main consequences on children, adolescents and educational teams. The context of analysis focuses on the author's experiences in the child welfare system in Catalonia (Spain) during the pandemic, through his work as a social educator and researcher. The purpose of this article resides, therefore, in the reflection and subsequent proposals with the aim…
Abstract
This study aims to advance understanding of social workers’ perceptions of the circumstances necessitating and preventing the placement of children with disabilities (CwDs) in institutions. This retrospective study involved thematic analyses of one focus group (n = 7) and semi-structured individual interviews (n = 12). Participants included social work professionals with experience providing welfare services for CwDs and their families. In effort to prevent separation of CwDs from their families, results suggest a need for continued monitoring of…
Abstract
This study aims to advance understanding of social workers’ perceptions of the circumstances necessitating and preventing the placement of children with disabilities (CwDs) in institutions. This retrospective study involved thematic analyses of one focus group (n = 7) and semi-structured individual interviews (n = 12). Participants included social work professionals with experience providing welfare services for CwDs and their families. In effort to prevent separation of CwDs from their families, results suggest a need for continued monitoring of…
In this blog post, Anna Riatti - coordinator of the UNICEF Refugee and Migrant Response in Italy - describes how UNICEF is supporting refugee and migrant children in Italy in light of the COVID-19 crisis. This support includes remote counselling and psychological support for refugees and migrants, over the phone or online. This support extends to guardians and foster care families who need support and stress management.
The Plan for Transformation and Deinstitutionalization of Social Welfare Homes and Other Legal Entities Providing Social Welfare Services in Republic of Croatia for the period 2011-2018 was created as the basic strategic document for planning the network of institutional care and social welfare activities. The purpose of the Plan was to reduce the need for institutional care, while establishing a diversity of new forms of child care, in particular to increase family- and community-based care services for children. When it comes to transforming institutions for children with behavioural…
This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Committee's recommendations on the issues relevant to children's care are highlighted, as well as other care-related concluding observations, ratification dates, and links to the Universal Periodic Review and Hague Intercountry Adoption Country Profile.
Abstract
Children with intellectual disability are more likely to suffer abuse and neglect. Therefore, they are over‐represented among children in childcare interventions, particularly in residential childcare. The main goal of this article was to explore the correlates of mental health diseases in a sample of 169 children (6–18 years old) in residential care with intellectual disability compared with a group of 625 children, also in residential care but without disability. Results show that the prevalence of intellectual disability in residential childcare in Spain is about 19%, which is…