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This book sets out the case for Transitional Safeguarding, a new approach to protection and safeguarding designed to address the needs and behaviours of young people aged 15-24 who are falling between gaps in current global systems, with often devastating results.
While the book addressed the gaps in the current system in the UK, the lessons have global application and the authors outlines how the specific needs of young people can be met through this approach. Written by leading experts in this area with strong practice networks, it presents up-to-date evidence for its effectiveness, and…
The transition of individual residential care services for children is a critical part of child protection and care systems reform. It is one of several critical measures required of governments to implement commitments made at the international level to phase out the institutionalization of children and reorientate the system towards family-based care.1 To support the scaling up of transitioning residential care services, and to ensure it is done in a manner that is safe, effective and puts children’s best interests first, certain factors need to be in place at the system level to create…
Care leavers, young people who are or have left a formal care placement, are one of the most important stakeholder groups in a care reform process; a group whose experience, expertise and insights should be at the center of shaping the reform and advocacy agenda nationally, regionally and globally. Whilst the importance of engaging care leavers and ensuring meaningful participation is recognized within the sector, in practice, methods of engagement vary.
Efforts can fail to legitimately empower and enable meaningful participation or limit to inviting care leavers to illuminate existing…
Family strengthening is comprehensive strengths-based approaches, supports and services to families at risk of separation or those receiving children from residential care and any form of alternative care to something more permanent and resilient. It also can help prevent child abuse and neglect. Ensuring families have the skills, knowledge, connections, ways and means to care for their children and foster a positive relationships across the age span. Family strengthening can include home visits and group sessions to build positive parenting skills, and linking families into…
Tiegan Boyens, ATD Fourth World and Teen Advocacy
Tiegan Boyens, of ATD Fourth World and Teen Advocacy, shares about the importance of staying connected to birth family as an adoptee as well as maintaining other connections such as friendships made throughout childhood.
Background:
Tens of millions of children lack adequate care, many having been separated from or lost one or both parents. Despite the problem’s severity and its impact on a child’s lifelong health and wellbeing, the care of vulnerable children—which includes strengthening the care of children within families, preventing unnecessary family separation, and ensuring quality care alternatives when reunification with the biological parents is not possible or appropriate—is a low global priority. This analysis investigates factors shaping the inadequate global prioritization of the care…
Abstract:
This paper advances the global and transnational agency approach to the study of out-of-home childcare, specifically the institutionalization of children. Based on existing studies, the author highlights gaps in the current knowledge of global and transnational actors who shape child institutionalization around the world, including who these actors are, what they do and why, as well as the implications of their activities for children and families.
The author argues that the rise of global and transnational actors in out-of-home childcare requires systematic scholarly…
Abstract:
The focus of this article is the link between the modern world culture and national public policy commitments. Drawing on world society theory and using data for 193 countries between 1990 and 2020—1411 documents in total—the authors analyze the global pattern of policy commitments to out-of-home childcare deinstitutionalization. Deinstitutionalization refers to the policy of moving children from institutional residential care (e.g. orphanages) to family-based and family-like care in the community.
Using the reports by state parties of the UN Convention on the Rights…
Abstract:
Individuals with experiences of alternative care (AC; i.e., out-of-home care and institutional care) are at high risk for various mental health and relational problems stemming from exposure to serious attachment disruptions, loss, and complex trauma. Yet, despite the interpersonal context of their significant adversities, surprisingly there is scant research explicitly focusing on callousness/unemotionality (e.g., lack of guilt, callous disregard for others) in this population.
This paper provides the first conceptual model for, and systematic scoping review of,…