Better Care Network Newsletter: 06 July 2012

BCN Newsletter: 06 July 2012

To the Better Care Network,

Welcome to the latest edition of the BCN Newsletter!

In this edition, you'll find the latest research and resources on alternative care and related programming and policy guidance. In particular, this newsletter includes:

EveryChild's policy paper on improving adoption services globally;
The Annie E Casey Foundation's newest resource on supporting Kinship Care;
A recent study on resiliency in child-headed households;
A program spotlight on Retrak's programming for street associated children; and
The latest news coverage on alternative care globally

Sincerely,

The Better Care Network Secretariat

IN THIS ISSUE

Adopting Better Care

Supporting Kinship Care

Resiliency in Child Headed Households

Transforming Lives for Children on the Street

Alternative Care News

General Information

New Resource:

Adopting Better Care: Improving Adoption Services Around the World

In the third edition of EveryChild's working paper series, Positive Choices, the practices of domestic and inter-country adoption are examined. The paper aims to explore why adoption is so rarely used globally, and to examine whether or not an expansion of adoption services could offer a potential solution to the millions of children around the world in need of permanent care and currently languishing in harmful institutions. It is based on a literature review and interviews with experts from around the world and poses comprehensive recommendations for policy makers as well as the individuals or agencies involved in decision-making about individual children's care.

Read the full report by visiting:

http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=28964&themeID=1002&topicID=1014

NEW RESOURCE:

Stepping Up for Kids: What Governments and Communities Should Do to Support Kinship Care

This report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation assesses the practice of kinship care within the United States, reflecting upon the widespread use of this care practice, the complexities facing families involved in this form of care and the interventions and supports proven to assist in its success. While specific to the United States, discussions and recommendations can be assessed for application in other global settings.

Read the full report by visiting:

http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=28963&themeID=1002&topicID=1012

NEW RESOURCE:

Resiliency of children in child-headed households in Rwanda: implications for community based psychosocial interventions

Based on participatory research with children living in child headed households in Rwanda, this article focuses on the resilience of children facing extreme hardship and adversity. While the research focuses on child headed households, this study's findings can be considered more broadly for interventions for other vulnerable children to support their development of innovative coping strategies.

To read the full report, visit:

http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=28962&themeID=1002&topicID=1015

PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT:

Retrak: Transforming Lives for Children on the Street

Retrak is a UK based charity that works with street associated children in Africa to give them a real alternative to life on the street. The following success stories of outreach and reintegration show a promising model for children globally. Between 2008 and 2011, Retrak in Uganda and Ethiopia was able to support over 2800 street children and more than 1800 care-givers. The evaluation found that 75% of reintegration placements were successful with children remaining at home and that the children's overall wellbeing improved during their time with Retrak and continued to do so after placement with families.

To read more success stories from Retrak's programming in Uganda and Ethiopia, visit: http://www.retrak.org/newsDetail.aspx?uid=192

ALTERNATIVE CARE IN THE NEWS

Ukraine orphans: A life trapped in care

27 June 2012, BBC

When orphans in Ukraine reach adulthood, some are deemed "incapacitated" - a label that consigns them to a life in institutions. But many of these young people may have nothing wrong with them at all. It is an official classification in Ukraine that critics say strips the bearer of basic human rights.

Being labelled "incapacitated" means that when someone designated as such reaches the age of 18, rather than leaving residential care, they are sent to live in psychiatric institutions or old people's homes.They are even forbidden from living alone or marrying, and if they have children they too belong to the state.

An independent sociological institute in the city of Kharkiv, which has been assessing the country's psychiatric institutes, says that up to 20% of those deemed "incapacitated" are perfectly able individuals. It believes many of these social orphans are locked up in an institutional system that doesn't have the resources or the will to assess them properly.

Cambodia's Orphanage Business

27 June 2012, Al Jazeera

Between the 1970s and 1990s, Cambodia was ravaged by civil war. Since its return to peace there has been a boom in tourism with over two million visitors every year. Keen to help this war-torn country, increasing numbers of tourists are now also working as volunteers. Most come with the very best of intentions - to work in schools and orphanages, filling a gap left by a lack of development funding.

But, inadvertently, well-intentioned volunteers have helped to create a surge in the number of residential care homes as impoverished parents are tempted into giving up their children in response to promises of a Western-style upbringing and education. Despite a period of prosperity in the country, the number of children in orphanages has more than doubled in the past decade, and over 70 per cent of the estimated 10,000 'orphans' have at least one living parent. And perhaps most disturbingly, stories have emerged that Cambodian children are being exploited by some of the companies organizing the volunteers or running the orphanages.