Evidence suggests that the phenomenon of residential care has been growing in recent years due to a complex interplay of different factors, among them HIV and AIDS. To date, there is no systematic information on the numbers of children living with or directly affected by HIV who are placed in residential care, the reasons for and the impacts of their placement on individual children, their families and communities and on the residential care facilities themselves.

In recognition of the need to know more about these issues, UNICEF commissioned EveryChild and Maestral International to provide technical assistance and evidence collection in relation to the care of children living with HIV in residential care. Through a combination of desk-based research and in-country data collection, the focus of this exercise is primarily on the extent, quality, impacts and responses to residential care for boys and girls (0-18 years) living with or directly affected by HIV. This report provides information from the desk-based component of this study, which is based on an extensive review of published and grey literature, and information gathered from experts working in this field.

To read the full report, visit:

http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=29188&themeID=1004&topicID=1025 

Retrak's technical brief on family reintegration for children living on the streets, acknowledges the difficulties which street children face at home and on the streets. But it also demonstrates that successful family reintegration is possible for street children when there is a focus on the individual child, building positive attachments with care-givers and strengthening families capabilities.

Read the full report at:

http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=29190&themeID=1004&topicID=1027

Helping families and their kin develop care plans for orphaned and vulnerable children was the objective of the family group conferencing (FGC) training that took place in Guatemala City from July 10-12, 2012. This family preservation approach for developing strategies to prevent the institutionalization of children emphasizes the strengths of families and their capacity to solve their own problems and develop their own care plans.

Read more at:

http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=29191&themeID=1000&topicID=1000

In her recent blog, Martha Manu accounts the efforts of the Department of Social Welfare and her own NGO, KaeMe, to reverse the trend of reliance on institutional care for children in Ghana. Manu examines the impact of external donors in the proliferation of orphanages and the ever expanding commitment of government and civil society partnerships in country to reverse the trend through investments in family reunification and family strengthening.  KaeMe's committed to working together with the DSW and aims to find a loving home for every child living in Ghanaian institutional care facilitites and to develop a database and information management systems  to facilitate reunification, foster care or adoption.

Read more at:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/martha-muna/ghana-children_b_1748238.html