Family First: Prioritising Support to Kinship Carers, Especially Older Carers

This paper is the latest in EveryChild's Positive Care Choices series of papers on children's care options and demonstrates how the vast majority of children outside of parental care are cared for by relatives, most commonly grandparents. Yet, support to kinship care is woefully inadequate, with most kinship carers bringing up often traumatised and vulnerable children with little or no assistance. The paper calls for greater prioritisation to be given to supporting kinship carers and the children in their care, including ensuring such households are able to access social protection, and receive psycho-social and health care support and assistance with education where needed.

Read the full report at: http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=29576&themeID=1002&topicID=1012

Taking Evidence to Impact: Making a Difference for Vulnerable Children Living in a World with HIV and AIDS

This brief lays out the rationale for investing in social protection, care, and support for children affected by HIV and AIDS. It demonstrates how investing in these initiatives not only improves the resilience of HIV affected households but can also enhance HIV prevention and treatment outcomes. HIV-affected children are benefitting from expanding treatment coverage however, as ever-greater amounts of HIV resources go into health systems and health responses, complementary investments are needed to maximize the impact of health expenditure. It is essential to recognize the key development synergies between social welfare, protection, health, education, and community system strengthening in order to ensure equitable access to quality prevention, treatment, care, and support for HIV-affected children and their families.

This brief is useful for policymakers and programmers engaged in children and HIV and AIDS work.

Read more at: http://bettercarenetwork.org/BCN/details.asp?id=29575&themeID=1004&topicID=1025

Join the next Social Service Workforce Webinar: Social Work Diploma and Degree Programs

October 23, 2012 8:30 AM - 10:30 AM EDT

This webinar will offer an open forum for discussion on social work education programs and their role in preparing social workers to enter the workforce, equipped with the skills and knowledge they need to address the issues and context at hand. Presenters will address questions such as:

• What are some current trends in social work education programs in Sub Saharan Africa and Asia?
• What are the roles of international organizations such as the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) and its regional bodies, such as the Asian and Pacific Association for Social Work Education (APASWE), in supporting social work education?
• What does it mean to indigenize social work curricula? How are schools helping students translate the fundamental theories, values and principles of social work into culturally relevant practice appropriate to the context in which graduates will work?

Participants may log onto the webinar session by following the instructions described at the following link: (Note that the link will not be active until October 23).

https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?password=M.DFEF5086FF2AA2563DEC05D08EFC7B&sid=2011113

For further information, including documents about the programs featured and discussion, and to participate in discussions about the previous webinar log onto http://www.ovcsupport.net/s/index.php?c=114 or contact: SWWS.Webinars@capacityplus.org .

Consultancy Assignment: Consultant for study of child protection systems and children affected by HIV and AIDS

UNICEF HQ and the HIV and AIDS Inter-Agency Task Team group on strengthening child and family welfare systems are looking for a consultant to carry out a study on child protection systems and children affected by HIV and AIDS. With an increased interest globally in child protection systems strengthening there is a need to better understand the ways in which child protection systems respond to the needs of children living with and affected by HIV and AIDS and how the children affected by HIV and AIDS agenda and community can engage and be better aligned with the child protection systems agenda.

For more information on how to apply and the ToR for the study, please see the link: http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/index_65974.html

Deadline for application is the 15^th October 2012

The Infant Mental Health Journal Announcement

The Infant Mental Health Journal announces a special section on Research-Based Challenges and Successes in Improving International Practice and Policy on Residential Care for Vulnerable Infants and Toddlers, calling for authors to submit articles pertaining to institutional, adoptive, foster, kinship, and relative care of infants, young children and their biological parents. Articles must relate research to practice and/or policy and can include empirical research, narrative descriptions and analyses of countries' circumstances and child welfare systems, implementation of research-based practices and policies, and other pertinent research findings.

Authors must draft a brief statement describing the article they plan to submit in accordance to the guidelines. Briefs must be submitted to mccall2@pitt.edu with the email subject, IMHJ Special Section, no later than December 7, 2012.

Give Your Feedback on Caring for Children in Emergencies!

Children and Family Research Center of Macquarie University Invites Participants to Join their Quick Survey on Young Children in Emergencies.

All individuals with emergency response provision experience are invited to participate in completing a 10 question questionnaire. It seeks to elicit significant consensus amongst emergency response providers' perceptions on identified features of caring for young children in emergencies. It consists of ten questions and should take less than 10 minutes. As an emergency response provider your personal experiences and perceptions are valued. You are invited to rate nine statements. The results will inform research conducted at Macquarie University, Australia. Participation is completely voluntary and all responses will remain confidential.

Please click the attached link to proceed to the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JWZZ7WX
For more information, please email - lisa.deters@students.mq.edu.au