This article aims to analyze the indicators of vulnerability present in foster care institutions, as well as the protective resources that may be associated with resilience processes of children who are living in such institutions. Using a qualitative approach, the fieldwork was conducted in two foster care institutions located in a medium-sized…

Children growing up in adversity are well known to be at risk of educational failure. Recent advances in neuroscience indicate that the nature of the caregiving environment in the first weeks and months of life influences the neural architecture of the developing brain, via epigenetic processes. Neglectful caregiving is hypothesised to contribute…

This introduction presents a general overview of the regulations, policies, programmes and actions which currently exist in Spain within the field of positive parenting. The articles featured in this special issue showcase initiatives aimed at fostering child development through the promotion of parenting competences and family support. They are…

In this essay, we comment on the dominant practice in high-resource societies of placing children without biological parental care (CwoBPC) into substitution families, and the promotion of this solution as evidence-based and state of the art. As the Russian Federation has formulated and is now addressing in matching legislation, it possibly…

This article highlights the lack of human rights recognition for arguably one of the most vulnerable groups in our society, children and young people in the care of the state. Currently under New Zealand legislation and policy frameworks these children do not have their rights upheld, as per New Zealand's obligations under the United Nations…

Based on qualitative research, this article examines the complex kinship relations involved in constructing queer families. The discussion focuses on the heterogeneity of queer families; the difficulties encountered in association with processes of recognition and how this is negotiated across different contexts within queer families, extended…

Neuroscientists have long believed that there are sensitive periods in development during which the effects of experience play a critical role. And developmental psychologists have argued for the importance of early experience in the first years of life as being critical for brain and behavioral development. Most of the neuroscience research…

The aim of this research is to examine the effect of The Play supported Program designed for 60-72 month-old disadvantaged children on their readiness levels. The sample of the research has consisted of an experimental group and a control group, each having twenty 60-72 months old children (10 girls and 10 boys) at Göztepe Semiha Sakir Children's…

This report examines 174 young children's language outcomes in the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, the first randomized trial of foster placement after institutional care. Age of foster placement was highly correlated with language outcomes. Placement by 15 months led to similar expressive and receptive language test scores as typical age…

This study examined classifications of attachment in 42-month-old Romanian children (N = 169). Institutionalized since birth, children were assessed comprehensively, randomly assigned to care as usual (CAU) or to foster care, and compared to family-reared children. Attachment classifications for children in foster care were markedly different from…

This paper is an account of, and reflection on, the author's six-month ethnographic study of a residential care home for severely traumatised and abused children in Australia. During the stay she designed and offered a short six-day course for the care staff and foster carers in the use of play for emotional and therapeutic support. Prior to this,…

The child population in the United States is rapidly changing and diversifying--in large part because of immigration. Today, nearly one in four US children under the age of 18 is the child of an immigrant. While research has focused on the largest of these groups (Latinos and Asians), far less academic attention has been paid to the changing Black…

Data are reported from 3 groups of children residing in Bucharest, Romania. Face recognition in currently institutionalized, previously institutionalized, and never-institutionalized children was assessed at 3 time points: preintervention (n = 121), 30 months of age (n = 99), and 42 months of age (n = 77). Children watched photographs of caregiver…

International Child Development Initiatives (ICDI) is a Dutch non-profit organization with a world-wide brief, and a focus on transitional and developing countries. ICDI promotes the well-being of children growing up in difficult circumstances. As a result of the global recession, 2009 was a challenging year for many organizations working in the…

Examines effective permanence planning for children, focusing on the British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) strategy. Cites the importance of maintaining children with their birth families, while recognizing that some children remain too long in damaging family settings. Examines the issues of child attachment and contact. Calls for an…