Treatment of very young children in foster care involves the complex dynamics of a child's trauma history, multiple relationships, and caregivers' and providers' feelings about working with the child welfare system. Through the story of a toddler removed from his parents and placed in foster care, the authors illustrate a model of combined group…

Young children birth through five years old in the United States are more likely to experience child maltreatment, subsequent child welfare system (CWS) involvement, negative developmental outcomes, and serious maltreatment-related injuries and death than older children. This research-to-practice brief provides a model for how early care and…

This article provides an intervention to be used with young children in the foster care or adoption system. "Do You Ever Feel That Way? A Story and Activities About Families and Feelings" is a bibliotherapy-based intervention to be used with young children who have experienced removal from their homes due to abuse or neglect. The narrative tells…

This summary presents highlights of the "Minnesota Early Childhood Risk, Reach, and Resilience Report." The report describes potential risks to the healthy development of young children and the extent of coverage of publicly-funded services to meet their early learning, health, and basic needs. It also includes new and emerging…

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,…

This summary provides highlights from a report that describes potential risks to the healthy development of young children and the extent of coverage of publicly-funded services to meet their early learning, health, and basic needs. The report is the first attempt in Minnesota to describe indicators of early childhood development county by county.…

The physical, social, and economic health and well-being of adults and society are strongly influenced by experiences in early childhood. The most cost-efficient time to build foundational skills, to assure the healthy development of all young children, to break the cycle of disadvantage for vulnerable children, and to prevent achievement and…

The physical, social, and economic health and wellbeing of adults and society are strongly influenced by both positive and negative experiences in early childhood. The most cost-efficient time to build foundational skills, to assure the healthy development of all young children, to break the cycle of disadvantage for vulnerable children, and to…

Objective: To examine developmental and behavioral status of children in child welfare (CW) over time, by intensity of CW involvement using a national probability sample. Methods: As part of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being (NSCAW), data were collected on 1,049 children 12-47 months old investigated by CW agencies for…

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…

A number of child welfare policies have reinforced the use of kinship care as the most preferred placement for foster children, reflecting the philosophy that maintaining children within their own extended family system contributes to their stability and well-being. Given the growing utilization and legislative emphasis on kinship care along with…

"New Jersey Kids Count 2011" again documents both advances and setbacks in key areas that affect child well-being--poverty, health, child protection, education, including early learning, and adolescent well-being. To better gauge New Jersey's progress in essential areas, a "New Jersey Kids Count Report Card" that identifies…

This fact sheet provides data on infants, toddlers and young children who are experiencing high stress as a result of a number of risk factors specifically identified in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004), including substantiated abuse or neglect, foster care placement, homelessness, exposure to family…

Standardized clinical assessments from the point of view of children are rare. A standardized narrative assessment measure, developed to assess children's perceptions of their caregiving environments, the Narrative Story-Stem Technique (NSST), was used with two fraternal twins, age 8, with histories of severe maltreatment and multiple foster…

Discusses the effect that fetal exposure to cocaine and other drugs is having on infants and small children. Disputes the most widely cited estimate of the numbers of crack babies. Calls for restructuring foster care, group home placement, adoption, and general social welfare provision. Termination of parental rights is difficult but probably…