Resources Database

Culturally responsive practice is often influenced by the extent to which social work practitioners apply indigenous and innovative philosophies, methods, approaches, and models. There is consensus among social work scholars regarding the need for the social work profession to develop and adopt models and approaches that promote culturally relevant social work practice.

This article explores the construction of childhood and parenthood in rural communities in Indonesia based on a series of focus group discussions with service providers, community decision makers, and para professionals. The interviews sought to examine providers’ definition of successful children and perception of factors that could undermine a child’s success. A review of Indonesia’s educational and child protection policy framework shows there are many parenting programs, but authors argue that without structural changes, these programs will be ineffective.

This research seeks to develop a deeper understanding of community strategies for preventing serious violations of children’s rights before they occur. Most interventions intended to protect children are currently designed to begin after harm has occurred: remove children from places of exploitation, then attempt to support their recovery and social integration.

This 4th annual report consolidates trends and data from 32 countries to make recommendations for better planning, development and support to this frontline workforce.

The training manual presents a three-day curriculum and includes lecturettes, participatory activities, and handouts to support implementing partners working with orphans and other vulnerable children and key populations to increase implementing partners’ capacity to design and implement interventions that are gender-aware and -transformative, and prevent and respond to gender-based violence (GBV).

MEASURE Evaluation worked with six OVC projects in six countries to gain insight on current approaches to OVC case management, map how costs can be linked to OVC case management activities, and determine the cost of OVC case management. To further inform and strengthen our understanding of the cost data, the study also qualitatively explored the context of the community workers' experiences related to OVC case management. 

This toolkit is intended to guide participatory, national level analyses of the social service workforce.

These guidelines were produced by four national professional associations for child and youth care workers in Africa to encourage others to undertake a similar process in other countries toward professionalization, regulation and growth of child and youth care work. These guidelines provide an overview on the steps and considerations to launching and sustaining an association.

This voluntary European Quality Framework aims to develop a common understanding on the quality of social services within the EU by identifying quality principles that these services should fulfil. Moreover, by proposing a set of methodological guidelines, the Quality Framework will also help public authorities in charge of organising and financing social services, to develop at the appropriate level, specific tools for the definition, measurement and evaluation of social services' quality.

These guidelines are informed by evidence of ‘what works’ and lessons learned in the field.

The Kinship Care: State of the Nation 2018 survey is the largest survey ever of kinship carers in the UK. As in previous years, it shows that many carers aren't getting the support they need to enable children to thrive, including 32% of carers who said they were worried about their mental and physical health and their ability to carry out their kinship care role.

The growing need for kinship families and related support services has led many States to launch kinship awareness campaigns to recognize the tremendous contribution these caregivers make, the challenges they face, and the help they need. This bulletin highlights supports and services for kinship caregivers, training for caseworkers and caregivers, and examples of successful kinship care programs.

Although caseworkers play a key role in ensuring that the special needs of these children are met, little is known regarding caseworkers’ knowledge about, exposure to, and comfort with people with developmental disabilities. In this exploratory study, local county caseworkers were asked to self-rate their knowledge, exposure, and comfort levels. Findings indicated caseworker agreement regarding the relevance of having knowledge and training about this population within the child welfare system.

This final project report highlights some of the lessons and achievements in Moldova toward helping government improve national child care and child protection policies and legislation and build capacity through training to support the transition of the child care system towards family- and community-based services. The project also worked with district-specific social service systems built on family support, alternative care, and child protection; capacity building/training; inclusive education; financial management; child participation; and deinstitutionalization.

This short human rights in action article take a critical approach to the translation of alternative care and child protection policies to practice and highlights risks involved with haste, outcomes measured in numbers and unrealistic timeframes, and rapidly transforming practice with nascent investment in a country’s capacity to assess and respond to the real needs of children and families within their communities.

During a workshop proceeding, speakers examined the rationale for integration of health care and social services for people with serious illness, explored examples of innovative partnerships and collaborations that provide integrated services, and discussed the potential policy challenges and opportunities for integrating health care and social services. The workshop also featured a session devoted to the unique role and needs of family caregivers, who often serve as a bridge between the health care and social services sectors.

This bulletin describes the intersection of child welfare and early invention services, provides an overview of the Part C process, and outlines the challenges and strategies for implementing Part C provisions.

A series of three tools has been developed to support groups working to transition from residential care settings to family-based care, including an online training, a guidance manual and toolkit.

This report shows how cash benefits are proven to have significant, wide-ranging, positive impacts on children’s lives, but that they must be part of integrated social protection and broader social policy programming that includes childcare and social services as well.

This publication outlines five clear steps that child welfare agency leaders can take to build and maintain a strong, stable frontline workforce.