News by Subject Social & Behavior

Following Freedom of Information (FOI) requests issued to the Department for Education, which provided access to national data collected from local authorities in England, researchers found that in the decade to 2018, the proportion of children in England born into care rose from 26 to 48 per 10,000 live births -- or from around one baby in 400 to one in 200.

The opioid crisis and other social issues have left millions of US grandparents raising their grandchildren. A George Mason University study led by Dr. Catherine Tompkins studied grandfamilies in the Washington, DC area and offers a framework to help social workers develop best practices for understanding and addressing the relationship, situational, and emotional complexities of kinship care.

When 18-year-old youths transition out of children's homes, what crimes do they commit? How often? Does it get worse over time? These juveniles move into an uncertain world, highly vulnerable, and with little social capital. They are generally viewed as at risk for criminal activities, supported by limited research globally. An unusual, small 6-year longitudinal study in South Africa sheds light on the under-researched lives of juvenile care leavers.

Children diagnosed with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) -- caused by prenatal alcohol exposure -- often face lifelong developmental, cognitive and behavioral problems. But the children are not the only ones who struggle; often their parents and caretakers do, too. A new study by University of Rochester researchers examines how FASD caregivers' perceived confidence in and the frequency of self-care is related to stress, parenting attitudes, and family needs.