This post is part of the Better Volunteering Better Care Initiative’s month-long spread of articles aimed at raising awareness around the issues of orphanage volunteering. In this post, the author explains that, around the world, many orphanages are being run, not by government, but by church groups and individuals who start as volunteers. “The institutions are poorly regulated and they’re doing a job that could be done by the children’s families, with the right support,” says Smith.

This paper provides an overview of international volunteering, or “voluntourism,” and its potential vulnerability to child sexual exploitation, particularly in residential care centres. 

This article from the Pew Research Center presents statistics on the number of unaccompanied minors seeking asylum in Europe, and the growth in child migration in the past few years.

This study was aimed to identify adjustment problems of adolescents residing in an orphanage in Kerala, India, as well as to find out the association between adjustment problems of adolescents residing at orphanage with their socio-demographic variables. 

This study implemented a 3-month yoga program with orphan adolescents in Bangalore, India and evaulated the impact of the program on adolescent executive functioning. 

A Centre of Excellence in Alternative Care has just been launched in New Delhi, India, according to the article. 

In this media release, the new The Centre of Excellence in Alternative Care of Children in India announces its launch and its commitment to support and strengthen family-based care and protection for millions of children in India. 

This report examines the effects the 2015 Nepal earthquakes had on vulnerable populations.  It lists several concerns faced since the earthquake, which include the thousands of people who have lost their homes and children left unaccompanied. 

This document reports on Udayan Care's international seminar on ‘Improving Standards of Care for Alternative Child and Youth Care: Systems, Policies and Practices’ 

Realizing the importance and need to improve standards of care, service delivery and mental health of institutionalized children, adolescents and young adults, Udayan Care announces its second biennial international conference on the the