Utilizing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children, this paper examines critical components and current characteristics of alternative care for children in low‐resource countries. It begins by exploring the role of values within policy and practice related to child welfare. Then a brief examination comparing alternative care in high‐ versus low‐resource countries is presented. Alternative care includes a continuum approach beginning with family support and reunification, kinship care, foster care, domestic adoption, and ending with intercountry adoption. Specific examples are provided from Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Africa. The paper concludes with the need for more research related to alternative care outcomes that could inform policy and practice.

This monograph reviews literature pertaining to children without permanent parents. Chapters review (1) the development of children while institutional residents; (2) the development of postinstitutionalized children transitioned to family environments (i.e., adoption); the effects of institutionalization on (3) attachment behaviors, (4) physical growth, and (5) neurobiological development; (6) the possibility of a sensitive period in early development during which institutionalization may be most damaging; (7) best practices in low-resource countries in moving toward family alternatives to institutions; (8) challenges faced by these countries in formulating and implementing such policies; and (9) more speculative interpretations of major research, practice, and policy issues in this field.It is clear that r Infants and young children being reared in most institutions are substantially delayed in their physical, neurobiological, cognitive, and social-emotional development.