CfP: Special Issue: ‘Music Making with Children in Care’ (International Journal of Community Music), Deadline: 31. Mai 2027
The number of children entering state care is increasing globally. For
instance, in the UK, the latest available statistics indicate that more
than 81,770 children are currently in state care (Fostering Network 2025),
while an estimated 331,747 children are in the US foster care system (CAFO
2026). In Greece, recent data indicate that 2,582 children are living in
residential care settings, of whom 1,206 are accommodated in
state-supervised institutions and 1,376 are unaccompanied minors residing
in shelters for children with a migration background (UNICEF 2025).
Most commonly, children in care reside with dedicated foster carers or
within children’s residential homes, but this may also include living
either permanently or for a significant period time with extended family
members (such as grandparents) or residing in medical or correctional
facilities (Porter et al. 2022). There are various reasons why children
enter state care, ranging from abuse and neglect in their birth home to
entering a country as a refugee or asylum seeker without a parent or
guardian (Mylonakou-Keke et al. 2017).
Numerous studies have highlighted the detrimental effects of living within
the care system on children and young people’s personal, educational and
social development (Bárdits and Kertesi 2025; Bush 2018; Fonagy 2018;
Porter et al. 2022). For example, Simkiss (2012) highlights how living in
care may disrupt children’s personal educational development due to high
absence rates and school transitions that affect academic progress.
Martínes-Usarralde et al. (2025) note that, for many children in care,
there can often be challenges in securing emotional bonds with caregivers
(foster carers, residential workers) due to the effects of early trauma and
instability in care placements.
Recognizing the various challenges that living within the care system may
pose for children, many arts and cultural institutions have responded by
developing participatory programmes designed to work with this demographic.
Community music has become one of the key art forms working with children
in care, given music’s so-called “power” (Hallam and Himonides 2022) to act
as a bridge for emotional regulation, social connection and the development
of children and young people’s personal identity (Dillon 2010; Humphrey
2022; Van Rooyen and Dos Santos 2020; Zanders 2012). Nevertheless, whilst
there is an increasing number of community music programmes for children
and young people in care across the globe, there has been limited scholarly
attention paid to this area of practice.
This special edition of the International Journal of Community Music
invites authors to contribute papers that aim to deepen understandings of
music-making with children in care by exploring emerging practices and
global perspectives across diverse contexts, by recognizing variations in
the meaning of “children in care” and what care means from a community
music perspective, by examining the organization of care systems, the
professionals involved, and young people’s perspectives on their
participation in these programmes, and by elucidating how music is
understood, experienced and practised within these settings.
Papers may address, but are not limited to, the following areas of focus:
Practice and Pedagogy: How are community musicians facilitating
music-making opportunities with children in care? How can community music
initiatives create opportunities for children in care and children living
in family settings to participate and engage together? How do community
musicians promote and respond to children's voices in their everyday work?
Wellbeing and Development: What are the impacts and benefits that
music-making offers care-experienced children and their wider support
networks? In what ways do the outcomes of music-making with children in
care extend beyond the community music project, influencing participants'
personal well-being, long-term musical trajectories, and ongoing civic
engagement?
Systems and Policies: How are community musicians working
collaboratively with welfare state actors in the development and delivery
of community music programmes? What forms of partnership and
cross-sector collaboration best support sustainable music provision for
care-experienced children and young people? How can community music
practice inform policy development and systems change for children in care?
Research and Ethics: How can quantitative, qualitative and arts-based
methodologies be implemented to capture the non-linear social and emotional
impacts of community music programs for children in care? How can data
collection be structured to generate meaningful evidence of impact while
minimizing the risk of re-traumatization for participants? How can
care-experienced children and young people be meaningfully involved as
active co-researchers across the design, analysis, and dissemination of a
study?
Submissions
Proposals of up to 500 words for proposed articles should be directed
to Yiannis Litos (gianlitos[at]uom.edu.gr) and Ryan Humphrey (
ryan.humphrey[at]manchester.ac.uk) no later than 31 May 2027. Contributors
whose proposals are accepted will be required to submit their full
manuscripts for peer review by 1 October 2027. The special issue is
targeted for publication in 2028.