The aim of the study is to identify the difficulties in developing the social skills of children in care, based on the experiences of social workers working in family based homes.

Qualitative research was conducted for the study using a semi-structured interview method. The research question was: What difficulties do social workers face in developing the social skills of children in their care? The data obtained during the study was analysed using qualitative content analysis. Qualitative content analysis was based on an inductive logic of category formation based on the study data. The study involved 15 professionals working in family based homes.

The study shows that difficulties in the development of social skills in children in care occur at the level of the family based home, the child's family and the child individually. Difficulties at the level of the family based home arise from high changes of social workers, lack of adherence to staff agreements, high concentration of socially disadvantaged children, negative influence of children on each other and lack of competence of social workers to develop children's social skills. Difficulties related to the child's family are associated with the absence of a suitable role model in the family, lack of social skills of parents, parents' hostile attitude towards social workers and their non-cooperation with them, and children's disposition towards social workers. Difficulties related to the child arise from the child's emotional trauma, mistrust of the social worker and of themselves, and lack of motivation to change.

Introduction. A key goal of preparing children in care for independent living is developing social skills. The presentation aim is to reveal the role of social worker in developing children's social skills in a family-based home.

Qualitative research was conducted for the study using the focus group interview method. The collected data were analyzed through qualitative content analysis, following an inductive category formation process derived from the study data. In total, three focus group interviews were conducted, involving 22 children from the family based home.

The analysis of the data showed that children recognise the social worker as a supportive and educational professional in the development of social skills. Authentic care for the child is linked to building and maintaining positive relationships with the child, recognising the uniqueness of the child, and accepting the child as he/she is. The educational aspect of the social worker's activity in developing children's social skills is revealed through individual conversations, discussions and reflections with children, the search and implementation of agreements, the facilitation of children's relationships with each other, their involvement in decision-making, the planning and organisation of activities. In addition, involving children in socially meaningful activities, fostering community spirit in the family home, building and fostering harmonious relationships with neighbours and community members opens up a wider range of educational opportunities for developing social skills in children growing up in the family based home.

Minors’ protections, rooted in legal tradition through frameworks like the Italian Constitution and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, have recently been updated by regulations like the GDPR. Yet the Digital Era still poses threats. Not only is children’s vulnerability growing due to direct technology use and the spread of IoT, but it is also heightened by the so-called ‘sharenting.’ Scholars use this term to refer to the new but increasingly common parental practice of sharing minors’ images and data online, a risk that social sciences research links to cybercrime, privacy breaches, digital profiling, and threats to identity and self-determination. This practice creates a permanent digital footprint beyond minors' consent, with enduring consequences.

The paper aims to explore the constitutional implications of sharenting, assessing whether consent regulations adequately protect minors’ fundamental rights—identity, image, privacy, and security—in the digital landscape. Also, though legal measures remain essential, their effectiveness is uncertain, driving a need to re-examine regulatory and constitutional frameworks. Grounded in legal analysis, the research intends to enrich debates on safeguarding minors digitally, welcoming insights from ethics, social sciences, and digital studies to shape best practices for addressing sharenting’s challenges. The work aims to contribute to discussions on digital vulnerability from a constitutional law perspective, strengthening the foundation for inclusive practices that protect minors in the complexities of an interconnected world.

The research idea was inspired by trends of mass global migration spread in last few decades. It became rather often situation when at least one parent is abroad while children left in home country. The research question arise how children from such transnational families are included into non-formal education.

The aim of presentation is to discuss practices that pedagogs apply for inclusion of migrants’ children into non-formal education. Empirical data collected in 2025 during implementation of the sub-project “Implementing Children‘s Rights In The Transnational Family: The Role Of Non-Formal Education – FAMEDU-CHILD” of a project funded by the State Budget titled “Establishment of Centres of Excellence at Mykolas Romeris University” which is implemented under the initiative “Centres of Excellence Initiative” initiated by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports of the Republic of Lithuania. In total three focus groups with pedagogs of non-formal education conducted at the beginning of 2025. The collected empirical data interpreted from an educational and sociological perspectives.

The research results reveal importance of the pedagogs of non-formal education in the process of inclusion of transnational families’ children into non-formal education. This way, pedagogs contribute to development of these children, and implementation of their rights. At the same time, special practices are needed in order to accomplish listed goals toward transnational families’ children within the context of non-formal education.