Gallinetti, JacquiSloth-Nielsen, Julia2015-10-282015-10-282010Gallinetti,J.Sloth-Nielsen,J.(2010).Cluster foster care: a panacea for the care of children in the era of HIV/AIDS or an MCQ. Journal of Social Work, 46(4):486-4962312-7198http://hdl.handle.net/10566/1916The ravages wrought by HIV/AIDS on child-care arrangements in the African context are well documented (Richter & Sherr, 2009; Sloth-Nielsen & Mezmur, 2008; Tsegaye, 2007; sources cited there). Notably, these constitute the breakdown of traditional kinship structures which would ordinarily have accommodated orphans and other vulnerable children, a decrease in the capacity of existing extended family structures to care for the numbers of children requiring alternative care, and the emergence of child-headed households. The topic of child-headed households, too, has emerged as a key concept in international child rights law (Couzens & Zaal, 2009; Sloth-Nielsen, 2004; Sloth-Nielsen in Skelton & Davel, 2010; UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCROC), General Comment No. 3 on HIV/ AIDS and the rights of the child, 2003), and this phenomenon has been directly related to the onset of the pandemic.enThis journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.Children's rightsChild-headed householdsAlternative careHIV/AIDSVulnerable childrenFoster careArticle