Residential Care

Residential care refers to any group living arrangement where children are looked after by paid staff in a specially designated facility. It covers a wide variety of settings ranging from emergency shelters and small group homes, to larger-scale institutions such as orphanages or children’s homes. As a general rule, residential care should only be provided on a temporary basis, for example while efforts are made to promote family reintegration or to identify family based care options for children. In some cases however, certain forms of residential care can operate as a longer-term care solution for children.

Residential care can be a positive alternative for some girls and boys when it is used appropriately and meets certain standards. For example, small group home living arrangements or supported independent living can work well in cases where children (often older teenagers) don’t feel comfortable in a family setting, or where large groups of siblings want to stay together. Similarly in cases where children have suffered trauma, severe abuse or neglect, have a severe disability or require specialised support, small group settings where trained staff can provide therapeutic care may be an appropriate care option. As much as possible, residential facilities should be small, community-based, organised to resemble a family-type or small-group situation and allow for sufficient staff to provide individualised attention to children.

It is important to distinguish between residential care and institutional care, which should only be used as a last and temporary resort for children. Institutional care refers to large-scale group care within big institutional facilities and has been associated with a wide range of problems for children including physical, social and emotional under-development - with babies and infants under the age of three especially vulnerable to lasting harm. Long periods in an institution can deprive children of positive individual attention from consistent caregivers, make it difficult for them to assimilate back into a family and community, and are often linked to increased risk of sexual and physical abuse, a lack of stimulation, and harsh discipline.

In recent years, deinstitutionalisation has been at the heart of national care reform efforts, which seek to reduce reliance on institutional care and to promote family and community based care options for children instead. This includes efforts to promote ethical volunteerism within residential care centres, educate donors and to avoid proliferation of orphanages and children’s homes after humanitarian emergencies.

The documents in this section outline residential care options for children, examine the damaging impact of institutions, explore family and community-based care alternatives and describe care reform efforts including initiatives around ethical volunteerism.

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Children’s experiences of alternative care in mainland Southeast Asia – a scoping review of literature

Justin Rogers, Robert Whitelaw, Victor Karunan, Pryn Ketnim - Children and Youth Services Review, 28 Nov 2020

This scoping review focuses on available research articles that directly, or indirectly, engage with children to explore their experiences of living in Residential Care Settings (RCSs) in the Southeast Asia region.

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Youth’s rights and mental health: The role of supportive relations in care

Eunice Magalhães, Maria Manuela Calheiros, Patrício Costa, Sofia Ferreira - Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 28 Nov 2020

This study builds upon and enhances existing knowledge by exploring the moderating role of social support from educators in residential care and the association between perceived rights and psychological difficulties.

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‘Discuss it with your legal guardian’: Challenges in practising care for young unaccompanied refugee minors

Guro Brokke Omland, Agnes Andenas, Nora Sveaass - Child & Family Social Work, 26 Nov 2020

Informed by developmental perspectives that consider young people's development through participation across contexts in everyday life and by research into how parents in ‘ordinary’ families organize care, the authors of this article developed a study based on interviews with 15 unaccompanied refugee minors and their professional caregivers at residential care institutions.

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Presentation: Structural Neglect of Children Living in Institutional Settings

Marinus van IJzendoorn, 18 Nov 2020

This presentation - delivered by Marinus van IJzendoorn at a 18 November 2020 meeting of the Evidence for Impact Working Group, a working group of the recently launched Transforming Children's Care Global Collaborative Platform - presents evidence of the harmful impacts of institutionalization on children, demonstrates some of the benefits of deinstitutionalization for getting children back on track, and raises questions about gap-year volunteers working in orphanages.

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Residential childcare workers in child welfare and moral distress

Denise Michelle Brend - Children and Youth Services Review, 09 Nov 2020

For this study, an exploratory theoretical thematic analysis of the narratives of residential childcare workers in child welfare (RCWs) was performed to further understanding about the nature of the psychological distress reported by RCWs.

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Final Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes

Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, 30 Oct 2020

The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and certain related matters was established by the Irish Government in February 2015 to provide a full account of what happened to vulnerable women and children in Mother and Baby Homes during the period 1922 to 1998.

Differences between boys and girls in perceived group climate in residential youth care

J. Sonderman, G. H. P. Van der Helm, C. H. Z. Kuiper, J. J. Roest, D. Van de Mheen, G. J. J. M. Stams - Children and Youth Services Review, 28 Oct 2020

The aim of the present study was to examine differences in perceived living group climate between boys and girls in a sample of 344 youth receiving residential youth care in the Netherlands.

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Crimes Against Humanity: Decades of Violence and Abuse in Mexican Institutions for Children and Adults with Disabilities

Laurie Ahern, Lisbet Brizuela, Ivonne Millán, Priscila Rodríguez, Eric Rosenthal - Disability Rights International, 26 Oct 2020

This report documents severe and pervasive human rights violations against children and adults with disabilities in residential facilities in Mexico.

Crímenes de Lesa Humanidad: Décadas de Violencia y Abuso en las instituciones para Niñas, Niños, Adolescentes y Adultos con Discapacidad

Laurie Ahern, Lisbet Brizuela, Ivonne Millán, Priscila Rodríguez, Eric Rosenthal - Disability Rights International, 26 Oct 2020

Este informe documenta violaciones graves y generalizadas a los derechos humanos de niñas, niños adolescentes y adultos con discapacidad en centros residenciales en México.

Children in Care in Northern Ireland 2018 - 19: Statistical Bulletin

Heidi Rodgers and Jessica McCluney - Community Information Branch, Information & Analysis Directorate, Department of Health, 07 Oct 2020

This publication presents the latest figures on children and young people in care in Northern Ireland.