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.

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Lorena Contreras-Taibo, Camila Peralta-García, Constanza Albarrán-Ávalos, and Antonella Bossano-Colombo,,

El abuso sexual infantil constituye un grave problema mundial que resulta muy difícil develar, particularmente en contextos institucionales y sin soporte familiar. Desde allí, se busca comprender, desde la perspectiva de personas adultas sobrevivientes y psicólogas tratantes, las experiencias de develación del abuso en entornos residenciales en Chile y las respuestas institucionales tras su develación.

Özge Kelebek and Fatih Kucur,

This research examined children’s homes, one of the residential child care institutions in Turkey, in terms of spatial aspects, institutional functioning and, child-care staff relations.

Bruce B. Henderson,

In this commentary, two examples of how research often cited in calls to eliminate residential care has been inappropriately overgeneralized.

Lottie Harris, Mary Ann Powell, Tim Moore, Jessica Dickson, Fatima Ghani ,

A scoping review of 31 studies (2013–2023) examined why children and young people in out-of-home care in Australia spend unauthorised time away from placements. Findings show these absences often reflect efforts to seek safety, stability, connection, autonomy, and belonging, highlighting systemic shortcomings and the need for youth-informed practices that address needs both in care and while away.

Shian Yin,

This study explored the experiences of 14 adolescents living in a ci'aiyuan childcare institution in Xiangxi, China, finding that it sometimes fostered supportive relationships, enhanced perceived social support, and facilitated positive life changes. While these accounts challenge dominant negative views of institutional care, the study emphasizes the need to address ongoing complexities and challenges in such settings.

Andrew Burns, Maximilian Schäfer,

In this paper, two researchers with backgrounds in ethnography describe and reflect on their experiences from a qualitative, transnational study called 'Back to the Future: Archiving in Residential Children's Homes (ARCH) in Scotland and Germany. Important goals of the study are the investigation and development of digital community archives for young people, care workers and care leavers from residential homes in order to support their memories of shared everyday life.

Steven Roche, Carmela Otarra, Catherine Flynn, Philip Mendes,

This article investigates the contemporary transnational and neocolonial characteristics of children’s welfare in the Philippines, drawing on the perspectives of young people in residential care settings as well as the views of programme and policy actors embedded across child protection systems.

This study sought to identify, describe, and correlate cognitive learning abilities among a group of 34 male children, aged 9–13, residing in care facilities in Mexico. This model represents a pioneering strategy in Mexico, aiming to enhance cognitive abilities by leveraging strengths and adopting a perspective grounded in human rights, inclusion, and interculturality.

Better Care Network, Transforming Children's Care Collaborative, Helping Children Worldwide,

In this interview, BCN’s Senior Technical Advisor, Rebecca Nhep, speaks with Laura Horvath, from Helping Children Worldwide, about the impact of child sponsorship programs on the transition of residential care services and post transition family strengthening programs.

UNICEF ESARO Regional Learning Platform,

In this workshop panelists explored UNICEF's Data and Analytics Section's protocols and tools for gathering data on children in residential care.