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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Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 01 Jun 2015

In this executive summary, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada provides an introduction to the use of residential schools for aboriginal children in Canada, presents an overview of the Commission’s activities, describes the history and legacy of these residential schools, and outlines the challenges of reconciliation, including 94 recommendations, or “calls to action” for reconciliation in the field of Child Welfare among many others.

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Every Kid Needs a Family: Giving Children in the Child Welfare System the Best Chance for Success

Annie E. Casey Foundation, 19 May 2015

This KIDS COUNT policy report underscores the importance of family-based care and calls for limiting the role of residential treatment care for children in the US

Every Kid Needs a Family: Giving Children in the Child Welfare System the Best Chance for Success

Annie E. Casey Foundation, 19 May 2015

This KIDS COUNT policy report highlights the benefits of family care for children and the need to prioritize family settings for all children in the child welfare system in the United States.

Family Support and Alternative Care The Baltic Sea States Regional Report

Daja Wenke - Council of the Baltic Sea States Secretariat, Estonian Presidency 2014-2015, Republic of Estonia Ministry of Social Affairs, 06 May 2015

This report was developed as part of a mapping study aimed at analysing the situation of alternative care and family support in the Baltic Sea Region, assessing the achievements since the 2005 Ministerial Forum and identifying relevant opportunities and challenges for the future.

Family Support and Alternative Care in the Baltic Sea Region Background Paper 2015

Daja Wenke - Council of the Baltic Sea States Secretariat, Expert Group for Cooperation on Children at Risk, 06 May 2015

This background paper was developed as part of a regional study which gathered relevant data and information on family support and alternative care in the eleven Member States of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS).

Family Support and Alternative Care Tallinn Expert Meeting Report 2015

Council of the Baltic Sea States, Estonian Presidency 2014-2015, Sotsiaalministeerium, 06 May 2015

This report provides an overview of the two-day expert meeting on alternative care and family support in the Baltic Sea Region that took place in Tallinn, Estonia in May 2015.

A model supporting research on children growing up in asylum systems

Robert Mooney, Geary Institute for Public Policy, University College Dublin, 01 May 2015

This paper examines the Irish national and international legislation governing asylum systems, provides an overview of the Irish Direct Provision system and suggests a model under which these cases may be analysed across different societal levels.

Looked-after children and young people: Public Health Guideline

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) , 01 May 2015

This guideline covers how organisations, professionals and carers can work together to deliver high quality care, stable placements and nurturing relationships for looked-after children and young people in England.

การศึกษาทบทวนด้านการเลี้ยงดูทดแทนในประเทศไทย: นโยบายสู่การปฏิบัติโดยมุ่งเน้นเด็กที่ได้รับผลกระทบจาก เอชไอวี/เอดส์ (CABA)

UNICEF, 01 May 2015

The purpose of this research was to capture more accurate and detailed information regarding children in various forms of alternative care in Thailand.

Children in Haiti: from institutions to families

Lumos, 01 May 2015

This report, first distributed at the seminar co-hosted by Lumos and USAID on the challenge of institutionalization in Haiti, provides some background information on the effects of institutionalisation as well as the particular situation in Haiti.