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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Causal Framework of Child Institutionalization in Moldova

Partnerships for Every Child Moldova, 24 Jun 2013

This graphic provides a visual representation of the causal framework of children’s institutionalization in Moldova. It was developed as part of the USAID/DCOF-funded project “Protecting children in Moldova from family separation, violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.”

Children without parental care in Poland: Foster care, institutionalization and adoption

Sandra Knuiman, Catharina HAM Rijk, René AC Hoksbergen and Anneloes L Van Baar, 05 Jun 2013

This article describes the historical background and current situation of the child welfare system for children without parental care in Poland.

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The Prevalence of Child Sexual Abuse in Out-of-Home Care: A Comparison Between Abuse in Residential and in Foster Care

Saskia Euser, Lenneke R. A. Alink, Anne Tharner, Marinus H. van IJzendoorn, and Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg - Child Maltreatment - Sage, 13 May 2013

Researchers investigated the prevalence of child sexual abuse in foster care and residential care facilities and found that 3.5 children per 1,000 had been victims of child sexual abuse.

Discriminación en las instituciones de cuidado de niñas, niños y adolescentes

Alberto Celesia, Marta Pesenti, Mónica Tarducci y Mara Tissera Luna - Relaf y Unicef, 01 May 2013

El presente informe refleja distintos aspectos del fenómeno de discriminación que sufren las niñas, niños y adolescentes sin cuidado parental que residen en instituciones de América Latina y el Caribe.

Children (Approved Home) Regulations: Assessment Toolkit

Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MoGLSD), 01 May 2013

This assessment toolkit and associated supporting documentation has been created to assist PSWO’s and Child Care Institutions to achieve compliance with the Children (Approved Home) Regulation 2010.

National Standards for Best Practices in Charitable Children’s Institutions

Republic of Kenya and UNICEF , 01 Apr 2013

This document was developed with the aim of assisting Charitable Children’s Institutions (CCIs) in Kenya to boost their capacity for determining which children need to be admitted into CCIs, how to provide adequate care and protection to the children and how to plan the eventual exit of the children back to their families and communities.

EveryChild Moldova's Programme Experience: Improving Children's Lives through Deinstitutionalization

N. Beth Bradford and Peter Evans , 01 Apr 2013

This Program Review documents the evolution of EveryChild/Partnerships for Every Child’s Program in Moldova since 1994, presenting the development of interventions to improve the lives of children through deinstitutionalization and identifying the best practices and lessons that may be relevant, useful, and replicable to other initiatives and organizations around the world.

Training Manual for Charitable Children's Institutions in Kenya

Republic of Kenya and UNICEF, 01 Apr 2013

This training manual has been developed with the aim of enhancing the capacity of Charitable Children Institutions (CCIs) in providing services to children under their care.

Identifying Basic Characteristics of Formal Alternative Care Settings For Children: A Discussion Paper

Better Care Network, Family for Every Child, International Social Service, Save the Children, SOS Children’s Villages International , 16 Mar 2013

The discussion paper provides an overview of existing definitions of formal care within the UN Guidelines and a summary of the basic characteristics identified for each, together with explanations for the proposed characteristics.

"En marche" vers la mise en œuvre des Lignes directrices relatives à la protection de remplacement pour les enfants

CELSIS & Working Group on Children without Parental Care , 06 Mar 2013

Ce manuel est conçu comme un outil pour les législateurs, les décideurs politiques, et tous les professionnels afin de soutenir la mise en œuvre des lignes directrices pour la prise en charge alternative des enfants, approuvées par l'Assemblée générale des Nations Unies en 2009