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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Directrices sobre las modalidades alternativas de cuidado de los niños

UN General Assembly A/RES/64/142, 24 Feb 2010

Las directrices sobre las modalidades alternativas de cuidado de los niños fueron endosados por la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas el 20 de noviembre de 2009, en conexión con el 20a aniversario de la Convención de los Derechos del Niño de la ONU.

Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children - Russian

UN General Assembly A/RES/64/142, 24 Feb 2010

The Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children were endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly on 20th November 2009, in connection with the 20th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Liberia: Regulations for the Appropriate Use and Conditions of Alternative Care for Children

Government of Liberia, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare , 01 Feb 2010

Regulations and tools designed to create the basis for reforming welfare institutions for the safe and appropriate administration of alternative care.

The Children Act (Kenya), Revised Edition 2010

National Council for Law Reporting with the Authority of the Attorney General, 2010

The Children Act, Chapter 141 is a Kenyan law that addresses provision for parental responsibility, fostering, adoption, custody, maintenance, guardianship, care and protection of children; provision for the administration of children’s insti

Rapid assessment of residential child care institutions in the Republic of Armenia

Mira Antonyan, 2010

The study covers all residential child care institutions operating in Armenia, with the purpose of creating a basic baseline for further analysis required for the progressive reduction of placement of children and the development of alternative child care services. The aim of the assessment is to verify the situation of each child in relation to their families, and the respect of their entitlements related to their specific condition.

Handbook on Preventing Violence Against Children

Canadian Red Cross , 2010

The Canadian Red Cross has produced a handbook on the prevention of violence against children. The handbook includes specific guidance on preventing violence against vulnerable children, such as children in institutions, children involved in armed conflict and children with disabilities.

Resolutions and Decisions adopted by the General Assembly during its sixty-fourth session

United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), 2010

The present volume contains the resolutions adopted by the General Assembly from 15 September to 24 December 2009, including the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children on page 376.

Children in Alternative Care: National Surveys 2nd edition

Eurochild Secretariat, 2010

In 2009 Eurochild carried out a survey of the situation of children in alternative care in Europe through its member organisations. The survey was not intended as a scientifically rigorous research exercise but rather to identify what information is readily available and to note some common trends across Europe.

Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological System Theory and the Experience of Institutionalization of Romanian Children

Adrian V. Rus, Wesley C. Lee, Dafnne B. Bautista Salas, Sheri R. Parris, Rebecca D. Webster, Austin R. Lobo, Stativa Ecaterina, Cosmin Popa - Research, Education and Development: Symposium Proceedings, 2010

This article explores the experience of institutionalization of Romanian children and Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological System Theory.

A Comparison of the Wellbeing of Orphans and Abandoned Children Ages 6–12 in Institutional and Community-Based Care Settings in 5 Less Wealthy Nations

Kathryn Whetten, Jan Ostermann, Lynne C. Messer, Rachel A. Whetten, Brian W. Pence, Karen O’Donnell, Nathan M. Thielman, The Positive Outcomes for Orphans (POFO) Research Team, 18 Dec 2009

Global policy makers are advocating that institution-living orphans and abandoned children (OAC) be moved as quickly as possible to a residential family setting and that institutional care be used as a last resort.