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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Impact of COVID-19 on Privately Run and Funded Residential Care Institutions: Briefing Note for Donors and Supporters of Overseas RCIs

Better Care Network, Law Futures Centre - Griffith Law School, World Childhood Foundation, Eriks Development Partner, 2021

This study was a small-scale piece of qualitative research that involved 21 semistructured interviews with founders, funders, and directors of RCIs across 7 countries. It was designed to better understand the impacts of COVID-19 on the operations of residential care institutions including funding, staffing, volunteering, children’s care, education, family connection and reintegration.

Thai version

The Legal Framework of Orphanage Trafficking In Uganda: Enhancing Identification, Prosecution & Prevention

Rebecca Nhep, Kate van Doore, 2021

This report seeks to examine Uganda’s legal and policy framework to identify the relevant offences and mechanisms that could contribute towards the development of a prosecutorial strategy for orphanage trafficking in Uganda.

Magnitude and Associated Factors of Undernutrition Among Children Aged 6–59 Months in Ethiopian Orphanage Centres

Haimanot Teferi and Tesfalem Teshome - Pediatric Health, Medicine and Therapeutics, 2021

This study aimed to assess magnitude and associated factors of undernutrition among children aged 6–59 months in Ethiopian orphanage centres.

Independent Child Safeguarding Review Report

Keeping Children Safe, 2021

The Independent Child Safeguarding Review (ICSR) was commissioned by the International Senate of SOS Children’s Villages to find ways to address the complex topic of child safeguarding failures. The report sets out consolidated findings and recommendations from four country reviews with the aim of contributing to improvements in safeguarding practice.

The Legal Framework Of Orphanage Trafficking In Cambodia, Nepal And Uganda: Enhancing Identification, Prosecution & Prevention (Summary Report)

Kate van Doore, Rebecca Nhep, 2021

This study assesses and maps the legal, policy and procedural frameworks in both domestic and international law across Nepal, Uganda and Cambodia, where orphanage trafficking continues to undermine domestic efforts to stem the overuse of institutionalisation of children.

Child care institutions in India: Investigating issues and challenges in children’s rehabilitation and social integration

Evergreat Wanglar - Children and Youth Services Review, 31 Dec 2020

This study aimed to unravel the different issues and challenges that hinder the effective rehabilitation of children in child care institutions in India.

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What does research tell us about young people’s participation in decision making in residential care? A systematic scoping review

Lynne McPherson, Meaghan Vosz, Kathomi Gatwiri, Natalie Parmenter, Noel Macnamara, Janise Mitchell, Joe Tucci - Children and Youth Services Review, 29 Dec 2020

This article reports on a systematic scoping review which investigated research publications on participation in making life-impacting decisions by young people.

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Community-based participatory research with at-risk youth: lessons learned from a Photovoice project in Taiwan

Victor Hsiao, Sunya Chen, Mellissa Withers - Journal of Health and Caring Sciences, 18 Dec 2020

Thirteen youth from a group home in Taiwan for teenage boys in the foster care and juvenile justice systems participated in this yearlong study which utilized a strengths-based approach to examine resiliency, their needs, and sources of support. This article describes nine key lessons learned to keep at-risk youth at the center of future similar research studies through protecting, representing, and empowering them.

Orphanage Trafficking and Child Protection in Emergencies in Nepal: A Comparative Analysis of the 2015 Earthquake and the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic

Martin Punaks and Samjyor Lama - Institutionalised Children Explorations and Beyond, 15 Dec 2020

This article compares and contrasts two humanitarian emergencies and their impact on Nepal: these are the Nepal earthquake in 2015 and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Education Opportunities and Support for Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Bagamoyo District Tanzania

Bertha Erasto Losioki - East African Journal of Education Studies, 14 Dec 2020

This study assessed educational opportunities and the support available to orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Bagamoyo District to determine socioeconomic and psychological factors that limit access to education.