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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Prioritizing nutrition and feeding in alternative care: An introduction and recommendations for programs

SPOON, 01 Aug 2020

This paper draws upon lessons from SPOON Foundation's work in 17 countries since 2008, summarizing the main nutrition considerations for children in alternative care and offering recommendations on integrating nutrition and feeding practices into alternative care programs. This paper also explores ways that nutrition can support the global movement to ensure every child has family-based care, while meeting the immediate needs of the millions of children currently in all types of alternative care.

The school experience of children in residential care: A multiple case study

Marta Garcia‐Molsosa, Jordi Collet‐Sabé, Carme Montserrat - Child & Family Social Work, 30 Jul 2020

Qualitative research based on a multiple‐case study was designed and carried out in Spain with the aim of deepening the understanding of the individual school experiences of three children in residential care.

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Behaviour management or institutionalised repression? Children’s experiences of physical restraint in custody

Felicity Shenton & Roger Smith - Children & Society, 21 Jul 2020

This article reports on a study of children's experiences of being physically restrained by staff in a range of custodial settings, including Local Authority Secure Children's Homes, in the UK.

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Family Partnering in Australian Therapeutic Residential Care: A Scoping Study

Patricia M McNamara - Residential Treatment for Children & Youth , 19 Jul 2020

This preliminary scoping study aimed to explore approaches to family partnering within Australian therapeutic residential care (TRC), along with elements of best practice.

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Maltreatment and youth self-representations in residential care: The moderating role of individual and placement variables

Maria Manuela Calheiros, Carla Silva, Joana Nunes Patrício - Children and Youth Services Review, 10 Jul 2020

The objective of this study was to explore the effects of previous maltreatment on current self-representations (i.e., the attributes used to describe oneself) of youth in residential care and the moderating role of gender, age, number of previous placements and length of placement in residential care.

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Female care leavers' journey to young adulthood from residential care in South Africa: Gender‐specific psychosocial processes of resilience

Joyce Hlungwani & Adrian D. van Breda - Child & Family Social Work, 07 Jul 2020

This article describes the psychosocial resilience processes that facilitate successful transitioning of young women as they journey out of residential care towards young adulthood.

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The Role of Small-Scale Residential Care for Children in the Transition From Institutional to Community-Based Care and in the Continuum of Care in the Europe and Central Asia Region

Stela Grigoras - UNICEF Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECARO), 01 Jul 2020

This White Paper summarizes evidence on the current use and impact of small-scale residential care (also: ‘SSRC’) and offers guidance on how to enable all children to grow up in a loving and stable family environment. It aims to promote better decisionmaking among policy-makers, local governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as well as child welfare and other, allied practitioners of the establishment.

Kenya National Care System Assessment: A participatory self-assessment of the formal care system of children living outside of family care and for the prevention of unnecessary separation of children from families

National Council for Children's Services - Republic of Kenya, 01 Jul 2020

This care system assessment is intended to support the Government of Kenya to assess and strengthen the national, formal care system.

A Data-informed Model for Building Research Capacity in Out-of-home Care and Treatment Settings for Children and Youth

Sharon G. Portwood, A. Suzanne Boyd & Kenesha Smith Barber - Residential Treatment for Children & Youth , 30 Jun 2020

In response to the continuing need for agencies providing residential care and treatment to children and youth to develop and/or to enhance their ability to examine the effectiveness and efficiency of their services, this article explores successful strategies for building and sustaining research capacity in these settings.

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What is known about child sexual exploitation in residential care in Australia? A systematic scoping review

Kathomi Gatwiri, Nadine Cameron, Lynne Mcpherson, Natalie Parmenter - Children and Youth Services Review, 24 Jun 2020

Employing a systematic scoping methodology, this review examined the scope and breadth of literature focusing on children and young people living in residential care in Australia who have experienced sexual exploitation.

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