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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Early childhood deprivation is associated with alterations in adult brain structure despite subsequent environmental enrichment

Nuria K. Mackes, Dennis Golm, Sagari Sarkar, Robert Kumsta, Michael Rutter, Graeme Fairchild, Mitul A. Mehta, Edmund J. S. Sonuga-Barke - PNAS, 07 Jan 2020

To investigate the impact of childhood deprivation on the adult brain and the extent to which structural changes underpin these effects, the authors of this study from PNAS utilized MRI data collected from young adults who were exposed to severe deprivation in early childhood in the Romanian orphanages of the Ceaușescu era and then, subsequently adopted by UK families.

A report on the deaths of looked after children in Scotland 2012-2018: An overview from notifications and reports submitted to the Care Inspectorate

Care Inspectorate, 02 Jan 2020

This report draws attention to themes emerging from notifications of the deaths of 61 care experienced children and young people over seven years from 2012 to 2018.

The Statistical Analysis of the Academic Achievement of Young People Living in the Child Protection System

Ildikó Erdei, Karolina Eszter Kovács - Central European Journal of Educational Research, 2020

This research aims to explore the connections between the future orientation of disadvantaged young people living in residential care homes and foster families, by a comparative analysis of their study results.

Explorando el sistema de protección de la niñez en Honduras

Martha Lorena Suazo, Kevin Alberto Cruz, Henry Parada - Revista Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, Niñez y Juventud, 2020

Este artículo explora las prácticas institucionales que facilitan u obstaculizan la protección de derechos de niños, niñas y adolescentes en el sistema de protección de la niñez en Honduras a través de sus diferentes etapas.

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Tools for Working with Children in Institutional Care

Kshipra Marathe - Counsel to Secure Justice, 2020

This knowledge resource discusses and provides examples of practice tools and calming techniques (in English and Hindi) which counsellors and adults can use while working with children who are in institutional care. The paper reviews evidence on the impact of institutionalisation on children as well as evidence-based interventions that can help mitigate this impact.

Maltreatment in residential child protection care: A review of the literature

Fotine Konstantopoulou & Ioanna Mantziou - Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience & Mental Health, 2020

The current literature review provides a conceptual and empirical framework for understanding child institutional maltreatment.

Adaptation and Socialization of Social Orphans in Kyrgyzstan

R.B. Salmorbekova & K. Karimova - Society and Security Insights, 2020

This article presents analyses of the main causes of the increase in the number of social orphans in Kyrgyzstan.

Behind the Mask of Care: A Report Based on the Results of the Situation Analysis of Baby Homes in Ukraine

USAID, UK aid, Hope and Homes for Children, 2020

This report presents the findings of the 2019-2020 assessment conducted within the Pilot assessment of residential healthcare facilities for children and development of recommendations for reform in five baby homes of Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava and Kherson regions of Ukraine. In addition to the findings from the assessment of baby homes, the report presents results from the region assessments regarding needs in the medical rehabilitation, paediatric palliative care, and social services for children aged 0-6 years and their families.

"Internett er et Stort Mørkt Rom": Håndtering av risiko for seksuell utnytting over internett på barnevernsinstitusjon

Save the Children Norway, 2020

This report from Save the Children Norway explores what child welfare institutions in Norway are doing to protect children in their care from the risk of online sexual offences.

Familial Attendance at Indian Residential School and Subsequent Involvement in the Child Welfare System Among Indigenous Adults Born During the Sixties Scoop Era

Amy Bombay, Robyn J. McQuaid, Janelle Young, Vandna Sinha, Vanessa Currie, Hymie Anisman, and Kim Matheson - First Peoples Child & Family Review, 2020

Through an online study, the authors of this paper explored the links between familial (parents/grandparents) Indian Residential School (IRS) attendance and subsequent involvement in the child welfare system (CWS) in a non-representative sample of Indigenous adults in Canada born during the Sixties Scoop era.