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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Finalizing the Deinstitutionalisation Process of the Child Protection System in Romania: Financial Impact Study

Radu Comşa, Oana Ganea, Ştefan Dărăbuş - Hope and Homes for Children, 2019

This study analyzes longitudinal statistics from 18 years of Hope and Homes for Children programs in Romania to demonstrate the cost savings and ability to support a higher number of children at risk if the state were to invest money into programs that allow children to remain in a family environment, rather than be placed in institutional care.

Detection of Psychological Stresses for Orphans Who Live in Orphanages

Journal of Basra researches for Human Sciences, Basrah University, 2019

The current study aims to reveal the psychological stresses faced by orphaned children in orphanages.

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Why we decided to transition from residential to family-based care

Laura Horvath, Mohamed Nabieu and Melody Curtiss - Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care, 2019

This paper from the Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care outlines the Child Rescue Centre's process of transitioning from residential care to family-based care in Sierra Leone.

Adolescents in Residential-Care: The Role of Attachment and Emotional Regulation Strategies on Psychopathological Symptoms.

Muzi Stefania; Bizzi Fabiola; Pace Cecilia Serena - Department of Educatonal Science (DISFOR), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy, 2019

This research poster presents an overview of a study conducted in Northern Italy. The study's aims were to: (1) investgate the associatons among atachment paterns, Emotonal Regulaton (ER) strategies and internalizing or externalizing symptoms showed by adolescents in residental-care and (2) examine the predictve role of atachment and ER strategies for the rates of internalizing/externalizing symptoms.

Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children in Kenya (2014): A User-friendly Handbook

Department of Children's Services - Republic of Kenya, 2019

This handbook is a key tool for supporting care reform in Kenya, promoting family-based alternative care for children, and moving away from institutional care.

Health prevention training for foster child care facility personnel

María E. Serra and Rose Mari Soria - Arch Argent Pediatr, 2019

In this article, the experience, difficulties and perspectives of the first health training program for foster child care facilities personnel in Argentina are presented.

Poverty and the State of Orphans in Owerri, Imo State

Robert C. Odoemene, Orizu Ideobodo Nwafor & James Anekwe - African Journal of Social and Behavioural Sciences (AJSBS) , 2019

This study investigates and assesses the experiences of orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) who live with poverty, insecurity and social stigmatization in Owerri due largely to reasons of loss of parent(s) or being born by parents who are not there to take responsibilities for them. The purpose of the study is to inform and reform social policy by providing a better understanding of the suffering of orphans in our society.

Analysis of the child protection system in Bulgaria: Final Report (Bulgarian)

UNICEF, 2019

This research is based on a stock-taking of the current situation. It is based on a comprehensive literature review and a genuine primary research with service users as well as policy makers, service providers, children and families.

Study on the Feasibility of a Child Guarantee for Vulnerable Children: Inception Report

European Commission, 2019

This report - prepared for the European Commission by Applica and the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER), in close collaboration with Eurochild and Save the Children - provides a first mapping of the situation across the 28 Member States of the EU outlining the situation in relation to children, particularly the four target groups (TGs) of disadvantaged children (children in institutions, children with disabilities, children of recent migrants and refugees, and children living in precarious family situations) as well as an indication of the key issues in relation to children’s access to the five policy areas (PAs): housing, healthcare, nutrition, early childhood education and care, and education.

Exploring the "Orphan Myth" in Thailand (Thai language): An Analysis of Unregistered, Private Children's Homes in Sangkhlaburi District

Convention on the Rights of the Child Coalition for Thailand Alternative Care Working Group, 2019

This summary report presents key findings and recommendations from an analysis of unregistered, private children's homes in Thailand's Sangkhlaburi District.