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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Mapping of Residential Homes for Children in Ghana

Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, UNICEF, 01 Nov 2018

This geographical mapping and analysis of Residential Homes for Children (RHCs) in Ghana aimed to identify the “hot spots” - high concentration of RHCs and/or children in RHCs - and develop a comprehensive understanding of current trends, flows and drivers of children in RHCs in these “hot-spot” (priority) areas.

Country Care Review: Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Better Care Network, 29 Oct 2018

This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Both Victim and ‘Perpetrator’: Finding a Voice before Inquiries into Historical Abuse in Out-of-Home Care

Shurlee Swain - International Journal of Transitional Justice, 29 Oct 2018

Inquiries into historical institutional abuse have only recently come to be viewed through the lens of transitional justice. This article argues that their distinctive victim-focused approach disguises a reality that institutions in which violence was endemic blurred the line between victims and ‘perpetrators.’

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Children of migration: Hopes and tensions over border-crossing in Moldova

Catherine Douillet - Journal of European Studies, 22 Oct 2018

According to some estimates, a third of the adult Moldovan population is working abroad, often ‘leaving behind’ children in the care of relatives, neighbours or in orphanages. This paper from the Journal of European Studies investigates how such high migration rates affect Moldovan family life and personal definitions of identity and success.

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Country Care Review: Bulgaria

Better Care Network, 22 Oct 2018

This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Washington’s Out-of-State Youth Plead: Let Us Come Home; Report and Recommendations

Disability Rights Washington, 17 Oct 2018

The US state of Washington’s foster care system has been sending many young people in need of residential care and treatment to the Clarinda Academy, an institution in Iowa. This is a report by Disability Rights Washington (DRW) to expose the conditions and treatment experienced by Washington foster youth at this institution.

Country Care Review: Philippines

Better Care Network , 16 Oct 2018

This country care review includes the care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

NEET as an Outcome for Care Leavers in South Africa: The Case of Girls and Boys Town

Lisa Dickens & Peter Marx - Emerging Adulthood, 15 Oct 2018

This article describes and compares the Not in Employment, Education, or Training (NEET) and Education, Employment, and Training (EET) status of care leavers from Girls and Boys Town after 1 and 2 years and in relation to other outcomes.

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Quality Of Life Among Children Deprived From Family Care In Residential Institutions In El-Beheira Governorate- Egypt

Eman Ahmed Rashad El-Sakka; Prof. Dr. Mahassen Ahmed Abd El-Wahed; Dr. Doaa Abd-Elsalam Amin; Dr. Fathia Khamis Kassem; Dr. Houaida Helal - , 13 Oct 2018

This study was conducted to identify the quality of life among children deprived of family care in residential institutions in El-Beheira governorate.

Country Care Review: Lao People's Democratic Republic

Better Care Network, 11 Oct 2018

This country care review includes the care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child as part of its examination of Lao PDR's initial reports, as well as other care-related concluding observations, ratification dates, and links to the Universal Periodic Review