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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Child Abuse Research in South Africa - An assessment of the accomplishments of selected child and youth care centres in providing care and protection of children in Soweto, South Africa

Pius T. Tanga and Leonard M. Agere - South African Society on the Abuse of Children (SAPSAC), 2018

The paper articulates accomplishments of child and youth care centres in providing care and support to children identified to be at risk of significant harm in Soweto, South Africa.

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Formation and disruption of bonds between caregivers and institutionalized children

Ruth Irmgard Bärtschi Gabatz, Eda Schwartz, Viviane Marten Milbrath, Hudson Cristiano Wander de CarvalhoI, Celmira Lange, Marilu Correa Soares - Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem, 2018

The purpose of this study was to understand the perspective of caregivers about the formation and disruption of bonds with institutionalized children in Brazil.

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Standard Operating Procedures for Inspection, Licensing, and Monitoring Residential Homes for Children in Ghana

Department of Social Welfare of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, 2018

These Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the inspection and monitoring of Residential Homes for Children (RHCs) in Ghana are intended to provide guidance to National, Regional and District DSW Officers on how to plan, conduct and report on RHC inspection and monitoring visits and how to enforce directives to either address gaps in compliance with the Standards and/or to close the RHC.

Poly-theorism in the field of residential child care.

Terje Halvorsen - Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care, 2018

This article discusses the use of professional theories in the field of residential child care.

Child Abuse Research in South Africa - Baby factories : a new phase in child trafficking in Nigeria

Paul O. Bello and Jean Steyn - South African Society on the Abuse of Children (SAPSAC), 2018

The objective of this article is to present a portrait of the baby factory phenomenon in Nigeria. The precipitating factors that fuel the trade are discussed, and suggestions for an enduring approach to combat this crime are offered.

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Prepare for Leaving Care – A Child Protection System that Works for Professionals and Young People

SOS Children’s Villages, CELCIS, EuroChild, 2018

‘Prepare for Leaving Care – A Child Protection System that Works for Professionals and Young People’, a two-year project co-funded by the Rights, Equality and Citizenship (REC) Programme of the European Union (2017-2018), aims to ensure that the rights of young people in alternative care are respected and that they are prepared for an independent life.

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Residential Child and Youth Care in a Developing World: European Perspectives

Tuhinul Islam & Leon Fulcher - The CYC-Net Press, 31 Dec 2017

Building on Volume 1 of the Residential Child and Youth Care in a Developing World Series that used the FIFA Football Confederation Regions to step outside contemporary discourses about residential child and youth care, further contributions from 23 UEFA countries are offered in this second volume which follows.

Malnutrition and psychosocial dysfunction among the orphan and vulnerable children in Kaski district, Nepal

Dipendra Malla, Bishwas Acharya, Lil Bahadur Nepali, Anup KC, Pratik Gurung, Nanda Lal Gupta, Hoshiar Singh Chauhan - Progress in Medical Sciences, 23 Dec 2017

The objective of this study was to assess malnutrition and psychosocial dysfunction among vulnerable children as well as to determine the association between malnutrition and psychosocial dysfunction among orphan and vulnerable children in Kaski district, Nepal.

Emotional health and coping mechanisms among adolescents in Malaysian residential foster care homes: A comparative study with adolescents living with families

Marjan Mohammadzadeh, Esra Tajik, Hamidin Awang, Latiffah Abdul Latiff - Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 18 Dec 2017

This article presents the findings of a study that examined the emotional health status and coping mechanisms of adolescents living in residential care facilities in Malaysia, in comparison with that of adolescents living in families.

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Ending the criminalisation of children in residential care. Briefing two: best practice in policing

The Howard League for Penal Reform, 18 Dec 2017

This is the second briefing paper published as part of the Howard League’s two-year programme to end the criminalisation of children in residential care. It explores how good practice in the policing of children’s homes can significantly reduce the unnecessary criminalisation of vulnerable children and demand on police resources.