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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The Relationship Between Institutional Environment, Guardian Involvement, Academic Achievement and Learning Motivation of Children Reared in a Malaysian Orphanage

A.J. Alfred, A.M. Ma’rof, N. Buang - Varia Pendidikan, 01 Dec 2017

This research was conducted to study the relationships between academic performance, learning motivation, institutionalised environments and guardian involvement of children reared in a Malaysian orphanage.

A comparison of outcomes for children and youth in foster and residential group care across agencies

Sharon G. Portwood, Suzanne A.Boyd, Ellissa Brooks Nelson, Tamera B. Murdock, Jessica Hamilton, Angela D.Miller - Children and Youth Services Review, 24 Nov 2017

Working collaboratively with two state associations and their member (nonprofit) agencies providing out-of-home care to children and youth, University researchers conducted a multi-site project to examine whether there were any differences in individual child-level outcomes between children placed in residential group care and those placed in foster.

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Harmke Leloux-Opmeer, Chris Kuiper, Hanna Swaab, Evert Scholte - Journal of Child and Family Studies, 13 Nov 2017

Similarities and differences in the (short-term) psychosocial development of children in foster care, family-style group care, and residential care were investigated in a sample of 121 Dutch children one year after their initial placement.

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The Children Behind the Wall

Lumos, 07 Nov 2017

This publication from Lumos describes the institutionalization of children the world over and its impacts, calling for an end to institutions and highlighting some of the particular groups of children who are most deprived of liberty.

The Changing Face of Out-of-home Care in Australia – Developing Policy and Practice for the 21st Century

Meredith Kiraly and Cathy Humphreys - Children Australia, 06 Nov 2017

This Opinion Piece traces the rise of statutory kinship care in Australia from the progressive reduction of residential care and the struggle to recruit sufficient foster carers to meet demand for protective care.

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Independence and effectiveness: Messages from the role of Independent Reviewing Officers in England

Chris Beckett, Jonathan Dickens, Gillian Schofield, Georgia Philip and Julie Young - Children and Youth Services Review , 05 Nov 2017

The paper draws on a mixed methods study the role and effectiveness of Independent Reviewing Officers in England.

Implementation of deinstitutionalization of child care institutions in post-soviet countries: The case of Azerbaijan

Aytakin Huseynli - Child Abuse & Neglect, 04 Nov 2017

This study examined the status of the State Program on Deinstitutionalization and Alternative Care (SPDAC), a public policy aimed at transforming 55 institutions covering 14,500 children during 2006–2016 in Azerbaijan.

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Finding Families - The State of Residential Care for Children and Implications for Human Development: A Research Review

Catholic Relief Services, Changing the Way We Care, 01 Nov 2017

This review is a summary of the literature, from multiple disciplines, on residential child care and its deleterious effects on children.

Opening up communities, closing down institutions: Harnessing the European Structural and Investment Funds

Neil Crowther, Gerard Quinn & Alexandra Hillen-Moore - Community Living for Europe: Structural Funds Watch, 01 Nov 2017

This report from Community Living for Europe: Structural Funds Watch reviews findings of an examination of the EU financial framework as it relates to the promotion of community-based care of children and adults and offers key recommendations for the EU and Member States to facilitate the transition from institutional to community-based care.

Violence faced by Children in Residential Care Institutions in Uganda

AfriChild, 01 Nov 2017

This policy brief explores violence against children in residential care institutions (RCIs) in Uganda and calls for regular supervision and monitoring of existing RCIs as well as promotion of de-institutionalization of alternative child care in Uganda.