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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Changing the Way We Care Final Presentation

MacArthur Foundation, 11 Dec 2017

In this video, Catholic Relief Services, Lumos, and Maestral International presented their project: Changing the Way We Care, a project aimed at ending the institutionalization of children.

The Problem of Orphanages

World Travel Market London, 11 Dec 2017

This session of the World Travel Market in London focused on orphanage tourism and featured speakers from the Better Volunteering Better Care Initiative and other partners, including Save the Children, Friends International, Lumos, and People and Places.

Deinstitutionalisation of Europe’s Children: Questions and Answers

Opening Doors for Europe's Children, 11 Dec 2017

This resource provides quick answers to some of the frequently asked questions about the transition from institutional to family- and community-based care for children, also known as deinstitutionalisation (DI).

Time for Global Action: Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals

UBS Optimus Foundation & Child's i Foundation, 01 Dec 2017

In this video from Time for Global Action: Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals, Stephen Ucembe shares his experience of living in an orphanage and how institutionalization was detrimental to his development and wellbeing.

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Causes & Circumstances of Enrolment & Moving-Out of the Children in Child Care Centers & Orphanages

Amjad Nazeer & Siraaj Khurram - Institute of Development and Corresponding Capabilities (IDRAC) & Secours Islamique France, 01 Dec 2017

The aim of this study has been to assess the reasons for the increased enrolment of children into orphanages and child care centres. An action research was conducted in Islamabad and Rawalpindi between November and December 2017 to assess the situation and identify the causes and circumstance that bring in and compel orphans and vulnerable children to move out after a certain age or grade.

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.

Young adults’ perspectives on their experiences of different types of placement in Romania

Mariela Neagu - Thesis presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education at the University of Oxford, 01 Dec 2017

This study explores the childhood experiences and transitions to adulthood of 39 Romanian care leavers and adoptees, born around 1989 - 1990.

Substitute Child Care as a Current Problem of Social Care in the Czech Republic

Viera Vavrecková, Michaela Tichá, & Zlata Ondrúšová - DANUBE: Law, Economics and Social Issues Review, 01 Dec 2017

The objective of this essay is to determine how substitute child care in the Czech Republic has changed in the last ten years.

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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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