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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A Longitudinal Study of Child Maltreatment and Mental Health Predictors of Admission to Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities

Roderick A. Rose and Paul Lanier - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 28 Sep 2017

This exploratory study used cross-sector administrative records linked across multiple systems, including child welfare records and Medicaid claims, from a single state in the U.S. over a five-year period, to investigate the factors that predict entry into psychiatric residential treatment facilities for children.

Guidelines on Registration and Support for Voluntary Organisations (in Myanmar language)

Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement of Myanmar & UNICEF, 26 Sep 2017

The Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement of Myanmar, with the support of UNICEF, launched a set of guidelines and minimum standards, alongside monitoring and oversight plans, aimed at bettering the lives of children in residential care.

Minimum Standards of Care and Protection for Children (MSC) in Residential Facilities (in Myanmar language)

Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement of Myanmar & UNICEF, 26 Sep 2017

HIV/AIDS orphans in South Africa: NGO interventions supporting transitions to alternative care

Tiffany Ann Breckenridge, Christine Black-Hughes, John Rautenbach, Michelle McKinley - International Social Work, 21 Sep 2017

This qualitative study explores 49 orphaned children who were observed in a non-governmental organization group setting in a small, rural village located in Eastern Cape, South Africa.

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Memory and Executive Functioning in 12-Year-Old Children With a History of Institutional Rearing

Johanna Bick, Charles H. Zeanah, Nathan A. Fox, Charles A. Nelson - Child Development, 17 Sep 2017

This study examined visual recognition memory and executive functioning (spatial working memory, spatial planning, rule learning, and attention shifting) in 12-year-olds who participated in the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, a randomized controlled trial of foster care for institutionally reared children.

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The Orphan Industrial Complex: charitable commodification and its consequences for child protection in Africa

Kristen Cheney - International Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, Netherlands, 14 Sep 2017

This presentation delivered by Dr. Kristen Cheney describes her research findings on the "Orphan Industrial Complex," which suggest that orphan tourism, orphanage volunteering, and donor support for orphanages are the primary drivers of the unnecessary separation of children from their families and the harmful institutionalization of children.

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Childcare Reform in Moldova: Achievements and Challenges

Stela Grigoraș, Minister of Health, Labour and Social Protection, 11 Sep 2017

This presentation by the Minister of Health, Labour and Social Protection of Moldova outlines the basic demographic data of Moldova and provides a thorough review of the situation of children's care, and care reform efforts, in the country.

Care Reform in Armenia Achievements and Challenges

Sona Harutyunyan, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, 11 Sep 2017

This presentation from the Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Affairs of Armenia provides an overview of the demographic data of Armenia and offers a thorough review of the situation of children's care, and care reform efforts, in Armenia.

Care Reform in Ghana: Achievements and Challenges

Fred Sakyi Boafo, Yvonne Norman and Kwabena Frimpong-Manso, 11 Sep 2017

This presentation by key actors in children's care reform in Ghana provides an overview of the demographic data of Ghana and offers a thorough review of the situation of children's care, and care reform efforts, in the country.

Structural Challenges of Holiday Placement Programmes for Children in SOS'S Children Village, Zimbabwe

Taruvinga Muzingili & Patience Gunha - African Journal of Social Work, 11 Sep 2017

This study observed the challenges experienced by children living in SOS Children's Village Bindura, Zimbabwe during a Community Holiday Visit Programme.