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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Perspective din Moldova: Închiderea unei Instituții Rezidențiale

Changing the Way We Care, 01 Feb 2023

După 60 de ani de activitate în calitate de instituție rezidențială pentru copii cu dizabilități, Școala-Internat Auxiliară Hîncești (SIA Hîncești) din Moldova și-a închis, în cele din urmă, ușile în mai 2022. Închiderea SIA Hîncești și reint

Reintegration from Residential to Kinship Care in Uganda

UNICEF, Changing the Way We Care, 31 Jan 2023

This case study details the experience of Attim, a 54-year-old grandmother from Eastern Uganda who provides care for her grandchildren after they left residential care. Social workers in Uganda often find that placement with extended family members is the most appropriate option for children leaving residential care.

More Resources

Angolan Children’s Experiences in Residential Centers: Displacement, Liminality, and Belonging

Kristina João Nazimova, 11 Jan 2023

This article examines how language, liminality, and social marginalization converge in the institutional lives of two displaced children in Angola. A displaced child is very likely to be placed into institutionalized care, which in Angola exists in the form of centros de acolhimento, residential centers that house minors affected by orphanhood, poverty, displacement, or abandonment. Drawing on one year of ethnographic research in two residential centers, the article argues that despite being sites of care and protection, some children come to desire living on the street as a byproduct of persistent marginalization and forms of liminality in the institutions.

International Journal of the Sociology of Language

Risk Factors of Orphan and Vulnerable Children in a Children’s Home During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Lucia Munongi, Daphney Mawila, 30 Dec 2022

This study aimed to explore the risks facing orphans and vulnerable children in a children’s home in a township setting during COVID-19 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Behavioral and Emotional Difficulties and Personal Wellbeing of Adolescents in Residential Care

Cristina Soriano-Díaz, Juan Manuel Moreno-Manso, María Elena García-Baamonde, Mónica Guerrero-Molina, Pilar Cantillo-Cordero, 24 Dec 2022

This paper studies the emotional and behavioural difficulties and the personal wellbeing of adolescents under protective measures in Spain.

Behavioral and Emotional Difficulties and Personal Wellbeing of Adolescents in Residential Care

Launch of Global Database on Children in Residential Care

UNICEF, 14 Dec 2022

This is a recording of a UNICEF webinar presenting the launch of a global database of children in residential care on December 14, 2022.

Sandra Creamera, Suzi Blairb, Maree Toombs, Claire E Brolan, 01 Dec 2022

This study aims to provide evidence and instruction to social work educators, policymakers and practitioners
in Australia’s child protection, wellbeing, and justice systems about why and how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander controlled organizations are best placed to lead out-of-home care service delivery for Indigenous children, their family and community.

Indigenous services leading the way for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care

Creating Safe and Welcoming Residential Care Placements for LGBTQIA+ Youth

Monica Lopez Lopez, Gerald P. Mallon, Leo Wieldraaijer-Vincent, 01 Dec 2022

The authors review data about LGBTQIA+ youth in care and describe two European programs that are striving to provide a secure, welcoming, and affirming living environment for LGBTQIA+ youth in child welfare systems.

Revitalizing Residential Care for Children and Youth

Family-Type Care vs Residential Care Costs: An analysis of the recent developments in government expenditure and the costs per child in family-type care and residential care

UNICEF, ECORYS Nederland, 01 Dec 2022

The objective of this analysis is to provide a better understanding of the government spending towards foster care and residential care services for children deprived of parental care, as well as to estimate the cost per child of such services. The analysis is intended to support UNICEF advocacy efforts towards the closure of residential care institutions in Moldova.

Rezumatul constatărilor și recomandărilor din evaluările a șase instituții rezidențiale

Changing the Way We Care în parteneriat cu CCF Moldova, Keystone Moldova and Partnerships for Every Child, 30 Sep 2022

În 2021-2022, CTWWC în parteneriat cu trei organizații ale societății civile: Keystone Moldova, Copil, Comunitate, Familie (CCF Moldova) și Asociația Parteneriate pentru Fiecare Copil (P4EC), a realizat o serie de cercetări la nivel național, inclusiv evaluarea complexă a șase instituții rezidențiale (IR).