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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Moving on: Multiple Transitions of Unaccompanied Child Migrants Leaving Care in England and Sweden

Helen M Roberts, Hannah Bradby, Anne Ingold, Grazia Manzotti, David Reeves, Kristin Liabo - International Journal of Social Science Studies, 21 Aug 2017

This paper reports the findings from a study investigating the priorities of care-leavers who arrived in England or Sweden as unaccompanied minors.

Modern slavery and global supply chains: Interim report of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade's inquiry into establishing a Modern Slavery Act in Australia

Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade - Commonwealth of Australia, 17 Aug 2017

This interim report from the Parliament of Australia's Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade presents its recommendations on the adoption of a Modern Slavery Act in Australia, with consideration to the trafficking, forced labor and child exploitation through orphanage tourism.

Inquiry into establishing a Modern Slavery Act in Australia - Opening Statements from the Briefing on Orphanage Tourism

Parliament of Australia, 17 Aug 2017

On 17 August 2017, the Australian Foreign Affairs and Aid Sub-Committee was briefed by representatives from the Cambodian Children’s Trust and Forget Me Not Foundation on the issue of orphanage tourism. This link includes a video of the opening statements from this briefing.

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Transition Programming for Sustainable Livelihoods Beyond Institutional Care in Zimbabwe: Service Providers’ Perspectives

Pamhidzayi Berejena Mhongera - Children & Society, 17 Aug 2017

This article explores the perspectives and programme needs of transition service providers (institutions and the government) in preparing and supporting adolescent girls leaving institutional care in Harare, Zimbabwe.

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Transition Programming for Sustainable Livelihoods Beyond Institutional Care in Zimbabwe: Service Providers’ Perspectives

Pamhidzayi Berejena Mhongera - Children & Society, 17 Aug 2017

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Caregiver-child interaction, caregiver transitions, and group size as mediators between intervention condition and attachment and physical growth outcomes in institutionalized children

Hilary A. Warner et al - Infant Mental Health Journal , 16 Aug 2017

This report presents the findings from a secondary analysis of data from a comprehensive intervention in three baby homes in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation. The analysis examined whether caregiver-child interaction quality, number of caregiver transitions, and group size mediated the impact of intervention on children's attachment behaviors and physical growth.

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Preventing Parent-Child Separation: Myths and Facts from a KAP Survey in Central and Western Liberia

Mónica Ruiz-Casares, Russell Steele, Rashid Bangura and Geoffrey Oyat - Global Social Welfare, 16 Aug 2017

This paper presents the findings from a population-based, multi-stage random cluster knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) survey of child caregivers in Liberia, revealing the primary reasons for parent-child separation and common misconceptions about alternative care.

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Language and Psychosocial Skills of Institutionalized Children in Greece

Asimina Ralli, Schiza Melpomeni, and Tsiatsiou Alexandra - The Open Family Studies Journal , 12 Aug 2017

This study investigated the language and psychosocial skills of pre-school aged Greek institutionalized children in comparison to Greek children of the same age raised in a family environment.

Changing the Way We Care | A Family Torn

Catholic Relief Services, 10 Aug 2017

All over the world, children are placed in orphanages because their families do not have the resources to care for them. In this short film, a mother makes the difficult decision to leave her daughter to the care of an orphanage.

Young people's views on safety and preventing abuse and harm in residential care: “It's got to be better than home”

Tim Moore, Morag McAruthur, Jodi Death, Clare Tilbury and Steven Rouche - Children and Youth Services Review, 08 Aug 2017

This study consulted with young people in Australia about their perspectives on what makes residential care safe and how safety could be improved within residential care.

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