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.

Displaying 811 - 820 of 1510

Browse Other Topics

Draft National Standards for Children’s Residential Centres

Health Information and Standards Directorate , 01 Sep 2017

Ireland's Health Information and Standards Directorate has launched a public consultation on the Draft National Standards on Children's Residential Care. Once finalized, the Standards will provide a framework for the ongoing development of child-centred and effective services for children living in residential care centres. This document contains the preceding Draft Standards, eligible for feedback through 02 November 2017.

Overhauling Russia’s Child Welfare system: Institutional and Ideational Factors behind the Paradigm Shift

Kulmala Meri, Rasell Michael, Chernova Zhanna - The Journal of Social Policy Studies, 01 Sep 2017

This article studies the causal factors behind the major overhaul of Russia’s system for children in substitute care that has been taking place since the late 2000’s.

View Article

Russian SOS Children’s Villages and Deinstitutionalisation Reform: Balancing between Institutional and Family Care

Elena Bogdanova - The Journal of Social Policy Studies, 01 Sep 2017

This article examines how Russian SOS Villages are undergoing foster reform, which prescribes a transition from institutional care for children deprived of parental care to family care model.

View Article

Left behind: How to encourage biological parents' involvement in their children's group homes

Yafit Sulimani-Aidan - Child & Family Social Work, 31 Aug 2017

This paper addresses the challenges and benefits of involving biological parents in group homes in Israel and presents various means to encourage their involvement in care.

View Article

Comparing Long-Term Placement Outcomes of Residential and Family Foster Care: A Meta-Analysis

Dongdong Li, Grace S. Chng, Chi Meng Chu - Trauma, Violence, and Abuse, 31 Aug 2017

This study presents findings from three separate meta-analyses investigating differences between children placed in residential care and in family foster care with regard to three outcomes: internalizing behaviors, externalizing behaviors, and perception of care.

The impacts of institutional child sexual abuse: A rapid review of the evidence

Tamara Blakemore, James Leslie Herbert, Fiona Arney, and Samantha Parkinson - Child Abuse & Neglect, 31 Aug 2017

This report reviews the existing literature on the impact of child sexual abuse within various types of institutional care settings around the world.

View Article

UN CRPD General Comment No.5 (2017) on the right to live independently and being included in the community

UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities , 29 Aug 2017

This document includes the general comments adopted by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on Article 19 of the Convention: the right to live independently and being included in the community.

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.

View Video