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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Implementing effective short-term residential interventions

Building Bridges Initiative , 01 Jul 2017

This document serves as a guide for implementing short-term residential care interventions; grounded in evidence-based practice, the Guide provides "7 essential elements of short-term residential intervention" with case examples from the field in the United States.

The mechanisms of protection factors in operation in the case of teenagers living in Romanian placement centres

Ovidiu Bunea, Ancuta Bojian, Daniela Cojocaru - Revista de cercetare şi intervenţie socială, 01 Jul 2017

The aim of this study was to identify the processes that support the good results obtained by the teenagers and young persons who reside in the largest residential centre in the county of Iași, Romania and their concerns regarding the future.

A Qualitative Study of Risks and Protective Factors for Violence Against Children Living In Residential Care Institutions (RCIs) In Uganda

Firminus Mugumya, Amy Ritterbusch, Neil Boothby, Joyce Wanican, Timothy Opobo, Noah Nyende, Sarah Meyer and Clare Bangirana, 01 Jul 2017

This qualitative study of risks and protective factors for violence against children living in
Residential Care Institutions (RCIs) for children is part of the wider qualitative study on violence
against children in Uganda. The study complements the national wellness survey that sought to
measure the prevalence of violence against children in household, schools and the community from
a quantitative perspective

Country Care Review: Antigua and Barbuda

Better Care Network , 30 Jun 2017

This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child during the seventy-fifth session (15 May 2017 - 2 Jun 2017) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Trafficking in Persons Report 2017

U.S. Department of State, 27 Jun 2017

The Trafficking in Persons Report is an annual publication of the U.S. Department of State, providing a snapshot of human trafficking around the world with attention to key issues, trends, standards, and updates.

Ley 27364: Programa de acompañamiento para el egreso de jóvenes sin cuidados parentales

Gobierno de la República Argentina, 26 Jun 2017

La presente ley tiene por objeto la creación del Programa de Acompañamiento para el Egreso de Adolescentes y Jóvenes sin Cuidados Parentales a fin de garantizar su plena inclusión social y su máximo desarrollo personal y social.

A study of associations among attachment patterns, maltreatment, and behavior problem in institutionalized children in Japan

Emiko Katsuradaa, Mitsue Tanimukaib, Junko Akazawa - Child Abuse & Neglect, 24 Jun 2017

The present study investigates the relationships among children's history of maltreatment, attachment patterns, and behavior problems in Japanese institutionalized children.

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A new look at the supposed risks of early institutional rearing

S. Woodhouse, A. Miah and M. Rutter - Cambridge University Press, 22 Jun 2017

This article focuses on the assessment of the effects of early institutional care and compares three longitudinal studies from Romania, Greece and Hong Kong/China.

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Funding Haitian Orphanages at the Cost of Children’s Rights

Jamie Vernaelde and Eugene Guillaume - Lumos, 22 Jun 2017

In this report, Lumos investigates the funding patterns of Haitian orphanages as well as the ramifications of orphanage life for the children raised within them to better understand why orphanages continue to flourish in the country.

Le Financement des Orphelinats aux Frais des Droits des Enfants

Jamie Vernaelde and Eugene Guillaume - Lumos, 22 Jun 2017

Pour comprendre la raison pour laquelle les orphelinats continuent de se développer en Haïti et la façon dont ils affectent les enfants, Lumos a mené une enquête sur les modes de financement et les ramifications de la vie en orphelinat sur les enfants élevés entre leurs murs.