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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Factors Affecting the Psychosocial Well-Being of Orphan and Separated Children in Five Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Which is More Important, Quality or Form of Care?

Hy V. Huynh - Clemson University, 01 May 2017

This study explored the extent to which components of quality of care predicted psychosocial well-being of orphaned and separated children (OSC), as well as the extent to which these components of quality of care and demographic factors moderated the associations between care settings and psychosocial well-being of orphaned and separated children (OSC).

Residential Child and Youth Care in a Developing World: European Perspectives

Tuhinul Islam & Leon Fulcher (Editors) - The CYC-Net Press, 01 May 2017

Edited by Tuhinul Islam and Leon Fulcher, Residential Child and Youth Care in a Developing World: European Perspectives is the second volume in a series of four, bringing together contributions from local practitioners, educators and researchers throughout Europe on their countries' residential child and youth care traditions, policies and practices, as well as knowledge about children's needs, rights and personal upbringing there.

The Charm Toolkit Piloted Findings from Monitoring Visits: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary and United Kingdom

Dr Sarah Woodin - Mental Disability Advocacy Centre, Ann Craft Trust, Global Initiative on Psychiatry, The League of Human Rights , 01 May 2017

This report is one of several outputs arising from the project “Identifying and Preventing Abuse of Children with Mental Disabilities in Institutions.” The report presents findings from the monitoring of European institutions where children with intellectual disabilities and children with psychosocial disabilities live on a permanent or semi-permanent basis, through the development of tools and guidance aligned with international human rights law and policy.

“This girl is still MISSING!! She is NOT a runaway!”: A critical review of factors that contribute to increased risk and vulnerability for children from out-of-home care who may go missing

Karleen Gwinner - Children and Youth Services Review, 13 Apr 2017

The objective of this paper is to scope the context of the problem of children going missing from out-of-home care in Australia and to distinguish what has been and needs to be researched.

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Signs of reactive attachment disorder and disinhibited social engagement disorder at age 12 years: Effects of institutional care history and high-quality foster care

Kathryn L. Humphreys, Charles A. Nelson, Nathan A. Fox, and Charles H. Zeanah - Development and Psychopathology, 12 Apr 2017

This study examines signs of reactive attachment disorder and disinhibited social engagement disorder at age 12 years in 111 children who were abandoned at or shortly after birth and subsequently randomized to care as usual or to high-quality foster care, as well as in 50 comparison children who were never institutionalized.

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A review of feeding interventions for children with disabilities: Implications for institutionalised settings

Paula Rabaey - International Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation, 01 Apr 2017

This literature review looks at the most current interventions on safe feeding practices for children with neuromotor disabilities who cannot feed themselves.

Mapping of residential care facilities in the capital and 24 provinces of the kingdom of Cambodia

Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation, UNICEF, USAID, 01 Apr 2017

This mapping significantly advances the current knowledge of the state of institutionalization of Cambodian children.

The Impact of Protection Interventions on Unaccompanied and Separated Children in Humanitarian Crises

Williamson, K., Gupta, P., Gillespie, L.A., Shannon, H. and Landis, D. – Oxfam, 22 Mar 2017

This systematic review examines the impact of protection interventions on unaccompanied and separated children, during the period of separation, in humanitarian crises.

Emotional Health and Self-esteem Among Adolescents in Malaysian Orphanages

Marjan Mohammadzadeh, Hamidin Awang, Hayati Kadir Shahar, Suriani Ismail – Community Mental Health Journal, 18 Mar 2017

This study aimed to assess the prevalence and risk factors of depression, anxiety, stress and low self-esteem among institutional Malaysian adolescents.

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After the Fire: Survivors of Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asunción at risk – Findings and Recommendations for Action

Disability Rights International, 15 Mar 2017

DRI’s main finding is that survivors of the fire at Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asunción face immediate danger – including detention in other institutions where they face continued segregation and abuse.