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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The development of children placed into different types of Russian families following an institutional intervention

McCall, Robert B.; Muhamedrahimov, Rifkat J.; Groark, Christina J.; Palmov, Oleg I.; Nikiforova, Natalia V.; Salaway, Jennifer L.; Julian, Megan M., 01 Oct 2016

This study examined whether interventions in Russian Baby Homes promoting warm, sensitive, and responsive caregiver-child interactions and relationships would be associated with advantages in those children’s behavior years after they transitioned to family care.

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

Tuhinul Islam Leon Fulcher (Editors), The CYC-Net Press, 01 Oct 2016

Edited by Tuhinul Islam and Leon Fulcher, Residential Child and Youth Care in a Developing World: Global Perspectives is the first volume of a series of four, bringing together contributions from local practitioners, educators and researchers across all regions 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.

Children looked after in England including adoption: 2015 to 2016

UK Department for Education, 29 Sep 2016

This statistical release provides information about looked after children in England for the year ending 31 March 2016, including where they are placed, their legal status, the numbers starting and ceasing to be looked after, and the numbers who go missing or are away from their placement without authorisation.

Patterns of Psychotropic Medication at Admission for Youth in Residential Care

Jonathan C. Huefner, Gail L. Smith, Jay L. Ringle, Amy L. Stevens, W. Alex Mason, Gilbert R. Parra - Journal of Child and Family Studies, 19 Sep 2016

High levels of psychotropic medication use and polypharmacy are common for emotionally and behaviorally troubled youth entering residential care.

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Youth Development Models and Indian Youth: A Critical Literature Review, Case Example and Applications to Youth in Alternative Care

Heath, Ryan D.; Das, Adit; Khoury, Nayla M., - Institutionalised Children Explorations and Beyond: An International Journal on Alternative Care, 16 Sep 2016

This article aims to assess the relevance of Western youth development models to adolescents in institutional care in India. The authors review three frameworks for positive youth development.

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Strong Beginnings – A Family for All Children: End-of-Project Evaluation Report

Eddy J. Walakira, Ismael Ddumba-Nyanzi, Luwangula Ronald - Terres des Hommes Netherlands and Makerere University, 01 Sep 2016

Strong Beginnings (SB) was an 18-month project purposed to promote an alternative care model that places emphasis on family based care of children, improving the quality of care within child care institutions, build capacities of government and non-government agencies in implementing alternative care; generate evidence and promote learning.

Psychological and background correlates of bullying in adolescent residential care

Ivana Sekol and David P Farrington - Journal of Social Work, 16 Jul 2016

This research examined psychological and background correlates of bullying in adolescent residential care. Young people aged 11–21 (N = 601) from 22 residential institutions in Croatia completed an anonymous self-reported bullying questionnaire, the Basic Empathy Scale, the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale and the Big Five Personality Inventory.

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Country Care Review: Zambia

Better Care Network, 14 Jul 2016

This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Looked after children in residential care: analysis

Sir Martin Narey - UK Department for Education, 04 Jul 2016

This analysis was produced as part of an independent review into children's residential care in England and provides data on children living in all types of residential care facilities in the country as of 31 March 2015.

2nd Biennial Conference on Improving Standards of Care for Alternative Child and Youth Care: Systems, Policies and Practice – A Report

Udayan Care, 01 Jul 2016

This report contains detailed discussions that occurred during conference sessions. The first day focused on Caregivers. The second day focused on aftercare services. This report contains Article 20 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It provides background information on alternative care, which includes a definition and an overview of the alternative care situation in South Asia. It also includes some key guidelines from the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care for Children.