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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Country Care Review: Chile

Better Care Network, 13 Apr 2016

This country care review includes the care related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

"Skirt? Nope, not for me!" Sexual and gender self-determination for children and youth in alternative care settings

Dreilinden gGmbH / SOS Children’s Villages International, 01 Apr 2016

This issue paper explores the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) children and young people in alternative care settings and highlights some promising practices.

The Buffering Role of Social Support on the Psychosocial Wellbeing of Orphans in Rwanda

Tehetna Alemu Caserta, Raija‐Leena Punamäki, & Anna‐Maija Pirttilä‐Backman - , 28 Mar 2016

This study examined (1) how perceived social support (PSS) varied across orphan‐related characteristics (e.g., orphan status, such as single, maternal or paternal, and their living environments, such as in child‐headed households, on the street, in an orphanage or in a foster home) and (2) the relative importance of sources of PSS (relatives/community/adults and peers) and functional social support (emotional/informational/instrumental and social) and its association with emotional well‐being and mental distress.

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Cambodia: Preliminary Data Compilation and Findings: Mapping of Residential Care Institutions

Cambodian Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation, 24 Mar 2016

Cambodia's Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation (MoSVY) conducted a mapping exercise to address a lack of information on the number of residential facilities providing care for children.

Universal Periodic Review – Republic of Moldova – Stakeholder Report by Lumos

Lumos, 20 Mar 2016

In this report, Lumos welcomes actions taken by the Republic of Moldova to prevent child abuse and exploitation during the period between 2011-2015. Lumos further notes c

Seminar on ‘Improving Standards of Care for Alternative Child and Youth Care: Systems, Policies and Practices’

CPC Learning Network, 18 Mar 2016

This document reports on Udayan Care's international seminar on ‘Improving Standards of Care for Alternative Child and Youth Care: Systems, Policies and Practices’

Rapid assessment of children living in children’s homes in Zanzibar

Department of Social Welfare - Ministry of Empowerment, Social Welfare, Youth, Women and Children; Save the Children UK; SOS Children’s Villages, 01 Mar 2016

Zanzibar’s Department of Social Welfare - a department within the Ministry of Empowerment, Social Welfare, Youth, Women and Children - along with Save the Children UK and SOS Children’s Villages undertook a rapid assessment of residential care institutions in Zanzibar in an effort to provide preliminary information to assist the Department of Social Welfare in licensing of all children’s homes in Zanzibar.

Resilience and Its Contributing Factors in Adolescents in Long-Term Residential Care Facilities Affiliated to Tehran Welfare Organization

Manijeh Nourian PhD; Farahnaz Mohammadi Shahboulaghi, PhD; Kian Nourozi Tabrizi, PhD; Maryam Rassouli, PhD; Akbar Biglarrian, PhD, 29 Feb 2016

This article primarily discusses a study that was conducted to determine resilience and contributing factors in high-risk adolescents living in residential care facilities affiliated to Tehran Welfare Organization.

Call to Action to the Bulgarian Government

Opening Doors for Europe's Children, 24 Feb 2016

This brief is part of the Opening Doors for Europe’s Children campaign and is based on the proposal made to the Bulgarian Government by the Coalition ‘Childhood 2025’ to update the structure and content of the updated Action Plan.

Ishema Mu Muryango: Pride for the Family - Stories of Successful Reintegration in Rwanda

Global Communities and Hope and Homes for Children, 19 Feb 2016

This report highlights stories of some children, youth and families who have been assisted under the Ishema Mu Muryango program. While each of their stories is unique, all highlight some common themes about institutionalization and child abandonment in Rwanda.