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 291 - 300 of 1482

Browse Other Topics

Threshold concepts in residential child care: Part 2, relational practice as threshold

Laura Steckley - Children and Youth Services Review, 07 Feb 2020

This second of a two-part paper discusses stage two of a two-stage, transatlantic study aimed at identifying and exploring threshold concepts in residential child care.

View Article

The nutritional status of children living within institutionalized care: A systematic review

Emily DeLacey, Cally Tann, Nora Groce, Maria Kett, Michael Quiring, Ethan Bergman, Caryl Garcia and Marko Kerac - PeerJ, 06 Feb 2020

This review from PeerJ aimed to evaluate currently available data on the nutrition status of children living within institutionalized care.

Ministerial Statement: Independent Care Review

First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, 05 Feb 2020

In this video, the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, issues a statement on the publication of the final report of the Scottish Independent Care Review.

View Video

Threshold Concepts in Residential Child Care: Part 1, The Selves of Learners and their Praxis

Laura Steckley - Children and Youth Services Review, 04 Feb 2020

This first of a two-part paper discusses the first of a two-stage, transatlantic study aimed at identifying and exploring threshold concepts in residential child care.

View Article

Toolkit for a Residential Childcare Institution Situational Analysis in Kenya: Pilot in Kisumu, Nyamira, Kiambu, and Kilif