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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Violence and Trauma in the Romanian Residential Child Protection

Maria Roth, Imola Antal, Ágnes Dávid-Kacsó, Éva László-Bodrogi, Anca Mureșan - Revista de Asistenţă Socială, 2018

Exploring the testimonials collected during a focus group and 45 individual interviews with adult alumni of such institutions the Romanian research team enrolled in the SASCA Project revealed a wide range of forms of violence and traumatic consequences.

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

Tuhinul Islam & Leon Fulcher - The CYC-Net Press, 31 Dec 2017

Building on Volume 1 of the Residential Child and Youth Care in a Developing World Series that used the FIFA Football Confederation Regions to step outside contemporary discourses about residential child and youth care, further contributions from 23 UEFA countries are offered in this second volume which follows.

Malnutrition and psychosocial dysfunction among the orphan and vulnerable children in Kaski district, Nepal

Dipendra Malla, Bishwas Acharya, Lil Bahadur Nepali, Anup KC, Pratik Gurung, Nanda Lal Gupta, Hoshiar Singh Chauhan - Progress in Medical Sciences, 23 Dec 2017

The objective of this study was to assess malnutrition and psychosocial dysfunction among vulnerable children as well as to determine the association between malnutrition and psychosocial dysfunction among orphan and vulnerable children in Kaski district, Nepal.

Emotional health and coping mechanisms among adolescents in Malaysian residential foster care homes: A comparative study with adolescents living with families

Marjan Mohammadzadeh, Esra Tajik, Hamidin Awang, Latiffah Abdul Latiff - Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 18 Dec 2017

This article presents the findings of a study that examined the emotional health status and coping mechanisms of adolescents living in residential care facilities in Malaysia, in comparison with that of adolescents living in families.

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Ending the criminalisation of children in residential care. Briefing two: best practice in policing

The Howard League for Penal Reform, 18 Dec 2017

This is the second briefing paper published as part of the Howard League’s two-year programme to end the criminalisation of children in residential care. It explores how good practice in the policing of children’s homes can significantly reduce the unnecessary criminalisation of vulnerable children and demand on police resources.

Changing the Way We Care Final Presentation

MacArthur Foundation, 11 Dec 2017

In this video, Catholic Relief Services, Lumos, and Maestral International presented their project: Changing the Way We Care, a project aimed at ending the institutionalization of children.

The Problem of Orphanages

World Travel Market London, 11 Dec 2017

This session of the World Travel Market in London focused on orphanage tourism and featured speakers from the Better Volunteering Better Care Initiative and other partners, including Save the Children, Friends International, Lumos, and People and Places.

Deinstitutionalisation of Europe’s Children: Questions and Answers

Opening Doors for Europe's Children, 11 Dec 2017

This resource provides quick answers to some of the frequently asked questions about the transition from institutional to family- and community-based care for children, also known as deinstitutionalisation (DI).

Deinstitutionalisation of children in Europe: What do you know?

Opening Doors for Europe’s Children, 11 Dec 2017

To accompany the release of the learning guide “Deinstitutionalisation of Europe’s Children: Questions and Answers”, the Opening Doors for Europe’s Children has prepared an online quiz to test the knowledge and tackle some of the tricky questions on deinstitutionalisation (DI).

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Causes & Circumstances of Enrolment & Moving-Out of the Children in Child Care Centers & Orphanages

Amjad Nazeer & Siraaj Khurram - Institute of Development and Corresponding Capabilities (IDRAC) & Secours Islamique France, 01 Dec 2017

The aim of this study has been to assess the reasons for the increased enrolment of children into orphanages and child care centres. An action research was conducted in Islamabad and Rawalpindi between November and December 2017 to assess the situation and identify the causes and circumstance that bring in and compel orphans and vulnerable children to move out after a certain age or grade.