This article discusses the use of institutional care for children in Europe and shows that it remains common place despite the evidence of harm for children, including attachment disorder and developmental delay. The authors review the use of alternatives to institutional care and argue that children less than 3 years old, with or without disability, should not be placed in residential care without a parent and that when institutions are used as an emergency measure, the child should be moved into a foster family as soon as possible.
British Medical Journal VOLUME 332 25 FEBRUARY 2006
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