Ending Child Institutionalization

The detrimental effects of institutionalization on a child’s well-being are widely documented. Family based care alternatives such as kinship or foster care, are much more effective in providing care and protection for a child, and are sustainable options until family reunification can take place. The use of residential care should be strictly limited to specific cases where it may be necessary to provide temporary, specialized, quality care in a small group setting organized around the rights and needs of the child in a setting as close as possible to a family, and for the shortest possible period of time. The objective of such placement should be to contribute actively to the child’s reintegration with his/her family or, where this is not possible or in the best interests of the child, to secure his/her safe, stable, and nurturing care in an alternative family setting or supported independent living as young people transition to adulthood.

Countries which have traditionally relied on residential care are now undergoing major transformations to their child care and social welfare policies, in order to move towards family and community based care options. Such transformations are rooted in the research-based evidence of the impact of institutionalization on a child’s development, vulnerability to abuse within residential care settings, and the institution's high operational costs. It is therefore of great concern that the use of residential care is increasing in developing countries with high rates of HIV/AIDS. Such projects are typically funded by foreign donors to the detriment of the local population, and pressure should be placed on the host governments to pursue policies of family based care rather than residential care.

The use of residential care should be strictly limited to specific cases where it may be necessary to provide temporary, specialized, quality care in a small group setting organized around the rights and needs of the child in a setting as close as possible to a family, and for the shortest possible period of time. The objective of such placement should be to contribute actively to the child’s reintegration with his/her family or, where this is not possible or in the best interests of the child, to secure his/her safe, stable, and nurturing care in an alternative family setting or supported independent living as young people transition to adulthood.

Where the separation of parents and child is long-term, the alternative care arrangement should be family based to give the child a sense of security, continuity, stability and belonging by providing certainty on where the child will live for the rest of childhood and who the child’s parents or legal guardians will be. Keeping siblings, cousins and close friends together should be an important consideration in placement decisions. Adolescents, who may find integration into a new family difficult, may benefit from placement in supported independent living arrangements. These arrangements should be fully integrated in the community to which the children belong, with a comparable standard of living.

Any child in a residential care setting must have their needs assessed and planned for, to enable them to return to their families as soon as possible. If a child has become separated from her family in an emergency, documentation, tracing and reunification activities should begin urgently. If a child has been removed from parental care for her safety, support services should be provided to the parents in order to facilitate the return of the child. Children must be kept fully informed and involved in any plans for their care, and encouraged to maintain contact with known relatives where possible.

Residential care services must adhere to stringent standards of documentation and care and be regularly monitored by protection workers to ensure the children have their safety, health, psychosocial, and educational needs met.

The literature in this section deals with examples of countries which are working to develop their child care policies away from using residential care to alternative family care options such as kinship care, fostering, and adoption.

Displaying 61 - 70 of 662

Browse Other Topics

Practitioner Video Discussion Guide: Upendo Village, Kenya

Better Care Network, 15 Feb 2022

This video summary accompanies the Readjusting to Parenthood: Peer Support Groups for Grandparents Assuming Care for Orphaned Children (Upendo Village, Kenya) practitioner learning video which is part of the Kenya Practitioner Learning Video Series.

Care Reform in Uganda: Virtual Study Tour

Changing the Way We Care, UNICEF, Government of Uganda, 31 Jan 2022

This virtual study tour aims to provide you with an overview of care reform in Uganda from the comfort of your own home. Care reform relates to the care of children.

Care Reform in Kenya: Virtual Study Tour

Changing the Way We Care, UNICEF, Government of Kenya, 31 Jan 2022

This Changing the Way We Care virtual study tour aims to provide an overview of care reform in Kenya from the comfort of your own home. Care reform relates to the care of children. It refers to efforts to improve the legal and policy frameworks, structures, services, supports and resources that determine and deliver alternative care, prevent family separation and support families to care for children well.

Care Reform in Zambia: Virtual Study Tour

Changing the Way We Care, UNICEF, Government of Zambia, 31 Jan 2022

This virtual study tour aims to provide you with an overview of care reform in Zambia from the comfort of your own home. Care reform relates to the care of children.

Individual-Inclusive Ecosystem Model of Rehabilitation for Inclusion of Children with Disabilities in Childcare Institutions

Josephine Anthony, 11 Jan 2022

In this best practice article, the challenges faced by these children with disabilities and the potential for inclusion within the CCI are discussed based on the field action project intervention of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, with selected government CCIs. The article suggests a multi-pronged intervention approach for the Children with disability (CWD) at the levels of the individual CWD, peer group, CCI and the juvenile justice (JJ) System, which are together recognised as the stakeholders of an ‘inclusive ecosystem’. The article arrives at the ‘Inclusive Ecosystem Model of Rehabilitation’ by drawing from the individual–environment interaction model of disability.

View Article

Emotional Psychological Impact of Institutionalization on Children and Early Adolescents

María del Carmen Manzo Chávez, 2022

The causes of institutionalization are multiple and the impact it causes is reflected in different areas such as the development of the child in general, such as mental, psychic structuring, health, and nutrition. Psychologically, children present alterations in their cognitive, emotional, sexual, and social domains with a high probability of developing several pathological conditions. This chapter presents an overview of this phenomenon based on several research investigations carried out in Spain, Latin America, and Mexico.

Child and Adolescent Development in Risky Adverse Contexts

Nutritional Status Assessment of Orphanage Children in Rawalpindi

Mehwish Riaz, Naila Azam, Humaira Mehmood, Raima Asif, Nazish Khan, Fatima Ali Raza Mughal, 31 Dec 2021

The objective of the study was to evaluate the health and nutritional status of four registered orphanages of Rawalpindi, to find frequency of nutritional deficiencies by physical examination findings and to assess their dietary intake and contrast it with individual recommended daily allowances.

Making the Case for Transition - Kinnected Partner, India/Australia

Better Care Network in partnership with Kinnected, 14 Dec 2021

This video case study was developed as a part of the Transitioning Models of Care Assessment Tool training package. It is 1 of 8 video case studies exploring different aspects of learning on transitioning residential care services. To access the full set of case studies or the training package, visit the BCN Transition Hub.

Transitioning Residential Care Services Video Case Studies

Better Care Network in partnership with Kinnected, 14 Dec 2021

These video case studies were developed as a part of the Transitioning Models of Care As

Changing the Way We Care in Guatemala

Changing the Way We Care Guatemala, 01 Dec 2021

This two-pager highlights 2018-2020 results of the The Changing the Way We Care℠ (CTWWC) initiative for decision makers, government officials, media, other institutions or organizations working with children and adolescents, and private and public counterparts. CTWWC was formed in 2018 to transform care systems and demonstrate sustainable change at scale in 5 to 7 countries, including Guatemala, Kenya, Moldova, India, and Haiti. In Guatemala and around the world, more than 80-90% of children and adolescents living in orphanages (referred to as “protection homes” in Guatemala) have at least one living parent.