Residential Child Care Research Articles

An Equine-Assisted Intervention Versus Non-Manualized Psychotherapy for Youth in a Residential Childcare Facility

AbstractCharacteristics of individuals with disruptive behavior disorders often include elevated externalizing behaviors such as impulsivity, defiance of authority and antagonism of social norms. Evidence shows that adolescents diagnosed with these types of disorders are particularly challenging to treat; however, therapies incorporating horses have shown some success. We examined the impact of an equine-assisted intervention compared to a non-manualized cognitive behavioral therapy in youth between 12- and 18-years old living in a residential childcare facility. Upon admittance, youth were administered three assessments: the Youth Self-Report, Adolescent Psychopathology Scale, and Basic Empathy Scale. Youth scoring in the clinical range for at least one externalizing subscale of the Youth Self-Report were assigned to equine-assisted intervention (EQI; N = 23) or non-manualized cognitive behavioral therapy (NM-CBT; N = 20) groups. Each group received a total of 7 h of treatment per week (three 2-hr group sessions and one 1-hr individual session) for 24 weeks. After 24 weeks of treatment, the same three assessments were administered a second time. There were no significant differences between the NM-CBT and EQI groups in the amount of change between assessments. A significant time effect was found for total externalizing behaviors in the Adolescent Psychopathology Scale and Youth Self-Report such that these measures were within the normal range after 24 weeks of treatment for participants in both groups.

Identifying the Challenges in the Detection and Protection of Child Victims of Human Trafficking in Spain: A Case Study of the Southern European Border

Despite the improvements in enhanced child protection, there is an increasing concern about the vulnerability and cases of child trafficking in Spain, the southern gateway to Europe from the African continent. Analyzing 23 interviews with professionals in the field, this article identifies the factors that contribute to high levels of child trafficking in Spain. This study identifies three primary results: (1) The dangers of residential childcare as places of recruitment; (2) The southern European and Spanish border as a place of elevated risk for the recruitment of children; (3) The stereotypes regarding child trafficking make invisible male victims, other types of trafficking for non-sexual purposes, domestic trafficking, and individual trafficking. Therefore, it remains imperative to advance a set of policies that: (i) invest in specific residential childcare resources for child victims either alone or with family members; (ii) invest in smaller residential childcare to prevent abuse; (iii) invest in mentoring programs for children previously under state guardianship; (iv) improve the working conditions and the training of residential childcare staff; (v) increase the visibility and diversity of child trafficking while avoiding stereotypes; (vi) improve the regional coordination; (vii) invest in campaigns to inform children about the dangers involved in running away, exploitation and abuse.

Working With Traumatised Children During Traumatic Times: Residential Child Care Educators' Compassion Fatigue and Work Engagement

Working With Traumatised Children During Traumatic Times: Residential Child Care Educators' Compassion Fatigue and Work Engagement

Digital group archives in residential childcare: an investigation into memory responsibility

This article discusses phase two of the ARCH project (Archiving Residential Children’s Homes), and in particular, the development of a co-designed ‘digital archive’ that stores everyday, shared events and experiences for care experienced young people who live in residential children’s homes. We present research with young people living in residential care, care workers and care experienced adults about the types of everyday information or records they would like to be able to store, share and access in the future. There was a desire for the digital archive to have a different feel and purpose to content recorded in individual case files, with easy access to the archive deemed important. There were mixed views about the representation of events and experiences and whether these should contain mainly ‘light-hearted’ events and experiences. Our research gives an insight into memory-keeping practices within a residential children’s home and invites questions about whose responsibility it is for gathering, filtering and treasuring childhood experiences.

Impact of trauma and placement in residential or congregate care on the criminalisation of children in England/Wales and Australia

Children in residential care have the most complex needs of all children growing up in Out-of-Home care (OOHC), due to complex trauma from pre-care experiences of abuse and neglect, inadequate therapeutic supports while in care and significant placement instability. Some argue that residential care settings are intrinsically criminogenic, as evidenced by significant over-representation of this cohort in youth justice. However, little is known about how children’s experiences of trauma, including removal from family and placement in OOHC, is viewed by lawyers and decision-makers in criminal cases involving children in care. Criminal justice decisions can have long-term ramifications for children in care and custodial sentencing can often be a precursor to ongoing incarceration into adulthood. This qualitative, cross-national study explored the impacts of trauma and placement in residential or congregate care on the criminalisation of children in England/Wales and Australia. In-depth interviews were conducted with 28 legal, youth justice and judicial stakeholders in England, Wales (UK), New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria (Australia). While there are considerable differences in the operation of child protection and youth justice systems between these jurisdictions, thematic analysis using NVivo14 identified. confirmed ongoing systemic factors associated with criminalisation identified in previous literature persists despite attempts to address these through policy and practice reforms. These factors include an absence of therapeutic supports, unstable and unsafe residential care placements, over-reliance on police to respond to minor incidents, increasingly punitive police responses lacking awareness of the impacts of childhood trauma and inappropriate use of custody as an ‘alternative’ placement. These findings suggest the similar systemic processes across these jurisdictions are likely to reflect deeply entrenched ideologies about ‘care’ and ‘protection’ that function to criminalise trauma. The implications of these systemic factors when children are exposed to formal criminal justice decision-making are considered.

The nutritional and feeding status of children living in selected residential child care facilities in Zambia: implications for programs and policies.

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of undernutrition and risk of feeding difficulties and describe common feeding practices for children from birth to 10 years of age living in residential care in Zambia. This was a secondary analysis of de-identified cross-sectional data on 397 children living in 22 residential care facilities in four provinces. Child demographics, anthropometrics, hemoglobin levels, risk for feeding difficulties, and facility-level feeding practices were collected by a trained study team using Count Me In, a digital health app. Interviews with staff were conducted at 15 residential care facilities. Around half of the study sample were boys (53.4%) and <5 years old (55.4%). Special healthcare needs were reported in 10.3% of the children, with cerebral palsy being the most common (3.5%). Underweight, stunting, wasting (using weight-for-length/height), and anemia were found in 22.4, 28.0, 7.1 and 54.7% of children, respectively, with higher rates in children with special healthcare needs and children <24 months old. Duration of residential care was positively associated with length/height-for-age but not weight-for-age or weight-for-length/height z-scores. A risk for feeding difficulties was found in 41.4 and 26.0% of children with and without special healthcare needs, respectively. Suboptimal bottle-feeding practices, including the use of altered nipples and poor caregiver-infant interactions, were observed for infants <12 months old. Residential care staff reported suboptimal diets in their facilities and gaps in knowledge and resources to meet children's nutritional needs. These results demonstrate that a large proportion of children living in residential care in Zambia are at high risk for undernutrition and feeding difficulties and contribute to the small body of literature on children living in residential care, both in Zambia and globally. In the context of Zambia's efforts to improve child nutrition and reform its alternative care, these findings can inform programming and policies for children living in residential care to fulfill their rights to health and family care.

Residential childcare worker perceptions of work-related achievement and pride

Residential childcare worker perceptions of work-related achievement and pride

Navigating the vulnerabilities and coping mechanisms of children in residential child care institutions: A qualitative exploration

Residential child care institutions around the globe play a significant role in protecting children in need of care and protection. While these facilities facilitate hope and rehabilitation, the displacement of children from their families introduces a variety of psychosocial stressors. This qualitative study aims to elucidate children’s vulnerabilities and coping mechanisms in residential child care institutions in Kerala, India. We conducted in-depth interviews with 21 children aged 8-16 living in institutional care within Ernakulam District, Kerala, India, registered under the Juvenile Justice (JJ) (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015. Semi-structured interviews covered various domains, including demographics, emotional well-being, social interactions, behavioral issues, academics, and coping mechanisms. Attride-Stirling’s thematic network analysis was used in the data analysis to identify significant themes. The themes identified include (a) emotional well-being and self-perception, (b) behavioral problems, (c) social networking and interaction patterns, (d) educational and career aspirations, and (e) strengths and coping mechanisms. Our study presents the multifaceted challenges encountered by children in Kerala’s residential child care institutions, highlighting the need to create a nurturing environment that fosters child-centric practices that are essential to ensure their well-being and better prospects for their future.

In the Eye of the Beholder: Visualizing Strengths, Burdens and Desires Through the Lens of Neurodivergent Children, Their Parents, and Professionals Using the Yucel Method

Abstract Objectives In mental healthcare, there is a growing emphasis on one’s strengths and context instead of focusing primarily on individual deficiencies, pathologies, risks, and negative emotions. Using the visual and tactile Yucel method, this study gains insight into strengths, burdens, and desires of neurodivergent children in residential care and their parents from different perspectives. Methods In this qualitative study, a total of 45 interviews with the Yucel method were conducted with nine neurodivergent children, their parents, and involved professionals. All built a constellation of the child and family’s strengths, burdens, and desires using the Yucel method. To explore if by applying this visual and tactile method additional information is provided to that gathered in the standard diagnostic process, the information of the Yucel method was compared to the information found in the multidisciplinary reports of the children. Results Thematic analysis showed that besides common mentioned strengths (e.g., mother, sports and activities) and burdens (mental health problems), differences in the informants' perspectives were found. Parents mentioned strengths and burdens that were not addressed by other informants and a diversity in needs was found. The comparison of the results from the interviews with the Yucel method with the information in the multidisciplinary reports showed that the Yucel method provided additional information. Conclusions The Yucel method brought more strengths and perspectives into view than diagnostics as usual in the first three months of residential care. This study contributes to the knowledge regarding personal, strength-based, and family-oriented diagnostics in mental healthcare of neurodivergent children and their families.

아동양육시설 초등학생들의 기초문해력 실태 조사

The purpose of this study was to examine the level of basic literacy skills among elementary school students in residential child care institution based on their reading development. A total of 118 students participated in the reading screening test. According to the results of the screening test, students with severe reading difficulties were classified as ‘at risk’, students with reading difficulties were classified as ‘some risk’, and students with average and above average reading levels were classified as ‘typical’. The ‘at risk’ students were administered the Korean language acquisition and word recognition tests, while students in the ‘some risk’, and ‘typical’, were administered the reading fluency and comprehension tests. The main research findings are as follows. First, elementary school students in residential child care institution generally showed low levels of basic literacy skills. Second, almost students in the ‘at risk’ group were found to have difficulty in word recognition. Third, students in the ‘some risk’ and ‘typical’ groups were found to have greater difficulty in reading comprehension than reading fluency. Based on these research results, implications for enhancing basic literacy skills of elementary school students in residential child care institution were proposed.

From Distancing to Connecting: Residential Care Engagement with External Stakeholders Amidst COVID-19. An Italian Investigation

ABSTRACT Drawing from an Italian study conducted during the COVID-19 lockdown, in this article we focus on the perspectives of Residential Care for Children (RCC) managers. Our aims are: to examine how they perceive RCC interactions with external stakeholders during lockdown – specifically within Bronfenbrenner’s ecological framework, encompassing meso- and exo-systems –, and to identify managers’ traits affecting communication with the abovementioned systems. The study involved 152 RCC managers on duty during the lockdown, utilizing the EWF Questionnaire – an anonymous, self-administered survey developed ad hoc for this investigation. The analysis employed descriptive statistics and Chi-square analysis. Results indicate that during the lockdown managers had good communication with RCC meso-system. In terms of professional relationships, RCC managers reported a closer affinity with social workers. Managers’ age, tenure in the role and field experience had an impact on the perception of communication within meso- and exo-systems. The number of units managed and their education degree did not show statistically significant impact. In the final sections, we discuss implications for RCC, interprofessional collaboration, and strategies for enhancing intersystem communication.

Resilience in Residential Child Care - Results of a Survey Among Professionals

ABSTRACT The high turnover among professionals in residential child care is a problematic development. One attempt to explain the departure of professionals from residential child care is the concept of resilience. The authors surveyed former and current professionals (n = 1158) using a standardized resilience questionnaire. The paper addresses the questions of how resilient professionals in residential child care are (compared to the general population) and whether lower resilience is responsible for professionals leaving residential child care. We examine the extent to which the resilience facets (individual, organizational resilience, and team resilience) individually impact the decision to leave residential child care. The results show that particularly high team resilience counteracts the departure of professionals from residential child care, while individual and organizational resilience do not exert a significant influence on the decision to stay in residential child care. Initial implications for innovation management in residential child care with regard to strengthening team resilience and organizational resilience will be discussed in conclusion.

Identifying Deficiencies in Children's Residential Care in Finland: Inspectors' Views on Working With Information

ABSTRACTAbusive and illegal practices in residential care are a recognised issue in child welfare internationally; thus, the question of how these institutions are supervised is important. However, children's residential care is complex by nature, making its supervision a challenging task. This article examines residential care supervision by looking at the ‘knowledge work’ that two central legality supervisors in Finland—the Parliamentary Ombudsman and Regional State Administrative Agencies—conduct when inspecting children's residential homes. Here, ‘knowledge work’ refers to the process of working with information to identify deficiencies in care. Eleven interviews and 16 inspection reports are analysed with a focus on the nature of the information that these supervisors gather when inspecting residential units and how they evaluate the significance and reliability of the information. The results show that to complete their institutional task, the inspectors gather information from various sources, including documents and interviews with children. The significance of the information is then assessed by comparing it with legislation and the supervisory mandate, and its reliability is verified by considering the diverse information sources as a whole collection of information. The results suggest that how well ‘knowledge work’ is conducted highly affects the impact of supervision.

Encounters with Care in a Scottish Residential School in the 1980s

The meaning of care in residential child care is under-developed. It can often be represented through its absence, seen as offering at best basic physical tending but lacking emotional connection or warmth. At worst, residential care settings said to be institutionally abusive can be characterised as being antithetical to what we might imagine care should be. Residential schools and especially those run by religious orders attract particular opprobrium in this regard. In this article, I adopt a broadly autoethnographic approach to reflect on how boys (now men in their late 40s and early 50s) brought up in the 1980s in a Scottish residential school recall being cared for. The article uses Axel Honneth’s theory of recognition and its three pillars of love, rights and solidarity to group themes from how former pupils speak about their experiences of care. These accounts challenge the received narrative of such settings failing to offer care. The discussion reflects some ideas around care and about how we understand public care historically.

LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT OF PRESCHOOL AND SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN AT RISK FOR LANGUAGE DISORDERS IN RESIDENTIAL CARE SETTINGS

Adequate language development is central to a child's academic and social development. This study aimed to assess the language of 35 preschool and school-aged Portuguese children in residential care in four social institutions, using the Grelha de Observação da Linguagem (GOL-E) developed by Kay and Santos (2014), a validated tool in Portuguese. The results of the study showed that in terms of language competence, compared to the normative results expected for their age: a) Of the thirty-five children assessed, only three were at or above the 50th percentile; b) Twelve children were between the 5th and 25th percentiles; c) Eight children were in the 10th percentile; d) Of the children between the 11th and 12th percentiles, only one was in the 90th and 75th percentiles; e) Eleven children were in the 10th and 25th percentiles; f) One child at the age of 12 was in the 5th percentile. Most of the children were in percentiles below those expected for their age group. According to the definition of speech and language disorders, we can observe that a group of these children fall under the condition of speech and language disorders, but have not been formally identified in the educational system, putting them at risk of failure in school and life. This study highlights the importance of language assessment and special education services for children living in institutions in Portugal. More studies with this population in these age groups are needed to better understand the language competencies of children living in residential care.&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Article visualizations:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="/-counters-/edu/0058/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Transnational Private Actors Shaping the Policy and Practice of Child Institutionalisation

We provide an overview of transnational non-state actors and their agency that shape today’s out-of-home childcare around the world, specifically institutional residential childcare. Based on existing studies and desktop research, we reveal a broad range of complexly inter-related for-profit and non-profit actors promoting diverse, often conflicting policies and practices – with ambiguous implications for children in care. We focus on secular and faith-based international non-governmental organisations, transnational companies, private regulators, and individuals. Many of them promote family- and community-based care, yet many others support orphanages and other forms of institutional care. The growing number of transnational actors in residential childcare, the emergence of private regulatory frameworks, the advance of market-based, for-profit players, and the involvement of well-resourced religious communities make the future of child institutionalisation uncertain. We discuss how this transnational agency compares with other policy fields and propose directions for future investigations of how transnationalism impacts children in care.

Charting the 21st Century Rise of For-Profit Residential Child Care

This article explores the increasing prevalence of for-profit residential care, with a particular focus on Great Britain, while also drawing on the international evidence from the Global North. Comprising a critical review of the published evidence (both academic and grey literature), the article seeks to examine what might explain the rising prevalence of and the possible associated impacts of the increase in for-profit provision. The findings indicate that the rise of for profit-companies among residential child care providers appears to have occurred by default, rather than explicit policy design. Our analysis also highlights gaps in the knowledge base about the quality of care and whether better quality is associated with the type of provider. Furthermore, the relationships between provider, quality, cost and outcomes are unclear. There are inconsistencies in the evidence base, with different conclusions being reached. However, available evidence tends to suggest the increased prevalence of for-profit residential child care providers has had an overall negative, rather than positive, effect. The best case in favour of the continued use of for-profit residential care is currently a non-moral pragmatic one: that in countries with medium and high prevalence of the use of residential child care, it would be hard to sustain care systems if for-profit providers were to suddenly withdraw or be withdrawn.

아동생활시설의 아동안전보호정책 실천 경험에 관한 연구

The study aimed to understand the experience of child safeguarding policy practice in children's residential care engaged in “Creating Safe Institutions for Children” project and to determine the impact of the project as perceived by participants.&#x0D; For the purpose of the study, 6 child safety protection officers and 10 children in 4th grade and above from children’s residential centers and group homes in B area that carried out the project in 2022 were selected as research participants. Qualitative content analysis procedures were used to analyze the data.&#x0D; The analysis results were categorized into 11 themes in 4 areas. First, ‘Safe Home’ was the goal of this project and was a living space that provided emotional stability and protection to children. Second, the physical environment of the facility, the characteristics of children in care, the environment outside the facility and online have also become ‘child safety risk factors’ that affect the implementation of child safeguarding policy. Third, in the area of 'experience in child safeguarding policy practice', categories such as 'safety protection monitoring together', 'activities centered on child participation', 'project support that promotes practice', and 'implementation obstacles and limitations' were revealed. Fourth, as ‘changes resulting from the implementation of child safeguarding policies,’ participants reported ‘promotion of institutional safety culture,’ ‘strengthening safeguarding competency of workers,’ and ‘promotion of children’s safety rights.’ Based on the research results, practical suggestions and tasks for further research were presented for the application and spread of child safeguarding policy in residential centers and group homes for children.

Placement stability and family support after government-mandated rapid return: A two-year follow-up

During the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple governments around the world implemented directives that mandated residential care providers to rapidly reunite thousands of children and youth with their families. Organizations were faced with expedited timelines for the reunification process, limited ability to prepare children and families, and restricted capacity to support and monitor families in-person due to lockdown measures. As such, there was significant concern regarding stability of placements, and well-being of the children and families affected by the abrupt and unprepared reunification process. This study examined data from 16 non-government organizations (NGOs) impacted by rapid return mandates in six nations (Kenya, Uganda, India, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Mexico). NGOs were serving 15,978 children in residential care at the time of the mandates. NGOs had an average of 21.87 days ( SD = 9.87) to return children to families. Most NGOs felt children and families were inadequately prepared for reunification. After two years, NGOs were in contact with 90% of the children who had been rapidly returned. Of those children, 56% remained in their family placement. Families who received more types of family strengthening services were more likely to remain intact. Concerningly, 2 years following the rapid return mandates, the NGOs in this study were collectively serving a higher number of children in residential care than prior to rapid return mandates. This suggests that rapid return mandates did not seem to decrease the number of children in residential care long-term. Data-informed recommendations for practice are discussed.

Photo Art Therapy: Coproducing a Community Arts-Based Research With Children in Care (Art-thérapie par la photo : coproduire une recherche fondée sur les arts communautaires avec des enfants pris en charge)

Photography is a powerful means of creative expression but it is often overlooked in the field of creative therapies. In this arts-based research, we describe a collaborative community project informed by the principles and practice of art therapy with former street children in residential care (age range 9 to 15). Ten participants used cameras to document their stories through images, they engaged in group discussions, made individual photo albums, and community photo exhibitions. The project was designed with the input of the participants to ensure cultural appropriateness and user engagement. We assessed the value of photography as both a tool for therapy and an artistic medium. Through interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), the authors looked at the images as artworks and means of expression. Participants identified how photography helped to re-tell and gain control of their life stories, explored future aspirations, and regained a sense of social responsibility. With the visual evidence of their stories, group discussions and exhibitions, they became active agents of community engagement and social change. Future studies can further explore photo art therapy as a method to improve individual and group well-being. The healing potential of photographs and photography as useful tools for social cohesion, sensitization, and emotional well-being are discussed as project outcomes.