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Paper

Current trends in the use of residential child care: the legacy of a ‘last resort’ approach

abstract

This paper will present a summary of the findings of recent research carried out by the presenter and colleagues examining current trends in the use of residential child care in Scotland, and the implications of these for the development of the most effective way of using residential services for children in need of out-of-home care. The research studies gathered data on the characteristics of the children placed in residential units in a 6-month period, and gathered the views of both residential managers and service managers about the suitability of the placements. The findings highlight continuing ambivalence about the purposeful, as opposed to residual or 'last resort', approach to residential placement.

In Scotland residential units for children remain largely in the hands of local authorities and are managed within their social service departments. However the priority accorded to family support and foster-placements means there has been a difficulty in operationalising a 'positive choice' role for residential units; one result is that many children are placed in residential units in emergency circumstances when other placements have broken down. The research studies gathered data on admissions to residential units in seven local authorities over a six month period. This allowed for an in-depth exploration of some of the characteristics of the children being placed in residential care, including previous placement, and others such as the length of stay. The studies revealed a significant number of children aged under 12 years of age being admitted to residential care, many placements of a very short duration, poor evidence of placement planning, substantial numbers of sibling groups being separated, and many instances of residential placements being used when not the preferred option. The implications of the findings are discussed with particular focus placed on the ability of the residential sector to achieve the wide range of roles it is currently expected to fulfil.

Background information. Scotland has a single child care system which combines 'welfare' and 'youth justice' (for those under 16) functions in a single system of 'looked after children' - that is children 'in care'. Figures from 2006 show approximately 7,500 children 'looked after' away from home. Of these about 50% are in foster-care, and 23% (1700 approx.) in various forms of residential care. Another 23 % are in 'kinship' care; that is living with a friend or member of the extended family (Scottish Executive 2006). Scotland also has approximately 5,500 children being supervised by a social worker while living at home with their parent(s). In the past 30 years, in common with many other 'Western' countries, there has been a substantial decline in the residential sector, and the proportion of children placed in residential settings compared to those in various forms of foster-care, has decreased. However the above figures are census-type data collected on a specified day in the year. Given that many placements are of short duration, larger numbers of children may experience some time in a residential placement than is indicated by the snapshot figures quoted above. For many years foster-care has been the preferred form of care, especially for children under 12. However the dangers of an excessive disregard for residential care have been recognised and many policy documents have called for residential care to be used positively and not as a 'last resort'. Scotland has about 140 small children's homes and about 40 residential special schools, these figures do not include residential schools and respite services for children with profound or complex disabilities. The average size of a children's unit is now 6 'beds', and some homes only have 2 or 3 'beds'.

Despite the policies of family support the overall numbers of children becoming 'looked after' in Scotland has been increasing steadily since 2000, and there has been a substantial increase in the number of children in recognised 'kinship' placements. Residential care is viewed as a very expensive form of care and local authorities have continued to try to reduce their reliance on residential places. Thus the whole system is under considerable pressure.

Summary of policy and practice implications

-        There is an evident 'operational gap' between policy and practice in residential care services, and continuing use of residential placement as a safety net or last resort hinders the development of a positive use of the sector. Decisions resulting in admission to residential care should be based on potential positive benefits to children rather than as a last resort.

-        Greater thought requires to be given to the significant numbers of younger children who continue to be admitted to residential care.

-        Legislative guidance concerning the placing of siblings requires to be adhered to more consistently to address the issue of sibling groups being routinely split up when moving to residential care.

-        The frequency of very short placements raises many questions, in particular the impact on both the children involved and existing residents.

-        Residential resources require to be developed which reflect the needs of the whole child population and have the flexibility to manage emergency placements.

Key references

Berridge, D. (2002). Residential care. In D. McNeish, T. Newman & H. Roberts (Eds). What works for children? Buckingham: OUP. pp.83-103.

Crimmens, D. & Milligan, I. (Eds) (2005). Residential child care: Becoming a positive choice. In D. Crimmens and I. Milligan. Facing Forward: residential child care in the 21st century. Lyme Regis: Russell House Publishing, pp.19-28.

Hellinckx, W. (2002). Residential care: last resort or vital link in child welfare? International Journal of Child & Family Welfare 5(3), 75-83.

Scottish Executive Statistics. (2006). Looked After Children 2005-06. Edinburgh.

Contacts: Ian Milligan, Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care, Glasgow School of Social Work, University of Strathclyde, Scotland, E-mail:ian.milligan@strath.ac.uk, Phone +44 (0)141 950 3623 (Ext. 3623).

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