Chapter 1 sets the parameters for the editors’ view of “residential care for children and youth” and offers a working definition of the same viewed in the context of legal, administrative, and children’s rights within an organized child welfare system. The editors make clear the rationale for their choice of a range of countries with developed welfare systems, while acknowledging a far more diverse range of residential settings viewed in worldwide context. The contributors to this volume share a commitment to a high-quality, revitalized residential service sector grounded both in research and commonly shared values such as partnership with families and residential practice that is close to the rhythms of diverse and vital community life. This does not mean “one size fits all,” but rather that we can learn much from the often subtle ways in which culture and tradition create the niches within which residential services are formed, sustained, and changed.
This chapter provides information about PLANEA, a flexible online life skills training program for youth in residential care. The PLANEA program gradually supports the development of autonomy and life skills in residential settings according to each young person’s unique needs and characteristics. The initial version was piloted in Spain at local request, but the program has clear cross-national roots as it built upon and extends an earlier transition program in Finland and several other European countries. PLANEA follows in a longstanding line of applied research projects in Spanish residential care originating from the Child and Family Research Group (GIFI) at the University of Oviedo in Spain. This project, in particular, as well as its predecessor studies provides a model of partnership between youth and family practice and universities that we believe has much to commend it.
This chapter details the progression of Spanish residential care through a period of civil war followed by 40 years of dictatorship, when large institutions prevailed. The arrival of a democratic government in the late 1970s marked the beginning of a period of transformation in child welfare, including the introduction of family foster care and the expansion of family support services, the evolution of standards for residential care, and the development of research alliances with Spanish universities to identify effective strategies for residential staff training. Spain’s residential care population includes a high percentage of unaccompanied minors who, along with youth who present with severe behavioral and emotional problems, are a present focus of concern. The chapter concludes with the matrix used throughout the book, which provides information about the current policy context, key trends and initiatives, characteristics of children and youth served, preparation of residential care personnel, promising programmatic innovations, and present strengths and challenges.
This final chapter synthesizes the main findings from the 16-country cross-national review of residential care for children and youth. Major topics include differing rates of use for residential care, characteristics of children and youth served, contextual elements and policy developments, quality factors in residential care, and education and training strategies. The authors conclude with some general recommendations for future improvement of residential child and youth care, including policy initiatives, research, and promising pathways for innovation. The authors urge a more nuanced and better specified conceptualization of residential care. They make the case for continued and expanded cross-national analysis of residential care provision in future.
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