Institutional Care Environments for Infants and Young Children in Latin America and the Caribbean

Children in residential care in México: Understanding profiles, trajectories and outcomes

“…When that option is exhausted, priority should be given to family alternatives, such as kinship care, family foster care, and, only when return to the family is not possible, adoption. However, for this to work, trained, evaluated, and monitored professionals are needed to carry out the processes (Kirk et al, 2017), as well as funded programmes that offer support to families of origin and those that integrate a new child into their family (Kirk et al, 2017; RELAF & Unicef, 2014), especially to children with special needs (McCall & Groark, 2015).…”

“…The establishment of a national system to monitor the implementation of laws is as important as the creation of laws (Kirk et al, 2017). Accurate data collection of children in care and quality of care is critical (Kirk et al, 2017). A national monitoring system that identifies reasons for entry and tracks the pathways of children in care could be useful to address the reasons for out‐of‐home care and mitigate family separation (Petrowski et al, 2017).…”

“…Quality residential care sets professional standards for the services it provides and the staff who care for children (Kirk et al, 2017). Residential care should provide individualized care for each child, have enough caregivers for the number of children, and provide specialized training for caregivers as well as adequate salaries and work schedules (Del Valle et al, 2012).…”

“…Caregivers are the most relevant professionals in direct contact with children, and therefore it is crucial that they are given proper training, recognition, and involvement in the case plan (Del Valle et al, 2012). In addition, the case plan should be initiated as soon as possible and include short‐ and long‐term targets to allow periodic review of the measures taken (Kirk et al, 2017).…”

Teacher violence, school satisfaction and subjective well‐being in children and adolescents in residential care: The moderation effect of staff support

“…In Peru, as in many other Latin American countries, residential care continues to be the most preferred option for children and adolescents in the child welfare system (Kirk et al, 2017). Children and adolescents entering residential care in Peru have suffered different forms of abuse (inadequate disciplinary methods, neglect, lack of affection and stimulation from the family and/or sexual abuse) in their families of origin, which leads to admission in residential care centres (Decreto Legislativo No 1297, 2018.…”