Residential and specialised models of care

The decline in the use of residential care options is not unique to Australian out-of-home care, as both the UK and the US have witnessed similar declines. One of the main reasons attributed to the decline is the view that the placement of a child or young person in residential care cannot provide the same quality of care as the placement of a child or young person in a family environment (i.e., foster or kinship care). Many practitioners and researchers argue that residential care is too restrictive and not as “normalised” as familybased foster care. However, in recent years, research has provided evidence that residential care may not be as “bad” as previously thought. For example, Barber and Gilbertson (2001) noted that international research has demonstrated that the achievements of foster and residential care, in terms of health and wellbeing outcomes, are broadly comparable. Research has further indicated that residential care may be a realistic option for children and young people who exhibit major behavioural and emotional problems (Bath, 1998).