Improving Safety and Oversight of Children in Residential Facilities

This factsheet provides an overview of the challenges associated with residential facility placements in child welfare and solutions to improve safety and oversight of children in residential facilities. The information may be useful for State foster care managers, child welfare professionals, related State agencies, licensing bodies for residential facilities, and other partners.

Background

Several Federal reports, including a 2024 report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Inspector General, call attention to the challenges States face in monitoring child safety in residential facilities.

The reports highlight the following issues:  

• Young people in residential facilities have experienced physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, including inappropriate use of restraints and overuse of psychotropic medications.
• Many States cannot identify patterns of maltreatment in residential facilities.
• States face oversight challenges in monitoring children in out-of-State residential facilities.
• Residential facility data reported to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System, the main data source for Federal oversight of maltreatment, is incomplete.
• Facility conditions are often unsafe, unsanitary, and lack home-like environments.
• Workforce challenges, including understaffing and a lack of training and supervision, contribute to safety issues.

This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare Information Gateway.