Assessment and Placement Decisions in Group and Residential Care

These resources provide helpful information when determining whether group or residential care would best meet the needs of a child or youth who cannot remain with his or her family. Important factors related to this decision include the needs of the child and the associated outcomes of various out-of-home care options.

• Assessment and placement decisions
• Outcomes

Assessment and Placement Decisions in Group and Residential Care

Analyzes the needs profiles for youth in residential care from the perspectives of both youths and professionals. Results from the youth study indicate three main needs areas while the results of the professional study specify three risk levels for youths entering out-of-home care.

Congregate Care, Residential Treatment and Group Home State Legislative Enactments 2009–2013
National Conference of State Legislatures (2017)
Analyses congregate care for children needing short-term supervision and structure due to behavioral concerns.

Out-of-Home Placement for Children and Adolescents With Disabilities (PDF - 741 KB)
Friedman & Kalichman (2014)
American Academy of Pediatrics
Explains the reasons families choose out-of-home placement for their children, barriers to placement, and possible effects of this choice. 

Out-of-State Placement (OSP) Committee
New York State Council on Children and Families
Provides resources and information about New York's efforts to improve the monitoring of out-of-State residential placements, promote coordination across all levels of government, and establish a process for identifying and considering in-State resources prior to making an out-of-State placement.

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Outcomes in Group and Residential Care

The Moderating Effect Between Strengths and Placement on Children’s Needs in Out-of-Home Care: A Follow-up Study
Sim, Li, & Chu (2016)
Children and Youth Services Review, 60
Compares the effect of placement in residential care and foster care situations in children based on their resiliency and strength levels. Initial differences in baseline resiliency and strength are mediated in residential care settings and persist for longer periods in foster care placements.

Redefining Residential: Strategic Interventions to Advance Youth Permanency (PDF - 150 KB)
Association of Children's Residential Centers (2015)
Outlines ways in which residential care settings can contribute to a child’s desire and ability to achieve permanence within the context of out-of-home care.

Analyzes the ways in which connection, agency, activity, and coherence relate to successful turning points in identity construction for young people leaving residential care.

Supporting families: Outcomes of Placement in Voluntary Out-of-Home Care for Children and Young People with Disabilities and Their Families 
Crettenden, Wright, & Beilby (2014) 
Child and Youth Services 
Reports on the impacts of voluntary out-of-home placement on young people with disabilities as well as consequences for their families.  

Compares the subjective well-being of adolescents in residential care as compared to adolescents in the general population. Adolescents in residential care place a high priority on time utilization, security, and future opportunities in the evaluation of their subjective well-being.

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