Hi everyone. The recent discovery of the bodies of 215 children at a residential school in Canada has led to an explosion of discussion online and many calls for the federal government of Canada to implement a series of recommendations from a previous national commission to investigate similar issues.
Also arising are discussions on the state of residential care for children as a whole and the degree to which such institutions are properly addressing the inherent needs of the children under their care.
The issue of resilience in residential care settings is a relevant discussion point and there is a published systematic review which we found from 2018. It is cited as Taylor, E, Di Folco, S & Lou, Y 2018, 'Resilience and resilience factors in children in residential care: A systematic review', Children and youth services review, vol. 89, pp. 83-92. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.04.010]
"Young people raised in residential care settings are more vulnerable to poor mental health than peers in the general population. Resilience can protect mental health and promote recovery from adversity. The lack of a single clear conceptualisation of resilience reflects its complex, multifaceted nature, but create obstacles for measurement in this population.
Despite the lack of a single definition, resilience was consistently associated with protective factors in youths in residential settings.
This review explored the conceptualisation, operationalisation and measurement of resilience in children and adolescents living in residential care settings. Databases were investigated up to November 2017 and fifteen studies were included. Among the resilience-related factors found, those promoting interpersonal relationships and development of a future focus and motivation were particularly noticeable.
Overall, adolescents in residential care were reported as being more vulnerable and presenting more problems compared to peers. Higher levels of resilience were associated with better developmental outcomes."
The authors indicate that findings suggested the need for researchers, clinicians, and policy makers, to allocate more resources for the promotion of strengths in youth in residential care.
For a detailed reading of the study, there is a PDF of the accepted manuscript for publication at https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/f...40917310046_main.pdf
Over the years, there have been concerns expressed with respect to the effectiveness of the North American systems of residential care after many children identified as victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation were found to have had a background of such residential care, or were justice-involved youth.
It is indisputable that many children in care also have experienced adversity in their childhood. Some of those experiences led to their being removed from unsafe home environments. Therefore, it is incumbent upon the system to ensure that it makes appropriate provision for young people with existing ACEs and accompanying mental and emotional challenges when taking them into and maintaining them in care settings. That should entail screening for ACEs in both residents as well as staff and ensuring all efforts are made to screen out possible abusers during staff recruitment.
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