Short-Term Effectiveness of Residential Out-of-Home Care for Children and Youth-A Scoping Review

A scoping review on the short-term (during care) outcomes of residential care at the user level (children and their families) was conducted. The objective was to understand the extent and type of recent research focusing on outcomes during residential care placement as a child protection intervention and map the findings of the original studies. In six databases, 2,693 records of recent peer-reviewed articles with an abstract in English were found. A total of seventeen original studies were included in the review. In the studies, three distinct types of interventions were identified-implemented interventions, innovations and service as usual (SAU). The findings revealed variations in researchers' definitions of the concept of effectiveness and heterogeneity in methodology. Three studies were randomised control trials, two were quasi-experimental and twelve other designs were quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods studies. Most of the interventions in the original studies, brought about positive change in different dimensions of the wellbeing or functioning of users. The most robust designs were used in studying previously assessed interventions designed to combat specific problems. Whilst studies on SAU have demonstrated improvements in various aspects, the inherent complexity and diversity of residential care make the assessment of effectiveness a challenging task. Research literature on the effectiveness of residential care for school-aged children and youth within child protection was reviewed. In the seventeen articles included, we identified three different types of interventions in the residential care setting (implemented interventions, innovations and service as usual (SAU)), whose effectiveness in different aspects of the wellbeing and functioning of children, youth and their families had been assessed. The studies employed a variety of study designs, including both experimental and non-experimental designs with both quantitative and qualitative data. The findings of the original studies suggest that usual residential care, as well as most more defined interventions in the context, can improve different dimensions of functioning and wellbeing of children and youth.