About residential care and socio-educational conditions in which the measure must be developed

Abstract

Residential placements provide temporary care or guardianship within public child protection systems. Despite being the most frequently used resource, these placements have been particularly subject to criticism. The current debate is centered on the following question: «Are childhood protection centers still a valid alternative in difficult social situations? » However, the question we ought to be posing is «What conditions must be present to optimize the achievement of objectives and to guarantee the educational nature of the service as required by current legislation?» Indeed, a significant number of children are placed in residential care every year, and they have a right to high-quality socio-educational services.

In this article we respond to both questions posed above, basing our response on an analysis of the different conceptualizations and meanings associated with these residential placements in current policy and legal documents and in the specialized literature. We also draw upon data from discussion groups involving educators working in residential centers, collected as part of a doctoral thesis entitled Childhood and Social Education: Socioeducational practices in Galician residential child protection facilities (Cruz, 2010).