In this issue, you will find a collection of papers that consider some of the most pressing issues in residential youth care today. The issue begins with several articles that focus on family relationships. Consistently in studies that assess outcomes for youth following residential placement, family relationships are a significant predictor of success. Maintaining connections between young people and their families (and communities) can be a key challenge in residential care practice, but research has demonstrated its importance.
The issue begins with a review of existing literature by Dr. Kayla Herbell and colleagues that considers the various ways that residential programs have engaged with families during placement. Ultimately, their paper finds that although there is a wide range of family involvement efforts, there is less evidence of partnerships and family-led initiatives underway.
As an alternative to removing youth from family for placement, shared family care programs provide residential care to parents and youth together. Barth and colleagues explore several models and offer a few case examples of how programs can be structured and organized to support children and families together. If you know of additional examples of shared family care happening around the world, please reach out to the authors as they are continuing to build knowledge about these designs.
The remaining four articles consider experiences of unaccompanied youth and orphans. As our world grapples with unrest and inequality, youth may experience separation from their families and find themselves in a challenging situation. Little is known about how to best support these young people in residential settings, so these empirical studies shine a light on this population as we seek to learn more about their needs and resilience.