The risk of harm to young people in institutional care

This paper provides an international summary of the extent and scale of young children living without parents in residential care ‘children’s homes’, and of the reasons they are there. It also gives an overview of the risk of harm to young children’s care and development after being placed in institutional care. The author concludes with core recommendations for policy and practice to prevent harm to children and to promote the rights of children to grow up in a family environment.