What are Children’s Residential Services?

Children’s Residential Services aim to provide a physically, emotionally and psychologically safe space in which children and young people can heal, develop and move forward in their lives. 

While the majority of children and young people placed in Children’s Residential Services are there because of family problems and others have experienced neglect or some other form of abuse, most are placed in Residential Care because of their behaviour is too challenging to be managed in any other care setting.

It is also the case that some young people actually choose a placement in Residential Care because they do not wish to be placed with any family but their own.  Other children and young people are placed in Children’s Residential Centres while Social Workers work with their families and others to determine where their needs can best be met into the future.

Over 90% of the 142 Children’s Residential Centres nationally are community based which means they look like and are situated within the same houses, estates and communities that everybody lives in.  For the most part, Children’s Residential Centres are also supported by the same range of health services that are available to the rest of the population such as G.P.’s, Speech and Language Therapists, Physiotherapists, Psychologists etc.

Where Children’s Residential Services differ however, is that Centres are staffed on a 24hr basis by Social Care Workers, Leaders and Managers and are supported in their efforts to look after the children and young people in their care by external Managers, Social Work Services, Inspectors, Monitoring Officers and any others including An Garda Síochána.