ACElife: Short-term and midterm effectiveness of residential care for children and youth

The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and University of Helsinki are conducting a study on the effectiveness of residential care in child protection as part of the broader ACElife research project.

The study assesses the short-term effectiveness of residential care in out-of-home care, that is, during the placement period. Based on survey data collected from specialised residential care units in three wellbeing services counties, the study examines changes in young people’s wellbeing and the extent to which the core elements of high-quality and effective care are present in the residential care units.

The purpose of the study is to strengthen understanding of what constitutes effective residential care in child protection and how best to promote the wellbeing of children and young people in care. Changes in the child’s situation in the current institution will be monitored through follow-up surveys conducted over one year and supplemented with register data a few years later.

Goals

The overall aim is to increase understanding of what makes residential care effective and how it can best be used to strengthen the wellbeing of children and young people and achieve the goals of out-of-home care.

Other goals of the project are:

to assess the short-term (12 months) effectiveness of residential care based on survey data
to explore the relationships between child- and unit-level variables and child-level outcomes
within the follow-up project planned for 2029, to predict medium-term (36 months) effects by combining register data with empirical survey data.

Implementation

Based on literature reviews, interviews with national experts and professionals working in institutions, and workshops with children, a programme theory has been developed. This theory defines the goals of residential care, its key core elements, and formulates hypotheses about the mechanisms of care and their prerequisites.

In the designed empirical study, the outcome variables include the child’s psychosocial wellbeing, experiences of emotional warmth and safety, and achievement of individual goals. All specialised residential care units in three wellbeing services counties and the children aged 12–17 living in them have been invited to participate in the study. Participation is voluntary, and children provide their own consent.

Children will complete electronic surveys about their wellbeing, experiences in the residential home, and their own situation. Each child will respond to the electronic survey three times during the year. A member of the research team will visit the residential care units and assist children in completing the electronic form using a tablet. The child’s key worker will also complete a survey assessing changes in the child’s situation and achievement of individual goals.

Information about the residential care units will be collected from the director and staff through electronic surveys. Survey data will be collected between April 2025 and August 2027.