Charting the 21st Century Rise of For-Profit Residential Child Care
This article explores the increasing prevalence of for-profit residential care, with a particular focus on Great Britain, while also drawing on the international evidence from the Global North. Comprising a critical review of the published evidence (both academic and grey literature), the article se...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2024-02-01
|
| Series: | Youth |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-995X/4/1/19 |
| _version_ | 1797239042939551744 |
|---|---|
| author | Robin Sen Olga Alexandrovna Ulybina Lisa Holmes |
| author_facet | Robin Sen Olga Alexandrovna Ulybina Lisa Holmes |
| author_sort | Robin Sen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article explores the increasing prevalence of for-profit residential care, with a particular focus on Great Britain, while also drawing on the international evidence from the Global North. Comprising a critical review of the published evidence (both academic and grey literature), the article seeks to examine what might explain the rising prevalence of and the possible associated impacts of the increase in for-profit provision. The findings indicate that the rise of for profit-companies among residential child care providers appears to have occurred by default, rather than explicit policy design. Our analysis also highlights gaps in the knowledge base about the quality of care and whether better quality is associated with the type of provider. Furthermore, the relationships between provider, quality, cost and outcomes are unclear. There are inconsistencies in the evidence base, with different conclusions being reached. However, available evidence tends to suggest the increased prevalence of for-profit residential child care providers has had an overall negative, rather than positive, effect. The best case in favour of the continued use of for-profit residential care is currently a non-moral pragmatic one: that in countries with medium and high prevalence of the use of residential child care, it would be hard to sustain care systems if for-profit providers were to suddenly withdraw or be withdrawn. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T17:45:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9714693a547346d6b579baf05dd14efc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-995X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T17:45:15Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Youth |
| spelling | doaj.art-9714693a547346d6b579baf05dd14efc2024-03-27T14:08:53ZengMDPI AGYouth2673-995X2024-02-014127228710.3390/youth4010019Charting the 21st Century Rise of For-Profit Residential Child CareRobin Sen0Olga Alexandrovna Ulybina1Lisa Holmes2School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9YL, UKFaculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, 00100 Helsinki, FinlandSchool of Education and Social Work, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9RH, UKThis article explores the increasing prevalence of for-profit residential care, with a particular focus on Great Britain, while also drawing on the international evidence from the Global North. Comprising a critical review of the published evidence (both academic and grey literature), the article seeks to examine what might explain the rising prevalence of and the possible associated impacts of the increase in for-profit provision. The findings indicate that the rise of for profit-companies among residential child care providers appears to have occurred by default, rather than explicit policy design. Our analysis also highlights gaps in the knowledge base about the quality of care and whether better quality is associated with the type of provider. Furthermore, the relationships between provider, quality, cost and outcomes are unclear. There are inconsistencies in the evidence base, with different conclusions being reached. However, available evidence tends to suggest the increased prevalence of for-profit residential child care providers has had an overall negative, rather than positive, effect. The best case in favour of the continued use of for-profit residential care is currently a non-moral pragmatic one: that in countries with medium and high prevalence of the use of residential child care, it would be hard to sustain care systems if for-profit providers were to suddenly withdraw or be withdrawn.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-995X/4/1/19out-of-home careresidential child careprivatisationprivate equitytransnational corporationsfor-profit care providers |
| spellingShingle | Robin Sen Olga Alexandrovna Ulybina Lisa Holmes Charting the 21st Century Rise of For-Profit Residential Child Care Youth out-of-home care residential child care privatisation private equity transnational corporations for-profit care providers |
| title | Charting the 21st Century Rise of For-Profit Residential Child Care |
| title_full | Charting the 21st Century Rise of For-Profit Residential Child Care |
| title_fullStr | Charting the 21st Century Rise of For-Profit Residential Child Care |
| title_full_unstemmed | Charting the 21st Century Rise of For-Profit Residential Child Care |
| title_short | Charting the 21st Century Rise of For-Profit Residential Child Care |
| title_sort | charting the 21st century rise of for profit residential child care |
| topic | out-of-home care residential child care privatisation private equity transnational corporations for-profit care providers |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-995X/4/1/19 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT robinsen chartingthe21stcenturyriseofforprofitresidentialchildcare AT olgaalexandrovnaulybina chartingthe21stcenturyriseofforprofitresidentialchildcare AT lisaholmes chartingthe21stcenturyriseofforprofitresidentialchildcare |