Child abuse in residential institutions and community programs for intervention and prevention

Needless to say, residential institutions for children vary in size, cost, quality, reason for placement, and many other factors. Even with this diversity, it is possible to find abuse in any institutional setting. Any decision to remove a child from his or her family must be made only after careful deliberation. Each case will have its own special challenge(s) and uniqueness, and improper decisions may be fatal at worst, or emotionally scarring at best. Strong efforts must be made to insure that the child is seen as a human being with special needs and problems, and not merely one more case to be managed within the system.