"Life in Residential Care Can Never be Normal.": Promoting Normalcy for Youth in Residential Care in Taiwan

Background:

Promoting “normalcy” for children and youth in out-of-home care is critical for them to live a life similar to non-foster children, encompassing a family-like caring environment, stable attachments, and age-appropriate activities. However, promoting normalcy in residential care is challenging due to its group-based nature, such as unequal resource allocation and limited individualized care. In Taiwan, where over half of foster youth reside in residential care, this issue is particularly pressing. Previous studies have shown that growing up in residential care can foster stereotyping and restrict access to essential opportunities. Yet, research on youth voices about expected experiences in such settings remains scarce. This study aims to explore the ideas of normalcy and identify strategies for its practice in residential care, with insights from former foster youth.

Methods:

In-depth interviews were conducted with four former foster youth in Taiwan. Each participant had experienced long-term placement, residing in a single residential care institution for at least ten years. Given the unfamiliarity with concept of normalcy within the Taiwanese context, participants freely shared narratives of their daily lives, feelings, and relationships in care. Interview questions focused on their adaptation to group life in care and reflections on experiences considered meaningful or lacking upon leaving care. Thematic analysis was employed to explore dimensions of normalcy in residential care.

Results:

Foster youth voices highlight a major theme: “Life in residential care is never normal.” Experiences in institutions should not necessarily be compared to family life. Growing up in institutions is unique but imposes significant constraints, often perceived as abnormal. Analyses reveal key themes regarding normalcy, indicating what is lacking in residential care. (1) Individuality is absent in the group. Children in residential care are asked to live and behave collectively. Individuals have limited personal space, both physically and mentally, to process feelings. They were informed to prioritize peers over personal needs and not to request additional resources. Accordingly, most of them develop low self-esteem and are afraid of dreaming big, as a foster youth identity. (2) Learned survival mode. Children entering residential care with experiences of complex trauma. They develop a survival mode, enabling them to quickly adapt to group life, establish comfortable boundaries with others, and mature faster than peers. While these strengths foster early independence, they imply limited supports. (3) Lived experiences without home. Residential care never truly feels like home. It lacks significant components: stable companions who share time and feelings, genuine family relationships, and opportunities for developmentally appropriate activities common among non-foster peers.

Implications:

The findings stress that promoting normalcy in residential care will never truly create a “home” for foster children, but family-like and small-scale settings are still preferred. For practical implications, caregivers need to play a significant companion role and pay attention to individual emotional and relational needs, although they can never replace parental figures. For policy implications, amidst the deinstitutionalization trend in Taiwan, large-scale institutions require significant transformation. Since a family-like environment embodies more components of normalcy, improvement in physical environment and child-caregiver ratios are necessary.