RESIDENTIAL AND FOSTER-CARE IN THE EUROPEAN-COMMUNITY - CURRENT TRENDS IN POLICY AND PRACTICE

This article compares residential care, foster care and their alternat ives in the countries of the European Community. The following common trends in policy and practice are examined: the decline of residential child care; changes in the population of separated children; the tren d towards small-scale provision; the development of an ecological pers pective; increasing differentiation of care provision; professionaliza tion; and alternatives to residential and foster care. The pace of dev elopment is uneven across EC countries. Overall, the trends highlighte d are more apparent in the northern countries than in the southern sta tes.