Orphanage Conditions in the U.S.

Little discussion concerning U.S. orphanage conditions occurs today mainly because this institutional model of caring for child wards doesn't generally exist anymore. A few official orphanages still operate, but the majority of state ward care for minors now operates through state foster care systems. The foster care system shifts expense and daily care to recipient private parties, avoiding the expense of running a full institution with staff and administration. As a result, the use of orphanages has become a term of a bygone era in U.S. history in most regions.

An Orphanage's Role

• An orphanage runs as a government facility or government-funded operation, providing round-the-clock care for assigned children. The kids involved range in age from infants to early teens and are wards of the state. The facility or out-facility partnerships provide their education and support.

History

• In the 1950s the U.S. made major changes to the treatment of orphans under the care of the state. The government significantly increased the use of foster care and adoption systems, and in many cases placed children with blood relatives. Conditions in less than stellar facilities drove some of this transition away from orphanages, while improvements in transportation technology also made it possible for relatives to stay in touch and travel more easily. The demand for orphanages also fell due to a push for getting children adopted. Many facilities shut down because they were too costly to maintain relative to the small number of children in them.

Modern Facilities

• The few U.S. orphanages that remain today tend to be the oldest ones in existence. The Bethesda Orphanage in Georgia and the Girls and Boys Town Orphanage in Nebraska still operate. Conditions and care are subject to local state scrutiny and regulation of child care operations.

Residential Treatment Centers

• As an outgrowth of orphanages, residential treatment centers provide care and mental treatment services for both child wards and related families. This approach has been modeled in a variety of ways, depending on the organization operating the center. One example is the Children's Village in New York, which utilizes a boarding school model for the care of its wards. Again, such centers are regulated and overseen by state health and child support agencies to meet minimum care standards.

Failure to Perform

• Since many operations today that function as care centers for children tend to be operated by non-profit or non-government organizations, regulatory enforcement involves both civil and criminal penalties. Similar to elder care facilities, such child ward centers and their personnel are held to a higher standard of care. The facilities are regularly audited and the personnel can be held personally responsible for bad conditions or chronic lapses in performance standards.