International summit 2026

The summit is being hosted by Professor Lisa Holmes (School of Education and Social Work) at the University of Sussex, in partnership with the Association of Children’s Residential and Community Services (ACRC) and the International Work Group on Therapeutic Residential Care (TRC). The event is supported by an International Committee, listed below.

Why now?

In recent years, a growing and increasingly vocal lobby has called for the elimination of all forms of residential group care for young people of all ages. Such arguments, however, often lack the nuance and complexity that characterise contemporary child welfare systems. The diverse needs and circumstances of children and their families, and the corresponding need for a varied range of service responses, are frequently overlooked in analyses that rely on binary comparisons between family‑based and other forms of out‑of‑home care. These reductive debates risk presenting children’s residential care as a single, homogeneous form of placement, rather than recognising the substantial variation in purpose, model, and practice.

About the Summit

This two‑day, in‑person summit provides a timely opportunity for those working in the field of children’s residential care to come together and explore the question: “What Constitutes Quality in Children’s Residential Care? Measuring what matters to children and their families.”

The programme has been designed to foreground the voices of those with lived experience of residential care, alongside practitioners, policy leaders, and researchers. It includes a rich mix of keynote lectures, panel discussions, and extended workshops to facilitate in‑depth dialogue, critical reflection, and the sharing of knowledge and expertise.

Organising committee

Jim Whittaker (USA)

Jorge del Valle (Spain)

Sigrid James (Germany)

Martha Holden (USA)

Kari Sisson (USA)

Christopher Bellonci (USA)

Trish McNamara (Australia)

Bethany Lee (USA)

Chiara Monti (Italy)