KEYNOTE: A Decade of Quality Therapeutic Residential Care: Innovations, Evolving Standards, and Future Considerations

Over the past decade, Therapeutic Residential Care (TRC) has undergone transformations shaped by shifting global contexts, evolving expectations, and intensified conversations about utilization and quality. This keynote traces the progression of quality standards for TRC, focusing on key advances in conceptualization, measurement, and implementation between 2015 and 2026.

Highlighting the emergence of quality as a unifying framework across diverse systems and cultural contexts, this presentation examines how quality has been conceptualized through research and the voices of key stakeholders. Attendees will be guided through key milestones, starting with an internationally informed consensus of TRC quality standards, approaches to measuring standards, including the Quality Standards Assessment, and the integration of quality initiatives within established implementation and quality improvement frameworks to advance TRC practice.

This session concludes with a reflection on the current international landscape, where concerns about policy restriction, access, and utilization intersect with ongoing commitments to quality TRC. Participants will be engaged in a forward-looking discussion on how the field can strengthen access to TRC while maintaining its focus on achieving and sustaining high-quality care.