Care is the central function of all group residential programs. Responsibility for children and youth and responsiveness to their developmental needs is the basic concept underlying all care. Care has four components: treatment, teaching, nurturing, and control. The relative importance of these components and the ways they are conducted vary according to whether the program is operated through the health, education, welfare, or criminal justice system. Another important factor is whether the mandate for the care comes privately, from the parent; from a licensed or accredited professional such as doctor or a social worker; from the public sector in the form of a local or national government agency; or from some combination of these three sources. The type of mandate and the type of care both affect its status. Programs focusing on health and education have higher status than those involving criminal justice or welfare. Programs operating through private mandates have higher status than those operating through public mandates. Programs serving the total population have higher status than those serving a residual population. A program's credibility with the public is also a function of historical and cultural factors. These propositions suggest the usefulness of considering group care to be a separate field of study that would lead to the development of a body of knowledge and core of skills for practitioners working in a variety of settings. Diagrams and 5 references.