The Blues Brothers grew up in a group home, only they called them orphanages then.

They'd feel right at home at Holy Family Institute, a group home in Emsworth proud of its heritage as an orphanage and still run by a Catholic nun.

Sister Linda Yankowski is not nearly as mean as the nun in the movie, though.

Many orphanages shut down over the years as foster care became the preferred method of housing children whose parents couldn't or wouldn't care for them.

Some, like Holy Family, survived by evolving into group homes that would care for troubled kids who didn't do well in family foster homes.

And as more children were removed from parents over the past decade, new group homes were created. These often are converted houses in residential neighborhoods. Typically seven to 12 children ages 7 and older live in these homes with staff — three shifts of adults who watch over them.

The children in these homes attend the local public school and participate in community activities like Little League.

The larger facilities, such as Holy Family, are more obvious in their neighborhoods. On its 10-acre campus, Holy Family cares for about 100 children in three group homes, three apartments, six cottages and an institutional building.

Holy Family's group homes are old houses that have been remodeled to serve five or six children who are 13 or older. Most of these youngsters have their own bedrooms. Staff members are in the homes 24 hours a day.

The apartments are for older teen-agers who are learning to survive on their own after they leave foster care at age 18.

The cottages were built about 15 years ago for children 7 and older. A dozen children live in each. Most share bedrooms, but a few have their own rooms. The cottages have kitchens, living rooms and play rooms.

Holy Family has its own school for children whose behavior or educational deficiencies limit their ability to cope in public school. The institute also has its own pool, gymnasium and outdoor basketball courts.

The cost for this kind of care is about $125 a day for each child, significantly more than the $15 a day paid to foster parents. Last year in Pennsylvania, 4,288 children — 22 percent of all those removed from their parents — lived in group homes. Pennsylvania places children in these facilities at a higher rate than any other state in the nation.

Most of the children sent to group homes have been rejected by a half dozen sets of foster parents or by adoptive parents who are now seeking termination of the adoption.