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Care leavers are young people who have grown up in the care system, either in foster care or in residential care homes in transition from care to adulthood. They are a vulnerable group, with a high risk of negative outcomes such as poor mental health. The development of agency and the promotion of well-being are two of the most important aspects of the psychological and educational intervention with care leavers.
The purpose of this quantitative study is to investigate the relationship between agency and well-being in a group of care leavers (N = 48) recruited from the…
Abstract:
The main aim of this paper is to gain insight into the needs of youth who have left alternative care in the social welfare system. The study was conducted in Zagreb on a sample of sixteen young people. The needs of the study participants are: the need for contact with others, formal support, autonomy, housing and financial support, employment, learning practical skills, access to information, and the right to benefits such as (financial) relief. It has also been examined how participants cope with problems: positive self-direction and control of the situation, distraction…
This study aimed to investigate relational outcomes of Italian emancipated foster youth across open-ended reflections about their perceptions of their relationships with the biological and foster family, with partner and peers. A total of 26 Italian emancipated foster youth (19–25 years old) recruited by social services completed a single in-depth interview. A qualitative thematic analysis was selected for this study.
The results revealed two major themes of foster care experience that emerged often simultaneously from the participants’ narration:
(1) Positive Relational Outcomes…
Children need stable and safe relationships with caring adults to thrive, and such relationships are far more likely to be created in a family environment. Those growing up in alternative care have very often experienced significant trauma before being placed in care. Residential care, in particular, can expose them to all the risks associated with social exclusion if it is not equipped to give them the tailored support they need.
That is why it is important to know the proportion of children placed in residential care compared to those in placed in formal family-based care. This would…
There is a firm commitment by the European Union and its Member States to the deinstitutionalisation of children in alternative care and support for their transition to care that is family and community-based. Children growing up in alternative care have very often experienced significant trauma before being placed in care. Residential care, in particular, is known to expose them to additional risks if it is not equipped to provide them with the individualised care they need for their healthy development and social inclusion. Children need stable and safe relationships with caring adults to…
Eurochild and UNICEF carried out the DataCare project to map alternative care data systems across the 27 Member States of the European Union (EU-27) and the United Kingdom (UK). They found that despite differing national definitions and categorisations of alternative care across the region, enough data being published at national level can be used at an aggregate level to establish comparable indicators on the number of children in residential care and three other relevant and interlinked indicators.
As the European Union does not currently have comparable and Europe-wide data to gauge the…
The Toolkit was prepared to assist USAID Mission staff working in the Europe and Eurasia (E&E) region in identifying and propagating good practices in case management services. It provides the user with a comprehensive assessment framework for analyzing current systems, procedures, and practices against international standards and professional case management practices at both the case level and system level. This toolkit does not promote a specific model of case management since no one approach or model can be applied to every situation. Rather, it outlines the beneficial aspects,…
This webinar heard from three of Family for Every Child's member organisations about their programmes to both integrate and reintegrate children on the move. From Uyisenga Ni Imanzi in Rwanda webinar participants heard about their programme to reintegrate street-connected children; from Taller de Vida in Colombia, attendees heard of the role of their art therapy in the reintegration of children involved in armed conflict; and from METAdrasi in Greece participants heard about their work to integrate unaccompanied minors.
Abstract
This cross-national study compares and contrasts how two states- one in the U.S. (Illinois) and one in Spain (Catalonia)—support care leavers as they transition into adulthood. Twenty-seven individuals from NGOs and public agencies that provide services to care leavers were interviewed. Although both states are seen as leaders in the development of policies and in the provision of services that support care leavers within their national contexts, important differences exist in the types of support available to care leavers and the approach taken to provide those supports. Some of…
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility of an intervention created to stimulate the development of children under the age of seven, living in an institution for children without parental care in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The aim of the intervention was to match each child with one volunteer, trained to deliver three hours per week of individually tailored, play-based activities, for a minimum of one year.
16 children (6 boys) participated in the intervention. Three children dropped out after one month of the intervention due to their placement in foster families, so…