Leaving Alternative Care and Reintegration

It is important to support children who are preparing to leave care. This includes helping young people as they ‘age out’ of the care system and transition to independent living, as well as children planning to return home and reintegrate with their families. In either case, leaving care should be a gradual and supervised process that involves careful preparation and follow-up support to children and families.

The transition from alternative care to independent living can be challenging for young people. While some departures from care may be well planned, others may be sudden or unexpected, leaving young people emotionally and financially ill-equipped to cope with change. Without adequate preparation for leaving care and support during the aftercare phase, young people may face risks such as long-term unemployment, substance abuse, involvement in criminal activities and homelessness. Studies indicate that the biggest barriers to transitioning children out of care includes the absence of supportive relationships, educational challenges, housing instability and economic challenges (unemployment).

Reducing these risks involves working with children to plan for life after care and adulthood– including helping them to determine the most appropriate living environment, develop necessary life, financial management and job skills, and ensure that they have a reliable support system in place. Once children leave care, they should be encouraged to maintain contact with their previous care givers and friends, have access to basic services and quality housing with financial assistance, and be supported to follow educational, vocational and employment opportunities. Above all, evidence indicates that young people who benefit from gradual, extended and supported transitions from care have better outcomes than those who leave early and abruptly.

Girls and boys who leave care to return home can also benefit from a gradual process of reintegration with their families – both before and after the event. Initially this should involve a comprehensive assessment of whether the problems that led to family separation (such as poverty or social problems) have been adequately resolved, and whether a return home is in a child’s best interests. If so, the child, family and alternative caregivers should be supported to prepare and plan for reintegration – which may involve increasing the frequency and duration of children’s family visits before the final return, helping to build parenting skills, assessing families’ financial, practical and emotional support needs and developing a care plan to address them.

Once children are reunited with their families, ongoing support and supervision can play a critical role in ensuring that reintegration is lasting. For example social or community workers can provide counselling support, facilitate families’ access to social protection benefits and make sure that children have the academic support required to catch up at a new school. In some cases, children’s extended family and the broader community can also be encouraged to provide emotional or practical support.

This section contains literature on children leaving alternative care in non-emergency settings. This includes lessons learned and best practices regarding family reintegration, as well as guidance for supporting young people as they leave the care system and transition to independent living.

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International Care Leavers’ Convention 2020: Key Takeaways

Udayan Care, University of Hildesheim – Germany, Kinderperspectief, SOS Children’s Villages, 23 Nov 2020

The International Care Leavers Convention brought together Care Leavers at an international level to amplify the voices of children and young people and provide them with a platform to learn, share and exchange experiences, knowledge and challenges. This document highlights some key takeaways from the event.

Parental Drug Use and Family Reunification

Maria X. Sanmartin, Mir M. Ali, Angélica Meinhofer - Psychiatric Services, 10 Nov 2020

This study used the 2000–2017 waves of the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting Systems. The authors identified foster care entries among children removed from their homes because of parental drug use (PDU) and calculated the number of entries for each year. They also identified foster care discharges achieved through parental reunification among children removed from their homes each year.

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Agency and the school-to-work transition of care leavers: A retrospective study of Luxembourgish young people

Sabrina Göbel, Andreas Hadjar, Ute Karl - Children and Youth Services Review, 09 Nov 2020

This article presents empirical results from a study (2015–2018) on young people leaving care in Luxembourg. A special focus deals with the processes of transitioning from care to work.

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Care Experience and Friendship: Theory and International Evidence to Improve Practice and Future Research

Autumn Roesch-Marsh, Ruth Emond - The British Journal of Social Work, 29 Oct 2020

Drawing on a review of recent international literature, this article argues for the first time that an understanding of, and engagement with, the theory and practice of friendship is essential to working alongside those who have care experience.

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Systematic review of birth parent–foster youth relationships before and after aging out of foster care

Judy Havlicek - Children and Youth Services Review, 28 Oct 2020

This systematic review synthesizes information about the relationships aging out foster youth have with their birth or stepparents after legally mandated separations in foster care.

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Systematic Review of Birth Parent–Foster Youth Relationships Before and After Aging Out of Foster Care

Judy Havlicek - Children and Youth Services Review, 28 Oct 2020

This systematic review synthesizes information about the relationships aging out foster youth have with their birth or stepparents after legally mandated separations in foster care.

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Preservation and reunification for families of young children: case file review of a home-visiting program

Rebecca Giallo, Holly Rominov, Catherine Fisher, Kirsty Evans & Ali Fogarty - Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 26 Oct 2020

The aims of the study were to (a) describe families who had participated in the Home Parenting Education and Support (HoPES) programme, (b) describe the key education content and support activities of the programme, and (c) identify the enablers and challenges in implementing HoPES.

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The House Project for Young People Leaving Care: Evaluation report

Jo Dixon, Caroline Cresswell and Jade Ward, Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of York, 01 Oct 2020

This report presents findings from an evaluation of the House Project (HP) in the U.K., which aims to improve outcomes for young people (in accommodation, education, employment and training (EET), wellbeing, autonomy and integration) and service level outcomes for young people leaving care aged 16 and over.

Los Procedimientos de Manejo de Casos para la Reunificación y Reintegración de los Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes al cuidado Familiar y Comunitaria

Changing the Way We Care, 01 Oct 2020

Los Procedimientos de Manejo de Casos para la Reunificación y Reintegración de los Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes al cuidado Familiar y Comunitaria se desarrollaron a través de talleres participativos en conjunto con la Secretaría de Bienestar Social (SBS), la Procuraduría de la Niñez y la Adolescencia (PNA) de la Procuraduría General de la Nación (PGN), El Organismo Judicial (OJ), El Consejo Nacional de Adopciones (CNA), la Asociación de Hogares Cristianos de Guatemala (ASOCRIGUA) y Hogar Aldeas de Esperanza. Se basó en el trabajo de Changing the Way We Care de Kenia en la Guía para trabajadores sociales: Manejo de casos para la reintegración de niños y niñas en cuidado familiar o comunitaria, adaptada al contexto guatemalteco.

More Independence, More Rights: Informational Page

Red Latinoamericana de Egresados de Protección, with DONCEL, Hope and Homes for Children and UNICEF, 01 Oct 2020

The purpose of the research is to generate learning and recommendations to develop public policies to support the transition of adolescents and youth from the alternative care system to autonomous life in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.