Displaying 11 - 20 of 43
This joint note aims to consolidate the current recommendations on Infant and Young Child Feeding in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa. This guidance is not intended to replace national guidance, rather to serve as a resource that is based on the latest evidence. The contents are adapted to the African region from Clinical management of severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) when COVID-19 disease is suspected, Interim Guidance, 13 March 2020 WHO.
Abstract
Research on care-leaving internationally suggests that young adults with experience of residential or foster care are disproportionately likely to engage in criminal activity and to come into conflict with the law. There is, however, no research on this population in South Africa. This paper reports on a longitudinal study of young people transitioning out of care and journeying towards young adulthood over a period of five years. The sample included 51 participants who had had at least two (and up to five) interviews (spaced approximately a year apart) since leaving care. A mixed…
Abstract
Children leaving foster care are ill-prepared for life after foster care. They are left to face numerous challenges, such as unemployment, homelessness and lack of interpersonal relationships, which impact their young adult life. The transition into adulthood is a frightening process for any young person, but is most frightening for the child aging out of alternative care, such as foster care, especially if both of their parents are deceased. The South African legislation does make provision for independent living preparation for children aging out of foster care, however there…
Abstract
Globalization of knowledge and scholarship raises the challenges of dialogue between Global North and South. Northern knowledge and voice remain privileged, while writing from the South often goes unread. This is true also in emerging adulthood and care-leaving scholarship. The special issue of Emerging Adulthood titled “Care-Leaving in Africa” is the first collection of essays on care-leaving by African scholars. It presents both care-leaving and emerging adulthood scholars from the Global North a unique opportunity to consider the implications of a rising…
This chapter’s authors argue that social policy on leaving care is a critical resilience process for promoting care leavers’ successful transition toward emerging adulthood. Care leaving literature has given limited attention to the wider policy contexts in which care leavers make this transition. This chapter, from the book Leaving Care and the Transition to…
This report presents the quantitative findings of the Growth Beyond the Town longitudinal research study since its inception in 2012 up until the end of 2018. It describes the baseline results from 133 participants who were interviewed as they disengaged from Girls and Boys Town South Africa (GBTSA) and then presents their outcomes measured each year during follow-up interviews for five years. It also describes the resilience variables that predict better outcomes for care-leavers as they transition out of care over those five years.
This presentation provides an overview of care-leaving research in South Africa. Research themes included:
- Care-leaving outcomes over time
- Resilience enablers of improved outcomes
- Contribution of possible selves to outcomes
- Gender comparisons
- Agency exercised by care-leavers
- Disability (intellectual)
- Managed opportunities for independence
- Development of ILPs
Youth Transitioning Out of Residential Care in South Africa: Toward Ubuntu and Interdependent Living
Abstract
Informed by the qualitative method and the descriptive-interpretive design, this study, which was underscored by radical humanist goals of structural social work, reflects the voices of 16 youth who had transitioned out of care. The results show that emerging adults, transitioning out of care, are vulnerable and in need of support. This article discusses three main themes derived via an inductive approach: the influence of sociocultural networks, connecting with family, and the multiple risk factors associated with getting into and out of care that compromise youth’s quest for…
Abstract
A well-documented outcome for emerging adults in determining their “success” is whether they are Not in Employment, Education, or Training (NEET) or engaged in Education, Employment, and Training (EET). Being NEET can create psychological, emotional, financial, and health challenges and is a significant risk factor in youth making successful transitions into adulthood. This article describes and compares the NEET and EET status of care leavers from Girls and Boys Town after 1 and 2 years and in relation to other outcomes. The results suggest that while care leavers’ NEET rates are…
Abstract
Emerging adulthood is an exciting time, filled with possibilities while remaining supported. However, care leavers’ journeys into adulthood are compressed and lacking educational, financial, and social support. In South Africa, this is exacerbated by contextual factors and the absence of mandated services for care leavers. A qualitative study was conducted with four Child and Youth Care Centers in a town in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Focus groups were held with young people in care and their care workers. Discussions focused on preparation for leaving care and aftercare…