Young Peoples Transitions from Care to Adulthood International Comparisons and Perspectives

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Young Peoples Transitions from Care to
AdulthoodInternational Comparisons and
Perspectives

• Mike Stein and Emily Munro

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Presentation outline

• Roots and development of the International
  Research Group
• Challenges and issues arising from the work (big
  picture legal and policy framework)
• Messages from research for policy and practice

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Roots and development of the International
Research Group

• Set up in Brussels in 2003
• Poor outcomes for looked after children
• Social exclusion of care leavers
• Preparatory work on definitions, data, law,
  policy, agency support
• Share research findings
• Explore social, political, legal structures

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Roots and development 2005-2007

• Belfast, Budapest and Dublin
• A description of young peoples transitions from
  care to adulthood in 16 countries
• An analysis of welfare regimes law and policy
  secondary data research findings
• Summary of messages for policy and practice
• Sources of further reading for each country

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Challenges and issues The big picture

• Transitions shaped by set of complex processes
• No simple transferable international solutions
• Differences in care population, use of
  placements, who stops and who leaves care

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Challenges and issues The big picture

• Differences in purposes of care rehabilitation
  or re-education through pedagogy
• Differences in legal and policy frameworks,
  individual, family and state, welfare regimes,
  global influences

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Challenges and issues The big picture

• Diverse and complex influences become embodied in
  the role of the corporate parent
• Universal or specialist services
• Law as duty or permissive
• Accessing services as right or conditional
• Levels of funding, inspection, quality, training
  and workforce planning

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Legislation to support care leavers transitions
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Variations in legal and policy frameworks

• Balance between the responsibilities of
  individuals, the family and the state
• Financial and emotional support
• Preparation through skills, training and
  education
• Weight given to service users views

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United States

• Residual and decentralized welfare state
• Normative for young people to rely on family
• 1986 Independent Living Initiative emphasis on
  developing skills for independent living (could
  not be used for room board)
• Foster Care Independence Act 1999 increased
  funding and more flexibility in use
• Variations between States
• Low uptake of services

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Norway

• Social democratic emphasis on equality and
  universalism but this under pressure (market
  economy rationale increasing)
• 1953 legislation provided aftercare up to the age
  of 23 years (stopped 1992)
• 1980s criticism that child welfare system
  intervened too much
• Emphasis upon young adults right to autonomy and
  independence
• Unmet needs and lobbying for re-introduction of
  legal entitlement to support
• 1998 - Child Welfare Act 1992 amended
• New duty to assess young peoples needs before
  they leave care

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United Kingdom

• Factors influencing legal policy frameworks
  social, political and economic
• 1970s Decline in manufacturing industry to reduce
  demand for unskilled workers shortages in the
  availability of low cost housing
• Increasing reliance on family increasing gap
  for those who cannot rely on their emotional or
  financial support
• Development of specialist leaving care schemes in
  the 1980/1990s
• Legislation - move from permissive legislation
  (1989) to targeted legislation (2000)

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Jordan

• Factors influencing legal policy frameworks
  social, political and economic
• Population grew 10-fold between 1951-2004
• 69 per cent of the population are under the age
  of 29
• Human capital but employment opportunities will
  be a great strain on scare resources
• Care leavers not a political or legislative
  priority
• Legal extensions postponing discharge of youth
  from care can be granted
• Jordanian National Action Plan of Action for
  Children initiatives for youth in residential
  care improving holistic services and capacity
  building

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Factors influencing legal and policy frameworks

• Knowledge base and awareness of need
• Limited research or data on outcomes for care
  leavers in some countries (including, Spain,
  Switzerland)
• Pressure groups
• UK, Scandinavia and Australia
• Coalition of child welfare providers, e.g.
  Victorian Centre for Excellence in Child Family
  Welfare and the New South Wales Association of
  Childrens Welfare Agencies (Australia)

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Factors influencing legal and policy frameworks

• Rights based frameworks
• UN CRC - day of general discussion on children
  without parental care it was recognised that
  State parties and other stakeholders should
  facilitate transitions from care to independence
• Cost/benefit analysis
• Significant economic cost of not supporting
  young people after they leave care (e.g. health,
  mental health, police, criminal justice and
  housing)

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Messages from research for policy and practice

• Social exclusion
• Evidence base variable
• Quantitative and qualitative studies
• Specific groups of care leavers
• Costs of social exclusion

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Messages from research for policy and practice

• Positive outcomes a resilience framework
• Young peoples experiences of care
• Young peoples transitions from care
• Young peoples lives after care

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Young peoples experiences of care

• Providing stability
• Identity
• Education
• Preparation

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Young peoples transitions from care

• Accelerated and compressed
• Extended and abrupt
• Coping with transition
• Transition planning

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Young peoples lives after care

• Exploring outcomes
• Transitions or adulthood?
• Dimensions of young peoples lives
• Different starting points
• Normative assumptions

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Young peoples lives after care

• Outcome groups
• Moving on
• Survivors
• Strugglers

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Concluding messages

• Life course perspective care, leaving care,
  after care
• Secondary data little use despite potential for
  range of key outcome data and normative
  comparisons
• Research more evaluative studies more
  longer-term cohort studies more ethnographic
  studies

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Concluding messages

• Comparative work potential for studies in the
  micro, mezzo and macro domain
• Buy the book!