Indigenous Youth Leaving Care in Canada

This chapter critically examines the notion of Canadian Indigenous youth leaving care by arguing that all forms of separation, including adoption, should be analyzed through the lens of ongoing colonization of Indigenous peoples. Several immediate and long-term practices are examined, some of which call for greater support for Indigenous ways of caring for children, urgent measures to address poverty in Indigenous communities, cultural planning for Indigenous children who are currently separated from their families and communities, and ways of supporting Indigenous youth in transition to adulthood who are looking to reconnect with their families, communities, and cultures.

Stay or Leave?

This chapter reports on results of a study conducted with 1,622 young adults between the ages of 17 and 20, comparing the profiles of youth who either opt out or do not have access to extended services beyond the age of 18 to those who benefit from these services. Young adult protection in France, also known as Young Adult Contract, is a welfare contract between a young adult and a Child Welfare Officer that “commits” the young person to either continue their education or actively seek a job and accommodations, continue medical treatment, update administrative documentation, and learn to manage a budget. Opportunities and the limitations of extended care contracts are reviewed and the perverse effects of this measure are reviewed in a context of fiscal restraint when youth have difficulties acquiring vital skills essential for a successful transition to adulthood.

The Experiences of Indigenous Young People Transitioning from Out-of-Home Care in Victoria, Australia

This chapter reports on exploratory research in Victoria, Australia, involving focus groups and interviews with service providers and Indigenous care leavers to examine the impact of existing support services. Indigenous children and young people are highly overrepresented in the Australian out-of-home care system. To date, neither specific research focusing on this group’s experiences as they transition from care nor an assessment of the Indigenous-specific and non-Indigenous supports and services available to them have been undertaken. Findings suggest that Aboriginal Community Controlled Organizations (ACCOs) play a positive role in working with non-Indigenous agencies to assist Indigenous care leavers. Participants identified a few key strategies to improve outcomes, such as facilitating stronger relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous services and improving ACCO resourcing.

The Benefits of Extending State Care to Young Adults

This chapter summarizes recent research in the United States providing evidence of the benefits of allowing youth in foster care to remain in care through their 21st birthdays. The chapter provides relevant background information about the foster care system in the United States, describes two studies that have considered the relationship between extended foster care and young people’s transition to adulthood, summarizes the findings of those studies regarding the potential benefits of extended care, and discusses the implications of the studies’ findings for policy and practice. As child welfare systems around the world increasingly continue to support young people in care into adulthood, research will be needed to ensure that these new care systems meet the needs of the young adults they serve.

Reflections on Upholding the Rights of Youth Leaving Out-of-Home Care

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) recognizes that children in out-of-home care are entitled to special protection to promote their physical and psychological recovery. The Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children, which are intended to enhance implementation of the UNCRC, also acknowledge the importance of transitional and aftercare support. This chapter explores progress toward realizing the rights of youth leaving out-of-home care in Australia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The emerging picture is that all these jurisdictions have some way to go to meet the standards enshrined in the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children and that emerging adults with complex needs are not currently sufficiently empowered or enabled to exercise their rights.

Resilience, Transitions, and Youth Leaving Care

This chapter discusses resilience in the lives of care leavers. Youth transitions can be especially challenging for young adults who face major adversity in their lives as they negotiate early encounters with adult life. One such group is young people leaving out-of-home care at the official age, in many jurisdictions, of 18 years. Young people leaving care often do not have the luxury of extending the timing of their transitions, as may be the case for their peers not in care; circumstances force them to make early transitions and, typically, without the level of support their more fortunate peers may be able to call on. Yet many young adults leaving care do quite well; they manage to display resilience. They find resources in their social ecology which help them to manage the process of their transitions. This chapter explores the background to such displays of resilience and how former caregivers and other concerned adults may help to stimulate and sustain such resilience. It also argues that support from concerned adults in arenas such as education and work may be especially helpful in promoting resilience to adversity among youth transitioning to adulthood from care.

How Can I Be a Real Adult?

This chapter proposes that developmental theory can provide multiple lenses through which the transition to adulthood for youth from care can be understood and supported. This chapter outlines the benefits of a developmental approach and presents theories, such as Erikson’s identity theory and the theory of emerging adulthood, which stresses the importance of the identity formation process; attachment processes throughout the lifespan; and loss, grief, and mourning as it relates to the experiences of youth removed from home and placed incare. Relevant research with care leavers is reviewed, and implications are outlined for practice, policy, and future research that promotes optimal development for youth leaving care.

Caring Adults “R” Everywhere (CARE)

The United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) recognizes that children in out-of-home care are entitled to special protection to promote their physical and psychological recovery. The Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children, which are intended to enhance implementation of the UNCRC, also acknowledge the importance of transitional and after-care support. This chapter explores progress toward realizing the rights of youth leaving out-of-home care in Australia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The emerging picture is that all these jurisdictions have some way to go to meet the standards enshrined in the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children and that emerging adults with complex needs are not currently sufficiently empowered or enabled to exercise their rights.

Policy as Social Ecological Resilience Scaffolding for Leaving Care

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 argues for a better understanding of how these contexts can bolster the social ecology of care leaving by providing a policy scaffolding to the support and services required by care leavers. South Africa is used to illustrate the argument, capitalizing on the heightened political sensibilities of a society still grappling with the legacy of apartheid and committed to developmental social welfare as a strategic policy direction. The chapter concludes that the South African case study not only highlights the need to address the policy context of youth transitioning from out-of-home care, but also demonstrates the benefits of cross-national reflection on policy and practice development and implementation.

Social Networks and Social Support in the Transition to Adulthood

For some youth in care, leaving a foster home definitively also implies leaving the only family and home they have ever known. Youth is thus a particularly critical moment in identity construction because it is central to the interplay between family heritage and social capital, all of which is acquired since childhood. Research has focused on competencies, resources, and individual characteristics of youth aging out of care, yet social networks and supports have received little attention. This chapter describes the networks of youth leaving care in the transition to adulthood and analyzes the links between the network characteristics and the socio-professional integration process of these young adults.