Foreword

Over the last few years, Udayan Care’s (an NGO based in Delhi, India) focussed work on aftercare for and with care leavers has gained considerable momentum. At national level, a considerable amount of attention was attracted after the seminal research on aftercare by Udayan Care got published in 2019, titled ‘Beyond 18 - Leaving Child Care Institutions, Supporting Youth Leaving Care - A study of Aftercare Practices’, which was supported by UNICEF India and a few other partners. The evidence from the research clearly highlighted the poor outcomes that care leavers display as young adults in comparison with their non-care-experienced young peers due to their experiences and treatment before care, in care and post transition. It also stated that risks such as low educational attainment, low skilling and readiness for employment, housing instability, or a higher vulnerability to experiencing mental health issues were common across five sample states in India. However, there was enough evidence regarding a number of positive changes which were seen at various state level policy work. The ‘Beyond 18’ study served to provide a clear framework of pathways to support care leavers through the ‘Sphere of Aftercare,’ a rehabilitative framework, which includes eight essential and interdependent domains that can be used as pathways to support care leavers, depending on their needs and individual situation. As a result of this research, UNICEF in partnership with government of some states invited Udayan Care to demonstrate a model on transition planning and aftercare, and since 2019, work in these states has led to many progresses, with the state care leavers’ network formation being one of them.

India has made several developments in aftercare in the recent years, where Gujarat came up as the first state to increase the amount of the monthly financial support provided to aftercare youth while Maharashtra was one of the few states to bring in guidelines for implementing aftercare in a better way at the state level. The Odisha government also issued the guidelines and supported the care leavers in the state to form their own care leaver’s network. Recently the Haryana Government has also notified its scheme to support children exiting care institutions and has made the district commissioner the guardian of all such children. This is a path breaking policy in India and it is hoped that other states will follow suit.

Mindful of the absence of adequate preparation of children in the care system to leave care, and the dire need to continue to support them after 18, led Udayan Care to initiate the ‘Aftercare Outreach Program’ (AOP) in the midst of COVID-19. The pandemic only further increased the vulnerabilities of care leavers, forcing many to continue to live in their institutions and pushing many into homelessness, joblessness and re-triggering their childhood trauma all over again (Modi et al., 2021). AOP as a direct financial and mentoring support proved beneficial to many young care leavers to pursue their desired skilling courses and start their journey of independent living.

At the global level, the ‘1^st Global Care Leavers’ Convention’ that we organised with other partners clearly highlighted that no matter where the care leaver is located, their challenges remain the same during and after their stay in the care system. Voices of care leavers from different countries indicated that young adults transitioning from a care system often feel a sense of desertion with little to no guidance for a safe social inclusion. With few opportunities in a competitive world to underlying gaps in the policies, care leavers look out for a ‘safety net’ to build a secure future as independent adults. They also look for a community to fall back on and connect with peers to get through various challenges to improve their adult outcomes and to identify opportunities beyond borders. With the participation of close to 2300 care leavers, practitioners, academicians, and policy makers, from over 83 countries from six continents, the Convention led to the inception of guiding documents to aid policymakers and practitioners to devise policies on leaving Care. These were also presented in a post Conference event, before a panel of policymakers from 11 countries which catalysed the idea of participation and inclusion, support from Government and Civil Society, continuity of relationship with Caregivers, creating a ‘safety net’ for Care Leavers, consensus on the age of leaving Care as 25, financial security, a partnership among agencies and maintenance of adequate data systems. 

The first Global Care Leavers Convention held virtually in 2020 thus led to the establishment of the Global Care Leavers community (GCLC) as a safe platform for them to build connections beyond transnational borders and exchange opportunities and share interest for a positive social inclusion of each Care leaver. The global care leavers have their own ‘Declaration of transnational needs amidst COVID-19 and beyond‘ which was endorsed by 42 networks and organizations. In many countries, they have been able to use this advocacy tool to advocate for their cause. The global community is driven by the young people and they have been able to organise their monthly Sunday Café sessions for the whole of 2021 and through 2022 and are now getting ready to put together the 2nd Convention by the end of 2022 itself.

Way back in India, the community of care leavers have seen themselves collectivise as networks at a state and national level where many of them are also the members of the global community. The networks of care leavers exist in many states of India such as Delhi, Gujarat, Telangana, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Assam, Rajasthan and others. Looking at and understanding the importance of bringing the young care leavers together, UNICEF India rolled out the national care leavers’ network in Sept 2021 and is working to further build its membership and structure. (Bhardwaj et al., 2022). Most recently, the govt. of Telangana has facilitated the launch of the state care leavers’ network where the young persons have chosen to name it CLAT (Care Leavers Association Telangana). The initiation and strengthening of these local care leavers’ networks in the country is a positive sign of the care experienced youth having their own safe platforms and spaces to express themselves.

With UNICEF India’s support again, in 2021 an exclusive customised fellowship for care leavers in India was initiated by Udayan Care. Starting with 8 fellows from 6 states in India, this programme has a vision to mentor young care leavers as change-makers for care leaving in India. While the selection process was closely done with the participation of more accomplished care leavers themselves, the fellowship name has also been chosen by the first batch of fellows themselves as LIFT (Learning In Fellowship Together).

The cumulative effect of all the above progress shows that the last few years have seen an increased interest in supporting care leavers, enabling their skills and providing them with platforms and spaces to be their own voice.

At Udayan Care, working with children and youth in alternative care for the last 28 years now, our aim is to support practice, policy and decision making for an improved, transition planning and better aftercare ecosystem at global, national and local level. It is very evident that the voices of children and care leavers must inform the practical measures that should be taken across different areas of care reform in order to achieve system change. The global commitment through the 2021 day of general discussion (DGD), which focussed on children’s rights and alternative care and was held on the 16 - 17 September 2021 (where Udayan Care facilitated multiple submissions). The final recommendations from here are to provide comprehensive support to care leavers by developing and implementing policies to ensure comprehensive, planned, ongoing and individualized financial, emotional and practical support to care leavers and their networks.

Going forward, we need a mindful and enabling approach to support youth who are transitioning away from care to avoid their re-traumatisation. Care leavers need to be supported in every country so as to reduce the risk of homelessness, unemployment and substance abuse, etc. Special focus must be given to female care leavers in gender sensitive methods along with providing support and provisions for care-experienced children and youth with disabilities. As also emphasised in the policy brief for care leaving based on voices of care leavers and the concerned stakeholders, the most important aspect of child protection today is to listen, hear and embody the words of young people and children in care. The need for more data on alternative care and interventions that can assess care leavers’ needs, their numbers and their vulnerabilities thereby understanding the better outcomes are certain areas that still need investment.

This edition of ICB is dedicated to all the care leavers and to all children in care who will soon transition away to independent living. It is only with their active participation that we can change the situation where they are no longer the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in our communities. Today’s reality across nations that exposes such young people to further risks, and reduces their likelihood of full social and economic engagement in mainstream society is totally unacceptable for any civilised society, and must change soon.