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reparation for leaving care and after-care support are highly important stages to ensure that young people are adequately equipped with the necessary life skills to cope with living independently following their discharge from care. Care leavers require assistance during out-of-home care in preparation and planning for the transition, as well as the offer of support systems after leaving out-of-home care.37 This includes assisting care leavers with suitable accommodations along with other support needs. A safe and secure home is the foundation on which care leavers can build their lives after care. Having this base means that they can fulfil ambitions, gain qualifications or enter work, establish themselves within a community and put the difficulties of their childhoods behind them. While state and national policy recognise the need for better support of young people transitioning from care, many young people continue to face difficulties when they leave. The last two chapters examined the supports provided by Rainbow Homes to young people in transition to independent living and explores the staff and the YAs’ views and experiences concerning housing and post care supports. It also focuses on other NGO’s experiences of managing YAs in different living spaces after transition from their respective organizations. The perceptions, challenges and experiences of YAs leaving care have been captured through in-depth interviews and FGDs with YAs and future focal persons of Rainbow Homes as well as care providers of sample organizations. Based on these findings, Chapter 5 focuses on the practices of post care interventions to be continued and overarching areas of interventions to be taken. Although a very limited number of organizations and care leavers are studied based on which the results cannot be generalised, however the findings do show the types of challenges in aftercare livings and practices that can be adopted towards the betterment of aftercare program.
37 McDowall, 2009;2011 Mendes, 2009; Mendes, et al.,2008; Stein, 2006
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Different Shared Living Arrangements for Care Leavers
Effective transition/pathway plans for better coping on stepping out from care Interviews with YAs and stakeholders in different organizations shows that many care leavers were simply excited to have more independence and freedom away from care homes, but after moving out from the homes, they acknowledged about feeling less prepared and having lesser understanding about what living independent would involve. Initially we had great excitement at the time of transitions since we thought it would be great to live independently without any rule and instructions, to have our own freedom. We can see more challenges than enjoyments after moving from Rainbow Homes. – Care leavers from Bangalore, Kolkata The study shows that organizations aim to ensure that all young adults leaving care are placed in suitable housing in the community as well as provide best of its supports in order to help them live independently. However, the care staff in sample organizations including Rainbow Homes face multiple challenges of complex nature in transition planning and delivering supports to YAs before they step out from institutional care. With the numbers of care leavers increasing significantly, the challenges come due to increased workloads on the staff with reduced capacities, lack of resources with organizations and lack of aftercare supports by the Governments. Additionally, the organizations stated that challenge to include practical trainings on household activities for better coping of YAs post transition is because of objections of government for pushing children into ‘work’. The JJ act and rules as well as the protection schemes, ICPs do not address the specific transition and rehabilitation planning and
