Assisting Care Leavers Time for Action

Introduction

Young adults who have lived in out-of-home care at some point during their childhood often struggle to build stable lives. This is not surprising: typically young care leavers not only have to overcome a difficult childhood, but also tend to receive less support during the crucial years of early adulthood than youth living with their parents. In response to their poor socio-economic outcomes, many agencies responsible for improving outcomes for young people are experimenting with transition programmes for young adults leaving care. This policy report identifies the key challenges that care leavers face and provides a range of good practice examples in OECD countries to promote cross-country learning, help strengthen the international evidence base and support countries to improve their policies for young people leaving their care.