Report: Experiences of young adults leaving foster care services

The current review highlighted many of the well-known challenges young people face when transitioning from care and explored the psychological impact of these encounters, based on rich personal narratives embedded in recent research.

The findings illustrated the unpredictability of the system and that many young people have to cope with too much too soon. This affected their ability to develop resilience, which in turn affected their sense of identity and capacity to navigate their transition. There are two vital recommendations from this research.

First, a well informed and consistent attachment figure must be provided. Second, there is a need to reduce the number of challenges a young person is expected to cope with at once. With well-planned pathways, this is feasible.

Author(s): Parry, Sarah; Weatherhead, Stephen
Series: Journal of Children’s Services
Year: 2014
ISSN: 1746-6660
Volume: vol. 9
Pages: p. 263-279