One‐year outcomes of youth exiting a residential care facility in South Africa
Abstract
This article describes the 1‐year outcomes of youth transitioning out of a residential care facility in South Africa. Those outcomes are compared with both national data on youth in the general population and care leavers from the United Kingdom. Analysis of the outcomes of 52 care leavers showed that they had fairly secure accommodation, low levels of homelessness, and low levels of criminal involvement and substance abuse. However, care leavers were particularly vulnerable in their educational attainment and employment outcomes and ran the risk of being not in employment, education or training. This has economic and psychological consequences for youth, who are then forced to rely on others for their livelihood and it can increase their feelings of depression, isolation, and despondency. Results from this study provide insight into the challenges and needs of young people transitioning out of residential care, which provides guidance on what to prioritize for practice. This research has implications not only for improving the understanding of care leaving in South Africa and Africa, but also for the existing knowledge based on research internationally.
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Care leavers have lower rates of post-secondary education, higher rates of unemployment or underemployment, and higher levels of poverty.
“Other work has documented lower rates of post-secondary education, higher rates of unemployment or underemployment, and higher levels of poverty (Berejena Mhongera & Lombard, 2016; Dickens, 2018; Diraditsile & Nyadza, 2018).”
From The relationship between spirituality and resilience and well-being: a study of 529 care leavers from 11 nations. (2023) · cites this paper as Dickens, 2018
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Howard, A. H., Roberts, M., Mitchell, T., & Wilke, N. G. (2023) · Adversity and Resilience Science · doi:10.1007/s42844-023-00088-y · Cited by 50 · see citing works
- Authors
- Dickens, L.
- Affiliations
- University of Johannesburg (ZA)
- Corresponding author
- Dickens, Lisa
- ORCID
- Dickens, Lisa
- Venue
- Child & Family Social Work
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2017-10-10
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 558-565
- ISSN
- 1356-7500 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-2206
- OpenAlex
- W2761190385
- Cited by
- 41
- References
- 20
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 8.14
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Child & Family Social Work (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Child Welfare and Adoption
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Homelessness and Social Issues
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Youth Education and Societal Dynamics
- Keywords
- care leavers, residential care, youth transitions, homelessness, educational attainment, employment effects, substance abuse, criminal involvement, depression, social isolation, South Africa
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