The project LeaveCare-LiveLife: Building the European Care Leavers Network for youngsters leaving foster and residential care and actively living and participating in life stems from the necessity to improve the support given to young people leaving foster care, involving them in a participation process at a EU level in which they can express their needs in order to be better prepared and accompanied before and after the exit from care services. In fact, in the transition out of foster communities/homes/families and into independent adulthood, young care leavers have to deal with the conclusion of their path, lacking important personal and social skills necessary to gain an adequate level of autonomy from the point of view of housing, job and human relations. The aim of the project is to create a space for participation for these youngsters, the European Care Leavers Network, allowing young people to have their say, as main actors of the reception and care procedure, thus facilitating a more balanced communication with the public opinion and the institutions and raising awareness about tailored measures to improve the quality of the care services for youngsters removed from their families, as well as the quality of the support during their exit from foster care. The 5 project partners are all active in the networking and support to care leavers and vulnerable youth: Associazione Agevolando (IT), Careleaver e.V. (DE), FICE Croatia (HR), The Care Leavers’ Association (UK) and Asociatia T.I.B.E.R.I.U.S. (RO). Networks of care leavers are already active in the partner countries at regional or national level and are willing to expand, showing the need to bridge these networks into one European Network. The project activities are: > Development, testing and finalisation of a transnational training programme for the staff working with young care leavers, concerning the creation and management of the Care Leavers Network and the thematic Focus Groups that each partner will hold at local level > Creation of a virtual platform for confrontation and peer-to-peer exchange among young care leavers > Exchange of good practices at European level about reception methods and transition towards autonomy for young people in foster care services > Thematic focus groups on a local level for young care leavers concerning relevant topics: reception and life inside the community/foster homes, transition and support towards exit from care services, acquisition of autonomy, being foreign minors and foreign unaccompanied minors, active citizenship > Development, testing and finalisation of a transnational training programme for the staff working with young care leavers concerning the support to young people during the transition out of foster care services > Delivery of 2 LTTA events: aimed at testing and finalizing the training programmes > Transnational mobility for young care leavers for exchange, discussion on Recommendations to be drafted in order to advise institutions on how to address care leavers’ difficulties and improve services > Draft of Recommendations on foster care services and the transition towards autonomy for young care leavers. > 5 multiplier events at regional level + 1 final event at European level for disseminating project outcomes, transfer and exploit project results, targeting policy makers, public authorities, organizations and associations working with care leavers, educational institutes, social and health care services, etc. The expected results are: > increased participation of young care leavers (16 to 25 years old) as a way to prevent disadvantage, reduce deviance, marginalisation and as a way to promote social inclusion, intercultural dialogue and non-discrimination; > improved capacity of disadvantaged youth to be active citizens, including unaccompanied minors, stimulating critical thinking and their spirit of initiative, letting them express their opinion, get in touch with peers in the same situation across Europe and develop digital skills through the use of the European CLN virtual platform; > increased knowledge and transfer of best practices on a European level concerning reception procedures and the young people’s transition out of the care services; > development of a long-standing dialogue among youngsters removed from their families of origin, foster care services and decision-makers; > improvement of professionals’ capacity to implement more effective methods to accompany young people in the transition out of the care services, enabling them to face the process in a proactive way; > awareness-raising of the general public and the relevant stakeholders about the rights and difficulties of the young people removed from their families. The project will last 24 months, from October 2017 to September 2019.
The LeaveCare-LiveLife project: Building the European Care Leavers Network for youngsters leaving foster and residential care and actively living and participating in life born from the need to improve the support provided to care leavers (CLs), involving them in a participatory process in which they can express their needs to be better prepared and accompanied in leaving the protection services. In fact, in the transition to independent adulthood, CLs must face the conclusion of their path, e develop personal and social skills necessary to achieve autonomy from the point of view of housing, work and human relations. The project has created a space for participation for these young people, the European Care Leavers' Network, allowing young people to have their say, as the main actors of reception and care procedure, thus facilitating a more balanced communication with public opinion and institutions to improve the quality of care services, as well as the quality of support during their exit from guardianship. The 5 partners of the project are all active in networking and supporting CLs: Associazione Agevolando (IT), Care Leavers Network Ireland (IE), FICE Croatia (HR), The Care Leavers' Association (UK) and Asociatia T.I.B.E.R.I.U.S. (RO).