From Living in Care to Independence

Abstract

The aim of this thesis From Living in Care to Independence is to analyse the support given to care leavers as they transition to adulthood. Social workers are the main leaving care support service providers, and it is important to research their roles and competencies relevant for supporting care leavers. The thesis also explores what the needs of care leavers are and the existing policies that guide the provision of support to care leavers. This study was carried out in Lithuania with the interviews conducted between April-November 2020. Data for this thesis was obtained from social workers who provide support to youth in care transitioning to adulthood and care leavers. The subjects were selected using judgmental sampling and the criteria was social workers:1)Who work in institutions that provide leaving care services to youth who have lived in alternative care and 2) Who work with youth about to leave care or who have left care. Using semi-structured interviews, the data was collected from the participants via Skype and text messaging. All the interviews were recorded and transcribed then analysed using the thematic analysis. The results show that social workers use their personal competencies of creativity, understanding and being open-minded to create relationships with care leavers to understand better their needs and teach them the necessary life skills. The roles of the social workers are however, not just to teach care leavers skills, they also act as a source of support and guidance for the care leavers. Finally, the results showed that care leavers need independent and interdependent needs in order to transition to adulthood successfully. The study recommends delaying care leaver transition to independence until they have the necessary skills, changes in legislation to develop a care leaver framework that will suit their diverse needs, further research on the perspectives of care leavers and for social workers to guide care leavers to learn by doing.