'What happens after leaving care? – Insights from interviews with a group of Irish Care Leavers.'

While there is growing international awareness regarding the lived experience of care leavers who are making the transition to adulthood, there is to date little such evidence from an Irish context. This poster presentation... [ view full abstract ]

While there is growing international awareness regarding the lived experience of care leavers who are making the transition to adulthood, there is to date little such evidence from an Irish context. This poster presentation reports on findings from a pilot study of ten qualitative interviews with young Irish Care Leavers conducted in 2015. At the time of interview, most of the young people had been out of care for approximately five years. There will be a particular focus on the care leavers’ reported experiences pertaining to: education, training and work; stability in accommodation; contact with birth family and foster parents; and, current social support/networks.
This pilot study is part of a larger study tracking the progress of a cohort of care leavers. (Selected findings from the wider study were presented at EUSARF 2014). Some additional contextual data from this wider study will also be included via case studies of a number of young people in the interview sample. The poster presentation will include a consideration of some of the possible implications of the findings for further research and service provision.