Udayan Care (India), SOS Children’s Villages, University of Hildesheim (Germany) and Kinderperspectief (Netherlands) joined hands in March 2020 to convene the first-ever international convention for Care Leavers, and it was planned in New Delhi, India, in March 2020. The organising committee closely observed the developments from March to August and continued to virtually meet and engage with the Care Leavers transnationally. A landscape survey was followed by a series of webinars from June-July with 100 young Care Leavers globally to understand the challenges they were going through during the pandemic and their needs around COVID-19. 11 gaps were identified, thus setting forth a set of recommendations in the form of “Care Leavers Declaration” to mitigate these risks. This report is a compilation of different stages of the whole convention, its various components and discussions which happened across the two months period and aims to serve as a guidebook for Care Leaver networks and organizations working with Care Leavers to seek inputs from, as well as for policymakers to understand this cohort better to develop policies in keeping with their dreams and aspirations. The report hopefully would serve as a tool for the planning of the next International Care Leavers Convention in 2022, led by Care Leavers themselves.

In developing nations like India, education has remained inaccessible to many, especially vulnerable children and youth. Upon turning 18 years of age, youth who have lived in child care institutions are expected to leave care and transition into independent life on their own. While they receive basic education and vocational training in care, it falls short of the quality higher education necessary for a smooth transition towards independent living. In an assessment of the situation of such youth in five States of India, Udayan Care, an NGO working with children and youth found that most of the Care Leavers (CLs) were forced to compromise on education and pursue jobs with low remuneration. This study examines the interrelatedness of education, poverty and social exclusion among CLs through secondary literature and empirical data from Udayan Care’s national study. Analysing the findings from the lens of the Capability Approach, the gaps in provisions of educational support to CLs and subsequent limitations to address challenges of poverty and social exclusion of this population are highlighted, also making recommendations on ways to improve CLs’ outcomes

This paper describes a potentially scalable approach to the issue of reintegrating children who have grown up in institutional care into mainstream society when they leave care on turning 18 years. It shares the experience of Catalysts for Social Action (CSA), and A Future for Every Child (AFEC) in implementing the ‘Bridge to Adulthood (B2A)’ program. The program seeks to prepare effectively and equip children in institutional care and CLs with the knowledge and skills necessary to lead a respectable life outside care, and also helps them identify and be trained for a career they wish to pursue. The program has supported 327 Care Leavers(CLs) from June 2016-December 2019. The B2A program addresses gaps in the present system of rehabilitation and reintegration of children in institutional care by: a. Preparing children for life outside institutional care through age-appropriate life skills training to develop self- awareness and confidence, and also become familiar with necessary concepts and tools for an independent life; b. Supporting young adults for higher education and vocational training by helping them develop a career plan based on their interest and aptitude, and gain vocational skills or pursue higher education to become economically self-sufficient; c. Providing mentoring support for two years after job placement to ensure that they are firmly on the path to self-sufficiency, through Program Officers who keep in touch with the CL, to know about their whereabouts and support them where necessary. The paper goes on to give an account of the strategies and outcomes of the implementation of the program in the states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Goa between June 2016 and December 2019. It presents data of 327 CLs across the four states, describing their demographic characteristics, career choices, job placement statistics, and earning potential. In its conclusion, the paper analyses the program to scale to a large number of CLs, and lists areas of improvement and future work.