Leaving Care Around the World: Insights from the Global South and Global North

The presentation is based on the new book "Leaving Care Around the World: Policy, Practice, Research, and Youth Participation", published by Oxford University Press (January, 2026). The presentation will provide a comprehensive international examination of care-leaving systems across 32 countries from the Global North and Global South.

Our comparative analysis highlights persistent implementation gaps between legislated policies and their practical application in both Global North and Global South contexts. While many countries in the Global North have established formal legislation for care leavers, implementation remains inconsistent, creating what Munro et al described as a "postcode lottery" of service provision. In the Global South, legislation is often absent entirely, with NGOs frequently filling crucial service gaps despite limited resources and sustainability challenges.

Extended care, a provision allowing young people to remain in out-of-home care past the age of 18, receives considerable attention. Despite documented benefits, actual uptake is notably low in many regions. Cultural beliefs about independence, insufficient resources, and bureaucratic constraints all limit the effectiveness of extended care programs. Closely linked to this, aftercare services, including financial support, mentoring, housing assistance, and job training, range widely in availability. Countries with more robust welfare systems often provide some universal supports that indirectly benefit care leavers, but disparities between rural and urban areas, or between administrative regions, create inconsistent outcomes.

Our discussion will also demonstrate how contextual factors influence care-leaving experiences across cultures. In collectivist societies, challenges related to identity and family ties may be more pronounced, while priorities for support services vary significantly between regions. For instance, entrepreneurial support emerges as a key need in several Global South countries, complementing the educational focus predominant in Global North approaches.

The chapters of the book also reveal concerning data gaps across all regions, with many countries lacking even the most fundamental information about care leaver populations and outcomes. This absence of reliable data represents a significant barrier to developing evidence-based policies and targeted interventions, particularly for vulnerable subgroups such as indigenous youth and ethnic minorities. Moreover, cross-country comparisons are complicated by varying terminologies and cultural perceptions.

Our international overview provides, for the first time, a comparative analysis of care leaver associations, which advocate for youth rights, improve services, and promote participation in decision-making. While present across all Global North countries, these associations exist in varying degrees throughout the Global South. Transnational networks like the "Youth Committee of the Latin American Network" and "Global Care Leavers Community" further connect advocates across the global divide, though most organizations focus on advocacy and support rather than research. Additionally, Regional research networks in Africa (ANCR) and Latin America (LATAM) have emerged as significant catalysts for policy development.

Our presentation will call for expanded international guidelines and encourage investment in extended care, early preparation, and inclusive aftercare. It recommends strengthening data collection, fostering global dialogue, and aligning support for care leavers with what is typically available to their peers in the broader population, recognizing that successful adulthood is characterized not by independence but by robust social support networks.