Care Leavers Support for Young Adults in Transition from Residential Care to Independence Provided By Private Institutions of the Child and Youth Welfare in Vienna

This paper provides an overview of services for young adults during their transition from residential care to independence offered by private institutions on behalf of the child and youth welfare in Vienna (Austria). These young adults are termed care leavers and are regarded as a vulnerable group with specific issues and needs.

Based on an analysis of the available concepts provided by the services the study illustrates similarities and differences concerning structural circumstances, methods and contents. It is demonstrated, that all services try to cater for care leavers´ specific need for assistance. Differences can be found concerning the main focus and the concrete implementation of the services.

The question, which concrete support young adults receive within various fields of their lifeworld, gets answered by an analysis of guided-structured interviews with care leavers. Additionally, the care leavers’ statements point at similarities and differences regarding the practical implementation of the services.

The results demonstrate, that the present services respond to the individual needs of care leavers in several areas of their lives by supporting them in emotional, financial and practical ways. Furthermore, the importance of the responsible social pedagogues is emphasised because of their role as supporting attachment figures.