The Problem

Imagine you (or your children) at the young age of 18 being forced out of the only stable home you have known, with no idea how to navigate the system to even find a place to live, without the means to get more education or prepare for a job, and without anyone to help you avoid the many pitfalls and make good life choices. This is what most Care Leavers (CLs) face when they age out of the government-supervised Child Care Institutions (CCIs) at the age of 18.

Approximate number of children in danger of aging out of CCIs (2011 Census and Ministry of WCD Mapping Review of CCIs, 2018)

	Ages 14-16	Ages 16-18
Boys	21,000	31,000
Girls	19,500	28,000
Total	40,500	59,000

Vulnerable children growing up without a familial support system need to be nurtured and supported at all ages, but the need is particularly acute to prepare them to enter the adult world. Without financial support and hand-holding until they are established to a certain extent, they may be forced to take sub-optimal, menial jobs out of desperation, or fall into a pattern of exploitation and poverty.

Rule No. 25 of the India Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act Rules, 2016 states that

the State Government shall prepare a program for children who have to leave Child Care Institutions on attaining eighteen years of age by providing for their education, giving them employable skills and placement as well as providing them places for stay to facilitate their re-integration into the mainstream of society.

This program called “After Care” is supposed to support these young adults until the age of 21, with an allocation of Rs 2000/ child /month toward expenses.

However, of all the rules specified by the JJ Act, After Care is one of the least implemented. Less than 20% of CCIs even have linkages to professional organizations providing After Care. Only about 30% of CCIs provide any exposure to Life Skills training with minimal supervision to ensure quality of the program.

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Parents are awesome! They impart all the following skills and more as they raise their children to be independent adults. Unfortunately, the Care Leavers who enter our program have spent many years of their lives in CCIs and often do not have exposure to necessary skills to thrive on their own. Our goal is to begin with what is absolutely critical to live independently, and add more components as we develop the program.

Soft Skills	Practical Skills	Job Skills
Communication Collaboration Negotiation Critical Thinking Understanding self – strengths and challenges Resolving conflict Managing emotions Recognizing and protecting self from dangerous situations	Managing finances Budgeting Learning to cook Finding housing Managing health, nutrition and fitness Acquiring identification Sex education Conversational English Computer Literacy	Educational support in high school Aptitude Assessment and Career Counseling Vocational Training Higher Education Financial support and mentoring during study Interviewing skills Job Placement Followup till established

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Ideally, children should be taught the life skills needed to live and thrive in the 21st century gradually over a period of many years starting from adolescence to young adulthood. However, Care Leavers get enrolled into our program just as they are preparing to exit CCIs at 18, or even after they have already been de-institutionalized. We begin working with them at that time to provide the critical competencies required, with an emphasis on economic self-sufficiency. We continue to support Care Leavers for anywhere from 3 to 5 years depending on their career trajectory.

We achieve our impact by funding and working closely with organizations on the ground that align well with our priorities.

Our strategic priorities

Work with institutionalized youth

We focus on children without a familial support system, who live in Child Care Institutions (CCIs), and need support to transition to independence. We target our interventions towards children ages 14-18 and upto 23 as needed.

Take a “whole child” approach

It is not sufficient to address just one aspect that is lacking, such as formal education. The CCI is the child’s de facto family, and the child needs to be taught soft skills (e.g. communication, collaboration), practical skills (e.g. conversational English, nutrition and health) and job skills (e.g. vocational training, job interview techniques), to thrive as an independent adult

Tackle the problem of scale

Out of the 9859 CCIs in India, a few good ones, covering optimistically 10,000 children, prepare youth well to transition to life after 18 – however, there are 370,000 children overall in CCIs. Organizations who have been working on the ground for the last 20 years to improve CCIs are able to reach approximately 20,000 orphans of all ages a year – however, there are about 100,000 children in just the critical 14-18 age group at any time.

Be data-driven in devising effective programs

Well-meaning people and organizations often fund piecemeal interventions, because after all, these children have nothing and anything should help. However, money and time are precious and limited, and we want to be laser focused on the most effective interventions to achieve the best possible outcomes.

See more information about our grant process.