Widely across the globe, COVID has placed massive strain on various parameters of life, including child protection, health, education and economic systems. Apart from these visible threats, this situation has an ongoing devastating impact on the mental health and psychological well-being of people. The word of the law enforces care and support for children with disadvantages, disabilities and vulnerabilities on caregivers, Managers and Staff, managing Alternative Care programmes, but the spirit of such child protection laws also underlines the importance of caring for caregivers, especially in childcare institutions (CCIs). The well-being of the caregivers is the cornerstone of every well-functioning childcare institution and other residential care spaces. This article is designed to document the mental health status of caregivers (residential staff staying with children), in residential care spaces in the COVID times and to determine how the new stresses impacted them and the coping patterns they acquired in current situation; across different countries of South Asia, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. This exploratory rapid assessment project aimed to reach out to the registered childcare homes/ institutions, across the South Asian region, with the help of different NGOs, as well as Government mechanisms. The data was collected through purposive sampling and analysed quantitatively where the sample included the selected caregivers of participating CCIs across these nations. This study aimed to synthesize the responses of caregivers across the region; develop an analysis, which may help authorities to rethink, reform and strengthen the current practices, in order to develop approach-centred strategies for improving the well-being of caregivers as this has a direct bearing on the well-being of children in their care. Since the start of the COVID pandemic, for the residential caregivers, the access to external resources, including physical support from professional staff, has become restricted to bare minimum, due to lockdown and quarantine measures. Any interventions to prevent, treat and mitigate the effects of COVID among caregivers needed to be taken at the ground level by the care team management.

Widely across the globe, COVID-19 has placed massive strain on various parameters of life, including child protection, health, education and economic systems. Apart from these visible threats, this situation is having an ongoing devastating impact on the mental health and psychological wellbeing of people. Most young people leaving child care institutions (CCIs) on turning 18 are generally not prepared to leave care, but the transition has become even more difficult and worrisome during the pandemic. During the lockdown, most of these young people were stuck in their CCIs, and their rehabilitation plans—if they were made—could not be implemented, even though there were several mandates around Aftercare, as prescribed in The Juvenile Justice Act, 2015. The Care Leavers faced difficulties in various life domains, including a lack of access to higher education, the loss of jobs, economic disruptions, and social isolation, along with an overall impact on their mental health and physical health as an aftermath of COVID-19. Based on these issues and years of experience as practitioners, Udayan Care—an NGO in India—started a programme named the Aftercare Outreach Program (AOP), supporting Aftercare youth (Care Leavers) in their transition process in order to make them job-ready. This is an exploratory study designed to collect and analyse the data collected from the Care Leavers supported by the Aftercare Outreach Program (AOP), which included 54 Care Leavers from two places enrolled in it, i.e., 42 Care Leavers from Delhi and 12 from Vadodara. The findings of the study clearly indicate that planned and supported transition like AOP intervention can make a difference in the lives of Care Leavers, and can help them towards independent living, even more so in unprecedented times like COVID-19.

This paper is a condensed version of a study entitled “Beyond 18: Leaving Child Care Institutions — A Study of Aftercare Practices in Five States of India”, conducted and published in 2019 by Udayan Care, a charitable organisation, with support from UNICEF India and Tata Trusts. This research involved the participation of care leavers, government functionaries, duty-bearers, and civil society practitioners. It found that upon turning 18, youth transitioning out of child care institutions to independent life in India experience many challenges, such as securing housing and identity documents; accessing education, skill development, and employment opportunities; and garnering psychosocial support. This study also showed that absent or inadequate aftercare support during transition increases care leavers’ vulnerabilities to homelessness, unemployment, substance misuse, and ruptured social relationships. It also found that continued aftercare support is necessary to foster independent living skills in these young people and enable their reintegration into mainstream society. While exploring the continuum from child care to aftercare, the researchers developed the concept of a “Sphere of Aftercare”, comprising eight domains of support that are considered essential for a successful transition. The study revealed a lack of transition planning at the level of child care institutions and functionaries and a general lack of understanding of the holistic aftercare needs of youth throughout the eight identified domains. The study also found an absence of clarity about stakeholders’ roles; a lack of data management with regard to the number of youth leaving care, leading to inadequate budget planning; and a lack of adequate monitoring mechanisms to assess care leavers’ outcomes. In light of this study’s findings, policy reforms and ways of developing robust aftercare programmes are recommended in relation to policy, practice, and law.

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