Publication year: 2011
Source: Children and Youth Services Review, In Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available online 27 August 2011
Roxana, Anghel
This paper discusses findings from a qualitative longitudinal study which explored the process of leaving long-stay institutional state care in Romania during 2002–4, a period at the heart of accelerated EU-enforced childcare reform. 28 young people were interviewed before leaving care and 17 were tracked up to 8months after discharge. 18 practitioners were also interviewed.The findings confirmed Pinkerton’s (2006) emphasis on the impact of global and national factors on the individual experience of leaving care. This study took place in a country undergoing widespread change. The care leavers’ irreversible transition took place within the simultaneous professional transition of their carers…