The “Now What?” project aspires the provision of a cohesive and consistent package of support, information, advice and guidance to those young people leaving care aged 16-19 years old, so as to achieve a seamless transition into adulthood. The “Now What?” project aims at the development and delivery of an integrated approach in dealing with the preparedeness of care leavers to face the challenges of living an independent life in compliance with the UN Recommendations in the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children, which underscores the need to “prepare children to assume self-reliance and to integrate fully in the community, notably through the acquisition of social and life skills”.
The “Now What?” project is premised on the idea that investing in, and adequately resourcing, the acquisition of basic life skills for prospective care leavers is the single most important component for after care success and independence. The “Now What?” project will develop and undertake a comprehensive strategy to better enable care-experienced children in the following four (4) European countries:
- Romania,
- Portugal,
- Greece and
- Albania
to achieve their potential and deliver improvements in their educational, social and economic outcomes.
The activities “Now What?” relate to:
- the development of a life skills curriculum,
- the delivery of life skills workshops,
- the development of a mentoring protocol,
- the delivery of After Care Plans.