Evaluation of an educational project for the development of the autonomy of life in young people leaving residential care

One of the protection measures provided to at-risk children and young people in Portugal is residential care. Residential care facilities foster children and young people from unstructured families, providing them with conditions that may allow to enhance their full development, including their education, well-being and preparation for life autonomy.Projet’ Ar-te is an intervention project developed at Casa do Canto, under the direction of the Portuguese Association for the Rights of Minors and the Family - CrescerSer, financed from 2012 to 2015 through the "Children and Youth at Risk" Program of Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian. The main objectives of this project were the creation of the Life Skills Development Program (PDCV) and the Support and Monitoring Structure (ESAAC) for the young people leaving residential care, in order to provide them with a close affective rear, helping to face the challenges and difficulties they encounter successively outside the residential care facility.Through ethnobiographic interviews with two young women experiencing the project for one year, the aim was to understand their perceptions regarding two moments: the residential care period and the experiences after leaving Casa do Canto through the support provided by the ESAAC Structure.The results showed that participation in the project activities provided significant moments during residential care, which seem to have an important impact on the autonomy strategies adopted by young women after leaving the facility.