Residential resources for the transition towards adult life for fostered youths in Catalonia

In Catalonia, Youths in care and Care leavers can apply for a housing program from 16 up to 21 to support their emancipation process. The aim of this study is to describe the housing program for transitioning to adult life for former foster youths in Catalonia, as well as the profile of young people, their educators and the work carried out in them. To this end, 5 methacategories were established: Identification data of the entity and its housing program, characteristics of the young residents, educational and support aspects to the youth, access and permanence in the housing program and leaving of the housing program. A semi-struc¬tured interview was used to interview 26 professionals. Professionals pointed out that the youth who stay longer are the ones who have a clear emancipation project and accept the educative supervision and program rules. The professionals explained that having an educa¬tive project and being enrolled in a training process increase the stay, because the financial subsidises they receive don’t provide enough financial stability. Professionals pointed out that reasons for leaving the program were the lack of labour opportunities because subsidises they receive don’t brings them enough financial stability. The reasons to left the program were the economic and labour stability. Due to the social and economic situation and the lack of job opportunities, most young people leave the program without having had the opportunity to prove themselves.