Leaving Care - a comparison study of implementation, change mechanisms and effectiveness of transition services for youth

The purpose of this project is to increase our understanding of the development, implementation and effectiveness of interventions for young people transitioning from societal care to independent living. The project examines the effect of interventions and how change mechanisms relate to a range of outcomes.

In a pilot project, we developed an intervention in collaboration with municipal social workers, section heads and organizational developers.

In another pilot project, we investigated whether the content of empirically tested interventions in the USA can be generalized to a Swedish context. These two projects have resulted in a Swedish intervention: My choice - my way! Previous research shows that young people who are placed in social care are a particularly vulnerable group.

Swedish social places little attention to what happens to prepare young people for leaving care. There are currently no interventions in Sweden that have empirical support of their effectiveness for this group.

The aim of the project is to develop our practical and empirical understanding of how interventions for young people placed in societal care in Sweden can be developed and implemented.

The project takes place in close collaboration with municipalities and the NGO SOS Children´s Villages.Short-term, long-term and implementation effects are investigated by comparing My choice - my way! with transition services provided by SOS Children’s Villages and the usual municipal services.

The comparisons will shed light on practice components and change mechanisms related to outcomes and thus important to take into account in the future development of interventions.

The outcomes will shed light on a range of self-reported outcomes, as well as register-based outcomes such as education, employment and crime. The analyses also include health economic outcomes.

In addition, the attitudes of social workers and youth and organizational implementation initiatives will be investigated.