Youth aging out of residential care in Israel: Readiness for independent living and need for help Tehila Refaeli ⁎, Rami Benbenishty, Michal Eliel-Gev Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work, Bar Ilan University, Israel abstract article info Article history: Received 12 March 2013 Received in revised form 17 June 2013 Accepted 18 June 2013 Available online 28 June 2013 Keywords: Care leavers Readiness for independent living Need for help Residential care Social support Israel Youth leaving state care are a vulnerable group. It is important to examine their status and needs before they leave care, so that policies and practices are designed to address their needs. The aim of this study is to assess readiness for independent living of youth on the verge of leaving residential care in Israel, and to identify the life domains in which they need further help. Further, the study examines personal and interpersonal re- sources that may predict levels of readiness and needs before leaving care. The study is based on an analysis of staff structured reports on all youths in welfare residential care in Israel who were on the verge of leaving care (N = 197). The report assessed background characteristics, family social support available to the child, readiness for independent living, and needs in multiple areas. We found low readiness for independent living and that the young people greatly need help, particularly those with lower educational achievements. Social support resources were positively associated with readiness and negatively with levels of need. It is therefore, necessary to plan carefully the preparation of youth for leaving care. The plan should also include a safety net to help care leavers cope with the new challenges of independent living after leaving care. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Social changes in the last decades have resulted in young people deferring their transition to adulthood and independence to well after the end of their teenage years. Until then they still use their par- ents' financial, concrete and emotional support. Arnett (2000) has thus defined a new developmental period, “emerging adulthood”. This is a period of instability, for exploration, experimentation and a variety of experiences that leads to formation of identity and deci- sions about future plans (Marcia & Archer, 1993; Stein, 2006). How- ever, young people growing up in care do not have the privilege of this period when they age out of care. They cannot rely on family sup- port and must cope with the requirements of adult life by themselves (Arnett, 2007; Courtney & Dworsky, 2006; Stein, 2006; wade, 2008). In view of this situation, it is important to evaluate the readiness of young people for independent living while they are still in care, as well as to evaluate their needs for help after they leave. Here we ex- amine the staff's evaluations of young people on the verge of leaving residential care in Israel to determine their readiness for independent living and to assess the life domains in which they need further help. In Israel, unlike many other countries, 80% of children in welfare out-of-home placements due to risk of abuse or neglect by their parents live in residential facilities, with only 20% living with foster families (National Council for the Child, 2011). Funded and supervised by the Ministry of Welfare, these residential facilities are divided into ‘ rehabilita- tive’ , ‘treatment’, and ‘post-hospitalization’ facilities, that differ in the extent of the difficulties experienced by their residents and the psycho- logical treatment given (Benbenishty, 2008). Currently about 7000 such children and adolescents live in residential care (National Council for the Child, 2011). It is estimated that every year about 225–250 residents age out of residential care at the age of 18. This study focuses on these res- idents before they leave care and examines their readiness for indepen- dent living after leaving care. 1.1. Leaving care In Israel, when young people in care reach the age of 18 or finish 12th grade they are no longer considered children and the state is not responsible for their care. The child welfare system that was re- sponsible to address all their concrete and education needs until this age is no longer taking care of them. In recent years, the Ministry of Welfare is developing services for care leavers, such as supervised flats for care leavers in the community. These young persons are expected to become independent and assume responsibility to all life domains: to take care to their food and accommodations, find a job or deal with the consequences of unemployment, and find ways to access and fund higher education or pursue a professional career. However, research from Israel and abroad reveals that there are many care leavers who are not successful in addressing the challenges of independent life. The findings suggest that in the years after leaving care high proportion of care leavers suffer from Children and Youth Services Review 35 (2013) 1601–1607 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: tehilarefaeli@gmail.com (T. Refaeli). 0190-7409/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2013.06.014 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Children and Youth Services Review journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth