Imagine if, on your 18th birthday, your parents announced that since you’re now legally an adult, you can no longer live in your family home. Suddenly, you’re thrust into independence, left to navigate housing, finances, education and other major life decisions on your own—without guidance, support or a safety net.
For many young people who grow up in alternative care, this shocking transition isn’t hypothetical—it’s their reality. When they turn 18, they face this forced independence without the resources, skills or support network that most young people rely on as they progress into adulthood.
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Vitoria Vicente, 19, of Brazil, grew up in alternative care and currently lives in a home for young people provided by SOS Children’s Villages and the Brazilian government. Like so many who must eventually leave alternative care, she was failed by a system that was unable to meet, or even acknowledge, her needs:
"I was really struggling. I felt very alone, very abandoned, with no one. The place where I lived ... was completely isolated from everything—my life, my family, my school. It was really far away. I felt like I had no one, literally no one, for me and that I had to figure everything out on my own."
Governments across the world are failing care leavers. Once they reach the age of 18 in most countries, those leaving care are offered little or no state support. Without the family network and sense of belonging that most of us take for granted, these vulnerable young people must fend for themselves.
But basic services are lacking, and care leavers are much less likely than their peers to be in higher education or employment. They are conversely more likely to experience homelessness and have higher incarceration and suicide rates.
Research into protection for care leavers in Latin America and the Caribbean
In 2023, SOS Children's Villages International undertook a mapping exercise1 in the Latin America and Caribbean region to ascertain the degree of protection for care leavers in 20 countries. The research found that despite regulations and legal provisions structuring alternative care, most countries do not sufficiently address the transition from care to independence.
Furthermore, existing public policy in these countries raises only the need for the preparation of young people before they leave care, and—crucially—lack specific technical guidelines as to how programs should be implemented.
The report also found that the majority of existing initiatives to support young people leaving alternative care were led by NGOs. Many of the initiatives were geographically limited or focused solely on providing financial assistance, without offering any form of psychosocial support. National-level support for care leavers was rare—in the 20 countries reviewed, only five countries offered some form of national support provided directly by the government.
Argentina enacted law to protect care leavers
With advocacy and collaboration efforts by Aldeas Infantiles SOS Argentina (SOS Children's Villages Argentina), the parliament of Argentina enacted the Program of Accompaniment for the Leaving Care of Youth without Parental Care (PAE) law in 2017. This established a series of rights and entitlements for young adults leaving alternative care from the age of 13 to at least 21, and up to 25 if the individual needs to complete their studies or receive skills training.
The law has two central pillars. First, each care leaver is assigned a caseworker who guides them through the complexities of independent living. The care leaver must be given access to information and support on a range of topics that cover health care and family planning; education, skills training and employment; housing; human rights and citizenship; family and social networks; recreation and leisure time; independent living skills; identity; financial planning and money management.
"These areas were not arbitrarily chosen, but respond to the needs and obstacles that adolescents and young people without parental care face in their transition to autonomy," said Alejo Brosio, Advocacy Advisor to Aldeas Infantiles SOS Argentina.
Each care leaver also receives a monthly financial allowance equal to 80% of the national minimum wage. Taken together, the two measures mean that care leavers are less likely to “fall between the cracks” of different government agencies, as is so often the case elsewhere.
At SOS Children’s Villages, we believe children and young people should not only be heard—but also be leaders in shaping their own future. By promoting their voices to the forefront of policy discussions and legislative decisions, we ensure their rights are recognized and upheld—which was critical in the success of this law.
Young people and care leavers were consulted at every step, and as Lucia Buratovich, Programs Advisor to Aldeas Infantiles SOS Argentina makes clear, without their input, it is probable that only the financial allowance would have made it into law. The participatory process, she says, "really put the focus on care leavers and the things they need for support. That's why this law is so comprehensive in Argentina."
The second aspect that makes this so effective is that the program is enshrined in law, meaning that the program cannot be arbitrarily cancelled and that care leavers have a legal right to the services codified by legislation.
Approximately 2,000 young people in Argentina have benefited from the program since its creation.
SOS standards to be presented at ECOSOC U.N. Youth Forum 2025
Commissioned by SOS Children’s Villages International and authored by experts from Madrid's Comillas Pontifical University, the International Standards and Recommendations on the Right of Leaving Care of Children, Adolescents and Young People deprived of Family Care will be presented at the United Nations Economic and Social (ECOSOC) Youth Forum in New York on April 17.
The ECOSOC Youth Forum is the largest annual gathering of young people at the United Nations. During the Forum, SOS Children’s Villages, with the support of the Permanent Missions of Chile and Uruguay to the U.N., the Government of Spain and Comillas Pontifical University, will host a side event to share lessons from on developing policies with and for young people leaving care. The event will also feature the launch of the Declaration on Leaving Care, created by young people and validated by 200 care leavers from 15 Ibero-American countries.
"Through this event, we hope we can bring visibility to the realities of thousands of care leavers across Ibero-America and inspire states to recognize their responsibility in ensuring the comprehensive support young people need to transition safelyto independent living—to truly thrive and break cycles of exclusion and violence," says Jessica Ugalde, SOS Children's Villages International Regional Advisor for Programs and Youth.
Those who wish to attend can watch a recording of the event here.
Care leavers need more than financial support
Young people will also be present at the U.N. Forum’s side event to deliver their messages to leaders about the needs of care leavers. Among them is Tally Arriagada Ávila, 26, a care leaver activist in Chile. In his country, he says, an emphasis is placed only on reunifying care leavers with family members, rather than access to well-established support services. The government should prioritize support including for employment, education, health and documentation, he says.
Vitoria of Brazil will come to the U.N. with a message that financial support is only part of the issue. The real challenge is to establish a system that allows care leavers to receive the human contact and support that they need to flourish.
"I truly believe that what’s missing—what’s really needed—is psychological support,” she says. “Financially, over time, we can manage and become independent. At least for me, that wasn’t the biggest issue. The biggest problem was not having anyone to rely on."
The ECOSOC Youth Forum provides an ideal opportunity for the world's governments to listen to care leavers and acknowledge the value and importance of the standards and to adopt these measures as a matter of course. Once care leavers are protected by law, their chances for a brighter future immeasurably improve—and everyone benefits.