What does it take to be independent? With this question in mind, the working group of the CarINg project, led by the ARCO research centre and composed of care leavers, educators, service operators and social workers, organised a series of Workshops for Autonomy. The group worked on the creation of a series of meetings on the issues that emerged during the course of the project as central to boys and girls leaving the care system, with the aim, on the one hand, of providing them with information on local resources and opportunities and, on the other, of reflecting together on what it means to become autonomous.
Care leavers and autonomy
For the more than ten thousand young people over 16 in Italy who live outside their family of origin, finding themselves at the age of majority outside the care system without a family support network or a secure base (neither economic nor emotional) represents a major challenge. Studies conducted in various European countries show how this situation entails a greater risk of poverty and social exclusion; among the various reasons for this difficulty is often the lack of a pathway to acquire the social and cultural skills useful for integration into society and the world of work.
The CarINg project, starting from the conviction that the spaces for participation of care leavers within the protection systems are a fundamental element to prevent these scenarios, has worked over the two years of activity on the definition of the meaning of participation. Starting from this reflection work, carried out through consultations, workshops, trainings and video workshops, a phase of designing pilot actions to improve the capacity of the guardianship system to listen and to widen the spaces of participation for boys and girls was opened.
The Autonomy Workshops were discussed and co-constructed during a series of working tables attended by care leavers, educators and social workers from the CarINg project. Thanks to the availability of many associations in the area (and beyond) it was possible to organise 4 meetings.
The meetings
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- The meaning of autonomy: the perspective of care leavers
with the collaboration of SOS Children’s Villages Italy
Friday 24 February, h.15.00 - Entering the world of work and training opportunities
with the collaboration of Cooperativa Intrecci and Centri per l’Impiego
Friday 3 March, 3.00 p.m. - Financial literacy and consumer education
with the collaboration of PerMicro and Villaggio dei Popoli
Friday 10 March, 3.00 p.m. - Rights and protection for care leavers: guidance desks for services in the area
with the collaboration of the association Gli Anelli Mancanti
Saturday 18 March, 3.00 pm
- The meaning of autonomy: the perspective of care leavers
