Update from Addis Ababa: Experiences of youth aging out of institutionalized care

August 2, 2013 

 

It’s hard to believe that I’ve spent over a month in Addis, and that I’ll be leaving in just three short weeks.  I am now able to get around the city confidently and comfortably, I have favorite restaurants and cafés, and I’ve made many friends that I’ll be sad to leave.  Moreover, my work has finally changed from meetings with organizational staff to interviewing young people who grew up in care:  hearing their stories and experiences of transition.  This is the work that I am most interested in, and it will be the basis for IOFA’s decisions moving forward on the Transitions Initiative in Ethiopia.  We want to know what the personal experience of transitioning from care institutions to independence.

Mikiyas and three research participants from Kidane Mehret

So far, Mikiyas Feyissa (IOFA’s Ethiopian representative and translator) and I have conducted four interview sessions, each with adults from different organizations.  We heard from 5 youth from CIAI who spent much of their time on the streets until CIAI’s shelter took them in.  We met with 10 individuals who grew up in L’Esperance:  an Adventist orphanage on the outskirts of Addis.  We talked to 5 adults who grew up in Abebech Gobena (Addis Ababa’s most famous orphanage) and who are now employed by that institution.  We also met 4 girls from Kidane Mehret orphanage, who have just started transitioning to independent life.  Additionally, I have been able to have great, informal conversations with two young men who grew up in care and who are now living independently.

Each individual and group has a unique story, but there are common themes that we hear over and over again.  One challenge that every youth seems to face when they leave care is the extreme culture shock of joining the outside community.  Most orphaned children grow up isolated in institutions with very little community interaction.  Basic social skills that most children pick up through observing adults are completely foreign to orphaned youth.  Tamerat, who now works as a psychologist in a Catholic orphanage, told me that he didn’t know how to buy food or clothes because everything had always been provided in the orphanage.

“[Orphaned youth] have no budgeting skills and don’t know how to save money.  They also don’t have any role models for working and responsibility.  Other children see their parents go to work every day, [orphaned youth] don’t have that experience.  They don’t know how to manage their time to make sure everything is done.”

Every group has commented on how difficult it is to converse and interact with other people outside of the institution.  The youth feel that the community will ostracize them, which leads them to be very reserved; most Ethiopians generally do not trust reserved people, so they treat the youth as though they were of bad character.  This confirms the youth’s fears and leads to further psychological distress.  The youth also have no sense of “good” and “bad” behavior in other people; they are often easily trusting of strangers.  Because their only interactions with adults have been in the orphanage, the youth often do not possess the healthy dose of suspicion that most of us employ when meeting new people, looking for a job, and searching for housing.

 Research participants answer yes/no questions by forming a Y/N shapes with their bodies

“Children who grew up in this orphanage have similar thinking and conduct. We respect people and we do not pretend like people do in the society. If we trust others; we give ourselves.  On the other hand members of the society do not give themselves, they rather are selfish.”

We are also hearing that although institutions often assist the youth in pursuing some sort of education or vocational training, the support stops as soon as they graduate.  In Ethiopia, the biggest challenge for young people is finding employment.  While young people with family support often have the option of staying with their parents while looking for a good job, orphaned youth must enter the job market immediately so that they can support themselves.  Families also function as a job search and referral system in a place where social connections are the key to getting a good job.  This lack of material and social support leads orphaned youth to take jobs that they are over-qualified for, jobs with low wages and little opportunity of advancement.

“We suffer long periods of time without any finances…Students who graduated with fewer qualifications and lower grades secure better employment.  We graduate with honors and do not get a job at all.  You can only explain this by people having contacts: relatives, families, etc., and we do not have that.”

For many of the participants in these interviews, telling their stories can be cathartic.  The four girls that Mikiyas and I interviewed at Kidane Mehret orphanage were disappointed that we would not be meeting again.  This was the first time anyone had asked them about their experience or showed an interest in how the transition was affecting them emotionally.  The group from L’Esperance meets weekly for fellowship.  They said that they discuss the challenges they face and lean on each other for support.

I am glad that IOFA’s interview process gives some of these youth the opportunity to process and reflect on their experience, as well as assurance that people do care about them and want to make the experience better for youth aging out of care.


Sarah Lyn Jones
Transitions Initiative Intern

Greetings from Addis Ababa!

July 12, 2013

It has now been two weeks since I arrived in Addis, and already I have learned much about the situation of orphans and vulnerable children in Ethiopia, as well as the obstacles they face in transitioning out of care and reintegrating into the outside community. After many long conversations and meetings with various NGOs and care institutions here, this is the general picture of the future of those children growing up in care institutions:

First, most institutions in Addis are orphanages whose main goal is international adoption for their children. As they grow older, their chances of adoption grow slim. Many of the orphanages that focus on adoption do not have plans for children who have grown too old for adoption, and the children keep hoping and dreaming that they will leave Ethiopia one day. Some care institutions move children to group homes after a certain age, or try to reintegrate them with their extended families.

Some care institutions are not interested in adoption. These institutions can be private and well-funded (like Selam Children’s Villages) or public institutions (like Kolfe and Kechene orphan homes). The private institutions usually have an organized plan for transition and reintegration, including gradual transitions to independent living, scholarships for university, vocational training, etc. The public institutions are overpopulated and understaffed, and often do not have the funding or the manpower to thoroughly address the issues that these children will face outside of the only home they have ever known.

The challenges that these children will face when they age out of care are many. The biggest challenge seems to be the culture shock that they encounter as soon as they leave the institution. Many of these children have been isolated in these care institutions for their entire lives. They often do not have the social skills necessary for community life in Ethiopia, which is a different culture than the in which they grew up; this seems to be especially true for young people from large institutions that have a more dormitory living arrangements. Some institutions work with a village model, raising the children in homes of 8-10 that effectively function as family units. Still, the children in these village-based organizations have very little contact with the surrounding communities and have developed a certain set of social and cultural skills that allowed them to function within the institution but not outside. Without social and cultural education, these young people often find it challenging to integrate themselves into the city of Addis Ababa.

A complementary challenge to transition comes from Ethiopian community-based culture itself. Most children in Addis grow up in a community in which their family is established. They often do not move far from that community, even when they reach adulthood. People do not move to new neighborhoods and communities like we do in the United States. Young people leaving care must find homes in established communities and they are often viewed as invaders. Because no one knows who they are or much about their background, the community often does not trust or engage with these young people. Being an orphan or an unsupported youth in Ethiopia also carries its own stigma—they are often seen as delinquents, which creates another barrier to community integration. In a culture and society so focused on communal interaction, this kind of social isolation can be psychologically and emotionally devastating.



The social and cultural challenges that these young people face are difficult enough, but often added to this burden is lack of support in securing basic needs. Some youth attend university, some get vocational training. The quality of education is variable, depending on not only an individual’s academic performance but also on how much financial support they get from their institution. Because Addis attracts many people from all regions of Ethiopia and because the youth are the fastest growing population in Ethiopia, there is a shortage of good jobs. Many young people cannot get a job for at least a year after graduating from college. If and when young people do find work, they often do not make enough to support themselves. It is common for young people to live with their parents after they have graduated from university or vocational school until they get married—a good 2-6 years. Without the support of a family system to fall back on, many orphaned and unsupported youth are forced to take job opportunities that others pass up—jobs that are low-paying. Some institutions do support their former residents by giving them housing and food allowance, but these are in the minority.

Fortunately, the Ethiopian government is finally realizing that there is a service gap in reintegration and transition support. Along with moving away from the traditional dormitory/orphanage model of care for unsupported or orphaned children, the government is trying to incorporate models of care that mimic community and village life. UNICEF Ethiopia is also collaborating with Kolfe and Kechene orphanages in Addis on reintegration education and support programs, though the funding and results of their efforts are still unclear.

All of this information has come from administrative staff of various NGOs and care institutions here in Addis Ababa. I am very interested to hear from those individuals who have transitioned into the city of Addis about their own experiences, to hear their own individual stories.

If you are interested in learning about the organizations with which IOFA will be working with this summer, here is a list. Each is doing great work and deserves to be known.

Women In Self Employment (WISE)
Selam Children’s Village
AHOPE Ethiopia
Children’s Heaven
The Organization for Rehabilitation and Development in Amhara (ORDA)
The Italian Center for Children’s Aid (CIAI)
ReTrak
Kingdom Vision International
Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture in Ethiopia (RCVTE)

Sarah Lyn Jones
Transitions Initiative InternPhoto 1: AHOPE for Kids
Photo 2: ReTrak Vocational Training Program

Welcome to Addis Ababa, Sarah!

July 4, 2013

After finishing my undergraduate degree, I had the incredible opportunity to live and work in South India, teaching girls and young women conversational English and volunteering at different women’s organizations.  It was there that I fell in love with youth-centered service work, and am now pursuing my Masters in Social Work at the University of Chicago, focusing on international social work.  After graduating, I hope to find work with an internationally-focused organization that invests in, supports, and empowers vulnerable youth and young adults around the world. 

I am excited to start my work as the Transitions Initiative Intern with IOFA!  This summer, I will be in Addis Ababa doing research on the experience of adolescents who have left institutional care (orphanages, group homes, etc.) to make their own way in the world.  Youth and young adults who lack the support of family networks face severe challenges in transitioning to adulthood, and are much more vulnerable to the problems of exploitation, poverty, and violence.  Throughout the next two months, I will be working with local organizations to identify and interview individuals who grew up without traditional family support and record their transition stories.

I have been in Addis for only 10 days, but am already falling in love with the city and its people.  As I meet with organizational directors, humanitarian workers, and children at group homes/orphanages, I am learning much about the needs of these youth and am energized and inspired to continue the amazing work that IOFA does with the Transitions Initiative. 

Sarah Lyn Jones

Transitions Initiative Intern

30 Young People Graduate from Project Prepare!

The Project Prepare team is pleased to announce that two of the pilot sites, Children's Heaven and AHOPE for Children, have successfully completed IOFA’s 6-week life skills curriculum for orphaned youth in the process of aging out of care.

Since the last time we blogged, participants have discussed a wide variety of topics including family planning, protection against sexual assault, and how to say no to drugs. These classes further highlighted the importance of Project Prepare’s curriculum as it was the first time many of the kids thought about when they would be ready to have a family, identified their own comfort levels within a relationship, and learned about the various types of drugs that existed aside from Khat, a locally grown and legal street drug.

The class ended this week with a module on planning for the future, specifically addressing how to attain higher education. Participants were asked to identify individuals in their own lives that have attended university or vocational training. For many of them, they could only name staff members at their organization or peers within the class who have been able to achieve such a level of education. Students then listed qualities that made these individuals successful not only in school, but in life. Kids identified qualities such as being a hard-worker as one of the most important. Thereafter, participants were asked what career path they would like to choose for their future. Some of the many answers included doctor, pilot, business owner, social worker, and soccer player. While many participants could quickly identify their future dreams and goals, it was the first time they were asked to think about what it would take to achieve their dreams. “The class was very helpful and practical,” said one participant.

To end the curriculum, students were presented with a certificate of completion to be presented as part of their future portfolios. Both pilot sites recognized and thanked IOFA for providing instruction to facilitate the class. They hope to continue and build on the conversation that the class started. As one AHOPE youth mentor explained, “the life skills curriculum was very helpful and opened the door to talk to the kids about important issues. However, learning these skills is something that we hope to continue to give the boys as they move into the transitional house.” AHOPE also plans on implementing IOFA’s curriculum for the girls in the near future.

IOFA would like to thank the staff and youth allies at AHOPE and Children’s Heaven for their cooperation and diligent work to implement the first Project Prepare curriculum for Ethiopia! Thank you!

Amharic Word of the Week:

Chigrellum (shig rey lum)- No problem 

Youth Aging Out of Care in Ethiopia Not Prepared

When preparing for the focus groups to begin in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Nikel Bailey and Carly Loehrke searched for individuals to work as translators. IOFA believed it was critical to have translators with social work backgrounds provide English-to-Amharic interpretation for the youth and adolescents who participated.

Mikiyas Feyissa was one such translator. He received his Bachelors of Arts degree in Business Management from Haramaya University. In the past, he has worked as the Cooperative Affairs Officer and as the Research & Communications Officer for the Organization for Women in Self Employment (WISE). Mikiyas is currently the Program Manager for Livelihood and Capacity Building at the Organization for Child Development and Transformation (CHADET) located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

It is with this experience that we asked Mikiyas to be a guest blogger for IOFA this week. Below, he shares some insights into this vulnerable population:

With a total population of over 73.9 million, Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa after Nigeria. Children below the age of 18 make up fifty five percent of the population (CSA, 2007). As of 2009, it was estimated that about 5,459,139 orphans live in Ethiopia, of whom 855,720 are orphaned due to HIV/AIDS[1]. The existence of orphanages and community support in Ethiopia has been instrumental in contributing to the provision of basic services and life skills for some of these children. After the youth leave the orphanages and community support systems, they become vulnerable due to the lack of structured support in the country for youth who leave care.

I was able to discuss these issues with youth during a focus group discussion I co-facilitated for a study conducted by IOFA in Ethiopia. The opportunity helped me to realize that youth who aged out of care were endangered when they faced the cold world by themselves. Even those who are currently in care developed a fear for the time when they would age out of care. The youth even said that they will ‘beg’ if the service provided halts. The orphaned youth said that they are not yet prepared for and acquainted with the process and problems associated with aging out. They have also illustrated that they are not equipped to live independently and are uncertain of where and how they will maintain their livelihoods when they leave care, which clearly shows their vulnerability to sexual and labor exploitation.

The issue calls for a consolidated Transitions Support system in the country which would provide wholesome skills and support for youth who have just left care and for those who are about to leave care. The design of this intervention could partly include, but is not limited to: provision of a practical life skills training that will help the youth become bold enough to face the intimidating outside world, a mechanism where the youth could support each other in harsh times, a marketable vocational skills and business training for employment and self-employment, and the formation of a referral network to link youth to benefits.

Mikiyas Feyissa
Program Manager for Livelihood and Capacity Building
Organization for Child Development and Transformation (CHADET)

[1] Standard Service Delivery Guidelines, for Orphan and Vulnerable Children’s Care and Support Programs, February 2010,Federal Democratic republic of Ethiopia, Ministry of Women’s Affairs

"No One is Doing Anything"

From Nikel Bailey, IOFA Program Development Intern:

Living in Addis Kidan Guesthouse in Ethiopia has been just as much of a learning experience as working in the field. Every week new people have moved into the house. Whenever a new person moves in, we are asked the same question: “What brings you to Ethiopia?” It has surprised me that everyone is doing some sort of work with orphaned youth in Addis. However, they are often working only with small and young children. When I explain to them what I am doing here in regards to the Transitions Initiative they often respond by saying:

· “Wow…this is fantastic…we worry about what will happen to these youth as they get older.”

· “Where will they go?”

· “Who will help them when they are too old to stay at the orphanage that I volunteer at?”

This feedback encourages me to learn as much as possible about the youth transitioning into adulthood here in Addis. As IOFA visits different organizations and we ask if anyone is focusing on this group of youth, we are consistently told:

"No one is doing anything."

The organizations are eager to establish some sort of center, referral program or network for this population. This is exactly what IOFA’s Transitions Initiative intends to do.

In the upcoming weeks, IOFA will conduct focus groups with youth who have left care or are about to leave care. Several organizations have referred youth to participate. We have translators that have experience in the social work field confirmed to assist throughout the focus groups. I am excited to hear the youth’s personal stories of how life is/was like for them once they left the care of an orphanage and what would have helped them during that transition. It is critical that the voices of youth are heard and that IOFA integrates this feedback and ideas directly into development of the the Transitions Initiative.

Visit IOFA-Talk soon to hear about the experiences of young people aging out care in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

IOFA in Ethiopia: Support for Youth Aging out of Alternative Care Severely Lacking

With the overwhelming support from grassroots organizations in Ethiopia for IOFA's Transitions Initiative, the past week in Addis Ababa has been a successful one. Non-governmental organizations across missions are recognizing that the transitional period between adolescence and adulthood is one of the most critical stages in a young person’s life, particularly for those young people who have lived most of their lives in orphanages or other forms of institutionalized care. Many of our initial conversations, however, with organizations on the ground, confirm that the amount of support available to these youth is severely lacking. We met this week with Executive Director of Kingdom Vision International, Eyob Kolcha, to hear firsthand the concern about youth leaving care with little or no support. Mr. Kolcha stated the following:

"What are these youths to do? We rescue them when they are young so that they can know love and care, so that they have shelter and food. But when they grow up, where does our attention go? How do we expect them to survive on their own when we have made them so dependent? We can do better. We must do better. This Transition Initiative is where we can start together."

Eyob is right. We can do better and we must do better. In the upcoming weeks, as we continue our work and research in Addis Ababa, we will focus specifically on knowing how we can do better and building the Transitions Initiative around the answers to that question.

Next, IOFA will be conducting focus groups with young people who are about to leave care and who have already left care and are living on their own. We will learn about their experiences and hear about their proposed solutions. IOFA's Transitions Initiative Ethiopia is taking shape!

More to come.

Youth Leaving Institutions: Trafficking and Exploitation

In IOFA’s research conducted with 12 Phnom Penh anti-trafficking non-governmental organizations in the summer of 2010, the risk factors of a) poverty, b) prior experience with interpersonal violence, and c) isolation were identified as primary risk factors for trafficking and exploitation. During March 2011, focus groups held with youth who had left orphanage care in Phnom Penh showed highly disproportionate experiences of all three risk factors.

1. Poverty

Nearly all post-care youth interviewed live on less than $1 a day, and many shoulder the responsibility of caring for others while they work exploitative, physically harmful jobs.

One young man described his typical work day beginning at 4 am, and continuing until 9 pm. His feet were swollen and covered in infected sores, from serving in a restaurant. He explains that he first began this job working only for food, until the management trusted him enough to pay him about $30 a month.

Another young man finds himself working 84 hours a week in a paper mill, from 6 pm to 6 am. He, too, is paid $30 a month – ten of which is withheld by his employer for the mandatory sleeping arrangements, a raised wooden platform within the paper mill shared with dozens of other mill employees.

2. History of interpersonal violence

Although the youth were not asked about experiences prior to their leaving orphanage care, many youth chose to share the heart-breaking abuses they had endured within orphanage care or at the hands of their families as children. Several youth reported forced labor and physical violence from the orphanage staff. One young woman reported physical abuse so severe in the orphanage that she ran away, and sought work in restaurants for food. One restaurant took her in – but would not let her leave. There, she was forced to work in their kitchen, and was deprived of both food and pay. After several months of forced labor, she managed to run away again, returning to her home town and begging neighbors to find her extended family to help her, before she was forced to return to the restaurant. Days later, her great aunt came to the restaurant and rescued her from her traffickers.

3. Isolation

Nearly all of the youth interviewed reported extreme isolation, and shared the belief that their communities “hate” them. They expressed deep distress, stating that “if I take a wrong turn, no one will be there to correct me.” The youth reported unanimously that they “have no friends.”

Children in government orphanages are given the surname Rorth, which means “belonging to the

government” in Khmer[1] - a designation that predisposes care leavers for social isolation from their communities. Explained the youth, in their words:

— “They [society] treat us like we are not human.”

— “Everyone is ready to tell me I am lazy.”

— “I feel hopeless and outside of society.”

That this population is at a uniquely high risk for trafficking is reasonably intuitive; children in orphanage care, particularly those who interact with many cycles of volunteer caregivers, are at an exponentially increased risk of forming disorganized attachments[2]^,[3], a developmental problem that prevents them from forming positive social relationships with others. This may manifest itself in the inability to form protective community relationships (shown to prevent trafficking)[4] or, conversely, in indiscriminate affection and trust to everyone[5], including traffickers. Strict authoritarian childcare structures in orphanages preclude youth from developing safe independence and responsibility[6]^,[7],[8]. Indeed, a 2007 BBC report described orphanages as “magnets” for traffickers[9].

Perhaps care-leavers are overlooked as a vulnerable population because they are generally educated. However, the youth also reported extreme psychological distress, uncontrollable emotions, and paralyzing fear. Their education is useless without the social skills and communities necessary to use it. A third of Phnom Penh orphanages openly admitted they provide no support whatsoever to youth who leave their care, in a large-scale 2007 study[10]. With an estimated 10,000 children in orphanage care in Cambodia –35% of whom are older than 15⁹ – and a recent, rapid growth of orphanages around the country (up 67% between 2005 and 2008)[11], this problem will only get bigger.

Thanks for reading, and please stay tuned for future blogs! Better yet - follow our blog by signing up on the lower left hand side of your screen!

Susan Rosas

Transitions Initiative Program Manager

---

[1] Hyland, Anne. 2009, March 12. “It Takes a Village: An American Heiress Aims to Rescue Cambodia by Giving Orphans a Family.” The Wallstreet Journal.

[2] Richter, L. and A. Norman (2007). AIDS orphan tourism: A threat to young children in residential care. Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies 5 (3): 217-229.

[3]Dozier, M. and J. Brick (2007). Changing caregivers: Coping with early adversity. Psychiatric Annals, 37, 411-415.

[4] Sampson, R., Raudenbush, S, & Earls, F. (1997). Neighborhoods and Violent Crime: A Multilevel Study of Collective Efficacy. Science (277), pp. 918-924.

[5] Zeanah, C., Smyke, A., Koga, S., and Carlson, E. (2005). Attachment in institutionalized and community children in Romania. Child Development,76(5):1015-1028.

[6] Wolff, Peter and Gebremeskel Fesseha. 1998. “The Orphans of Eritrea: Are Orphanages Part of the Problem or Part of the Solution?” Am J Psychiatry 155(10):1319-1324.

[7] Cline, F. 1979. “Lack of Attachment in Children.” Nurse Pract 4(35):45

[8] Kaler, S.R. and B.J. Freeman. 1994. “Analysis of Environemntal Deprivation: Cognitive and Social Development in Romanian Orphans.” J Child Psychol Psychiatry 35: 769-781.

[9] Mutch, Thembi (2007). Sex Lies and Audio Tape. British Journalism Review 18(September): 61-65

[10] Project Sky, ICC (unpublished)

[11] Friends International 2010 - http://www.friends-international.org/ourprojects/myth-realities.asp

IOFA's research featured in PenhPal

IOFA was asked to submit an article to the Cambodian online news source, PenhPal, to highlight our recent research. Visit http://www.penhpal.com/ngos/cambodian-youth-leaving-orphanage-care/. We are excited about and committed to building awareness on this issue - please share the link and help us in our efforts.

Susan Rosas
Program Development Intern

In the Field: Understanding the Extreme Vulnerability of Youth Leaving Orphanages in Cambodia







In their words: Youth describe their transition from orphanage care

IOFA determined last summer that youth still in orphanage care in and around Phnom Penh, Cambodia presented “risk factors” that suggested they would be vulnerable to exploitation, violence, drug use, and other dangerous trajectories upon their exit from care. This March, we returned to Cambodia to find youth and young adults who had already left orphanage care. We aimed to learn about their experiences and begin to understand general trajectories for care leavers, to determine whether they are indeed vulnerable, and if so, what kinds of services might support them.

The following series of blog entries will describe trends we observed among youth who leave care, based on focus groups and individual interviews held with 27 care leavers, aged 14 to 29. Each of the most prominent trends will be detailed in future entries:

Severed family connections

Exploitation and trafficking

Extreme poverty and homelessness

The cycle of dependency

Severe emotional distress

Drug addiction

The impact of institutionalization and options for change

It has been a very busy, emotionally draining trip. We are honored that so many youth were willing to share their experiences with us, and feel confident that as we build awareness about the dangerous outcomes of institutionalizing children, that those working in child welfare may begin to assess their practices and consider ways in which they may protect children and youth from such trajectories.

In the meantime, we are collaborating with youth and partner agencies in Cambodia to design the desperately needed transitional services, and are diligently fund raising to ensure we can implement these emergency services as soon as possible.

Youth who leave orphanage care are forgotten. They have been told by foreign volunteers that they will be doctors if they work hard enough, sponsors from afar don’t know that 72%* of institutionalized children and youth in Cambodia have living parents who were simply too poor to care for them. We promised them better lives, and we have merely delayed and exacerbated their vulnerability.

Please stay tuned and share our future blogs. With your help, we can bring this tragic problem to light – change is feasible, and IOFA is motivated to initiate it.

- Susan Rosas, Program Development Intern

*Worley, Mark. “In Orphanages, Only 28% Are Parentless.” The Cambodia Daily. March 21, 2011.

Direct youth participation in program design

Hello from IOFA's new intern!

I’d like to introduce myself as the new intern at IOFA! I’m so excited to see IOFA’s work and to participate in their innovation. My interest in serving vulnerable adolescents has developed over a number of life experiences and jobs – perhaps most importantly, my family adopted internationally, so I have always been very connected to international child welfare issues and interested in child welfare systems, both locally and abroad. Work has carried me from helping to transition youth to independence from foster care in Miami and the Bronx – which exposed me to trends and terrifying prospects faced by youth in American foster care – to working in international adoption in New York. It was this experience at an adoption agency that inspired me to wonder, then research, and then worry fervently, “What happens to the youth in alternative care internationally who are not adopted? How do they fare?” I traveled to Kenya with these questions, working with adolescents “aging out” of orphanage care in rural Ngong, and was deeply troubled by the barriers and dangers they faced, and frustrated by the dearth of published research and support provided to this population. I enrolled at the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago, and have just returned from Cambodia researching this very issue, about which I have become so impassioned. It is clear to me that adolescents face unique and complex issues that so few social service agencies are equipped to address, and I am thrilled to find IOFA as a tailored expert in protecting this population from trafficking and exploitation. I am excited to be a part of IOFA’s continually expanding project base both domestically and internationally, as the support to vulnerable adolescents is such an important need with such little international attention. I’m sure I’ll be back soon with updates – thanks for reading!

Susan Rosas