Nearly 6 of about 70 thousand people who used to stay in children’s homes, foster care homes or residential education institutions turn 18 every year. Part of them, wanting to continue their education, stay in foster care families until they turn 25. Other resolve to start an independent life. But when such people leave children’s homes or their foster care families they often find it difficult to handle basic issues: to do shopping, to deal with financial matters or to cook. They are also at higher risk of homelessness, unemployment, conflicts with the law. That is why, the state support in their emancipation process is vital.
With the Act on Family Support and Foster Care System (effective since 1 January 2012), the state changed its principles of supporting the ones striving for independence. NIK stands in a position, though, that the new system is ineffective. A large group of people who leave children’s homes or foster care families do not become independent but switch one form of support into another: they start to use welfare care and unemployment benefits.
From among a thousand people who tried to live on their own, 23 percent used social welfare allowances, 31 percent registered in county job centres, 14 percent interrupted the emancipation process and another 14 percent came back to their pathological environment, from which they had been taken under foster care before.
Financial matters
The NIK audit showed that the whole state support for adult foster children in practice comes down mainly to ad hoc, minimum financial aid. It is alarming, particularly because such people often treat financial benefits as an objective, not as an element of the emancipation process. A young person who leaves the children’s home or a foster family is entitled to the following allowances:
- one-off installation allowance of about PLN 1500 and emancipation allowance from PLN 1650 to PLN 6600 (depending on the period under foster care) and
- PLN 500 per month for continuing education.
In practice, it means that for a young person who wants to learn and has not taken up a job yet, the monthly allowance of PLN 500 has be enough to pay for everything: rent, food and education.
Unsuccessful mission of emancipation custodians
One year before turning 18, the person undergoing the emancipation process should appoint his or her emancipation custodian. The problem is, though, that the law specifies neither tasks, nor qualifications, nor competencies of candidates for emancipation custodians.
Employees of family support centres agree: there are too few competent, trained emancipation custodians. Currently the best candidates are caregivers from non-kin foster families. However, the NIK audit shows that in the audited period the real emancipation custodians usually were accidental persons - without professional qualifications and without the possibility of providing real support to such a person in his or her emancipation process. The results of the survey conducted by NIK in the family support centres show that kin caregivers usually do not get too much involved in the process of making the foster child independent. They rather focus on financial benefits of such support. In childhood care and education institutions it often happens that the child’s teacher becomes his or her caregiver. But the problem is that teachers have to take care of other children in their job and hence cannot commit themselves to the care of one particular child.
Therefore, in most cases the role of caregivers - whether kin or non-kin - comes down to providing opinions of some documents related to the child. It also happens that those ”paper caregivers” give up the child care following first problems with that young person. On the other hand, NIK points out that the caregivers do not get any money for their support. But the key issue with the emancipation custodians is that they are not given any rights by the state to do at least some of their tasks or provide real support to foster children. They cannot even learn how the child manages at school and if he or she pays bills regularly.
Emancipation programme - just a formality
At the latest one month before coming of age, the foster child should write down - together with his or her caregiver - the Individual Emancipation Programme. By assumption it should be a life road map of that young person, defining, for instance, how he or she may gain professional qualifications, take up a job, find a decent place to live in. The NIK audit revealed that the plans are nothing but a formality needed to get financial aid. ¼ of foster children did not comply with the declarations made in the plans. They often interrupted their education or changed schools. Part of them, having received financial aid, stopped to implement the programme and broke off contacts with the support centres.
No supervision allowed
The regional support centres have no tools to supervise the emancipation process. The foster children do not have to account for the financial aid they received or show evidence that they used the money properly. Additionally, NIK points out that due to the absence of effective provisions in that matter, the fate of foster children after they leave children’s homes or foster care families may not be monitored. The only aspect which is monitored is whether they continue education (they have to submit confirmations of that fact).
The emancipated persons usually used the financial support to continue education. They were even more eager to do so because their right to such aid was unconditional and inviolable: irrespective of the education results or even the attendance of classes. In half of the audited centres it was highlighted that such approach made people simulate school attendance in order to get financial benefits. The County Family Support Centres may not stop paying allowances under any circumstances. Even if a person’s attendance is alarmingly low. In case a foster child’s name is removed from the students’ list, that person usually enrols in another school to get the allowance.
Unemployed and homeless
Finding a job was the biggest challenge for adult foster children. All the family support centres did was refer the job searchers to job centres at the county level. Sadly, the majority of such people find it extremely difficult to find a job, mainly due to low education degree, short job seniority or the lack of any professional experience.
According to the Foster Care Act, adult foster children are entitled to state support in their search for a flat. It does not specify precisely what the support should consist in, though. NIK stands in a position that making counties responsible for that is not a good idea because they do not have such capacity as municipalities in terms of allocation of council flats. The support of County Family Support Centres boils down to writing a support letter to municipality offices. And the waiting time for a flat may be from a few months to several years (depending on the municipality). The audit revealed one case where foster children were sent - due to insufficient number of flats - to homeless shelters.
NIK points out that a very good, though rarely used, solution is to send young persons to protected flats where they may stay until they get a council flat. With that solution such people are not only provided with decent living conditions but also learn how to live on their own. In 2012, 107 emancipated foster children from 25 audited centres lived in protected flats and in 2013 there were already 163 of them.
Prolonged foster care?
Young people may also choose to prolong foster care up to 25 years of age. There is just one condition - they have to continue education. In all the audited centres, after the Foster Care Act came into force, the percentage of adult foster children who did not change their place of living, went up considerably (nearly 13 percent increase from 2012 to 2013). The reasons included first of all problems with finding a job or a flat but also higher financial benefits in case they choose to stay in foster care.
NIK’s recommendations
In the light of the NIK audit it becomes clear that a fully-fledged system is needed where adult foster children would receive financial, emotional and social support. Therefore, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy should take urgent efforts, including the following:
- comprehensive assessment of adult foster children covering their personal, material and family situation, also their predispositions as well as consultations with a psychologist and/ or professional advisor, as a basis to plan his or her individual emancipation process;
- special courses and training programmes (while in foster care), preparing young people for emancipation;
- proper psychological and social support of persons coming from foster care families or children’s homes (e.g. by setting up support groups);
- specifying tasks of the emancipation custodian and providing proper conditions for his or her work.
