Peer-reviewed article
What is Known About the Numbers, Experiences and Outcomes of Young People Transitioning from Out-of-home Care in Indonesia?
Rangga Radityaputra, Philip Mendes, Susan Baidawi ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This article reviews existing evidence about young people leaving out-of-home care in Indonesia, a group recognised internationally as vulnerable. The study notes that most research on care leavers comes from wealthy countries, and little is known about their experiences in Indonesia where different cultural and policy contexts apply. The Indonesian government has been promoting deinstitutionalisation and family-based care, but there is limited research on outcomes for young people transitioning out of care. The article uses grey literature and reports to examine what is currently known about the numbers, experiences and outcomes of Indonesian care leavers.
Key points
- Care leavers are widely recognised internationally as a vulnerable group often subject to disadvantage
- Most studies on care leavers have been completed in affluent Global North countries with few reports from Global South settings
- Previous literature on Indonesian children in out-of-home care highlights poor quality of care and adverse experiences of institutionalisation
- The Government of Indonesia has recently promoted deinstitutionalisation and family-based alternative care
- Young people leaving out-of-home care in Indonesia are likely to have poor life outcomes but remain understudied
Limitations
This is a policy briefing that critically reviews existing grey literature and reports rather than presenting new primary data or research findings. It cannot provide direct evidence about actual outcomes or detailed experiences of care leavers in Indonesia.
Abstract
Young people transitioning from out-of-home care (OOHC), commonly known as care leavers, are widely recognised internationally as a vulnerable group often subject to disadvantage. Yet, most studies of their pathways and outcomes to date have been completed in affluent Global North countries, and there have been relatively few reports on their experiences in Global South locations where different political, legislative, cultural and religious contexts exist. The particular attention of this article is on the Republic of Indonesia. Previous literature regarding children and young people in OOHC in Indonesia highlighted the poor quality of care within OOHC institutions and their adverse experiences of institutionalisation. In recent years, the Government of Indonesia has encouraged deinstitutionalisation by preventing family separation, promoting family-based alternative care and only utilising residential care as a last resort for child care. Nevertheless, little scholarly attention and studies have been given to researching young people leaving OOHC, who are likely to have poor life outcomes. Utilising existing grey government and non-government literature and reports, this policy briefing critically examines what is known about the numbers, experiences and outcomes of young people transitioning from OOHC in Indonesia.