9 Care leavers in the Italian child protection system: from action research to advocacy of more inclusive policies and relationships
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Federico Zullo
Abstract
Every year, about 3,000 young people in Italy exit the child protection system and must rapidly achieve independence, often without adequate preparation. This chapter discusses the developments in Italy since 2010 in this context.
Initially, a group of care leavers envisioned active involvement and advocacy as strategies to amplify their voices and secure meaningful responses from institutions. This led to the founding of the Agevolando Association in 2010, aimed at supporting young people leaving care by enhancing their autonomy, well-being, and active participation.
In 2014, Agevolando established the Care Leavers’ Network (CLN), an informal network designed to boost the involvement and citizenship of care leavers. The CLN adopted focus groups as the primary tool for advocacy, focusing on developing recommendations for professionals, institutions and the community. This chapter highlights significant outcomes of the network’s activities, showcasing how hundreds of young people contributed to creating recommendations and drawing unprecedented attention to the challenges faced by those leaving care in Italy.
The focus groups facilitated direct interaction between care leavers and decision-makers at political and technical levels. They proved effective in fostering relationships among care leavers across Italy, encouraging dialogue with policy makers, and enabling social workers to engage through lectures led by care leavers themselves.
Abstract
Every year, about 3,000 young people in Italy exit the child protection system and must rapidly achieve independence, often without adequate preparation. This chapter discusses the developments in Italy since 2010 in this context.
Initially, a group of care leavers envisioned active involvement and advocacy as strategies to amplify their voices and secure meaningful responses from institutions. This led to the founding of the Agevolando Association in 2010, aimed at supporting young people leaving care by enhancing their autonomy, well-being, and active participation.
In 2014, Agevolando established the Care Leavers’ Network (CLN), an informal network designed to boost the involvement and citizenship of care leavers. The CLN adopted focus groups as the primary tool for advocacy, focusing on developing recommendations for professionals, institutions and the community. This chapter highlights significant outcomes of the network’s activities, showcasing how hundreds of young people contributed to creating recommendations and drawing unprecedented attention to the challenges faced by those leaving care in Italy.
The focus groups facilitated direct interaction between care leavers and decision-makers at political and technical levels. They proved effective in fostering relationships among care leavers across Italy, encouraging dialogue with policy makers, and enabling social workers to engage through lectures led by care leavers themselves.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents ix
- List of figures and tables xi
- Notes on contributors xii
- Introduction 1
-
Sense and Sensibility as epistemology for social work
- Reflections on the possibilities and challenges offered by a social model of protecting children 19
- The virtuous cycle of using supportive measures to reduce red tape and meet families’ needs 35
- The potential of practice research to advance a framework for protective support and supportive protection (PS-SP) with children, young people and families 51
- Rethinking the concept of institutionalisation in child protection 69
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Sense and Sensibility as practice
- Towards a collaborative and innovative practice improvement paradigm in child protection? 93
- Participative and Transformative Evaluation: children, families and practitioners as co-researchers through ‘reflective thinking’ processes 114
- Community mapping as a participative tool to enhance informal social support: possible pathways for practitioners 134
- The training of trainers as a way to share sense and sensibility in the P.I.P.P.I. programme 156
- Care leavers in the Italian child protection system: from action research to advocacy of more inclusive policies and relationships 174
- A mind for learning and innovation 191
- Communication as the backbone of intervention with group programmes in the child protection system: exploring challenges and tools 214
- Epilogue 231
- Index 234
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents ix
- List of figures and tables xi
- Notes on contributors xii
- Introduction 1
-
Sense and Sensibility as epistemology for social work
- Reflections on the possibilities and challenges offered by a social model of protecting children 19
- The virtuous cycle of using supportive measures to reduce red tape and meet families’ needs 35
- The potential of practice research to advance a framework for protective support and supportive protection (PS-SP) with children, young people and families 51
- Rethinking the concept of institutionalisation in child protection 69
-
Sense and Sensibility as practice
- Towards a collaborative and innovative practice improvement paradigm in child protection? 93
- Participative and Transformative Evaluation: children, families and practitioners as co-researchers through ‘reflective thinking’ processes 114
- Community mapping as a participative tool to enhance informal social support: possible pathways for practitioners 134
- The training of trainers as a way to share sense and sensibility in the P.I.P.P.I. programme 156
- Care leavers in the Italian child protection system: from action research to advocacy of more inclusive policies and relationships 174
- A mind for learning and innovation 191
- Communication as the backbone of intervention with group programmes in the child protection system: exploring challenges and tools 214
- Epilogue 231
- Index 234
