| dc.description.abstract | The development of females in institutional care into self-reliant, self-sufficient, and
contributing members of society, is crucial. Apart from ensuring a smooth transition into their
independence, it is also a fulfilment of their rights, a positive step towards the realization of
the sustainable development of their communities and the nation at large. Hitherto, upon
release from residential care institutions, female care leavers face many problems, and a
number of authors argue that they are among the most vulnerable groups in society. The
problems they face include early motherhood, sexual exploitation, poverty, poor health, and
chronic social exclusion and discrimination. Yet, gaps still exist in the current literature on the
aftercare experiences and coping strategies of female care leavers in Zimbabwe. Knowledge
of their aftercare experiences is crucial for the evaluation and review of existing child policies
and practices on care leaving. This study, therefore, sought to explore female care leavers’
aftercare experiences in their independent life in Zimbabwe. The objectives were thus to
establish female care-leavers’ views about their aftercare experiences, to determine how
prepared they were for life aftercare, to understand how they have responded to the challenges
they encountered out of care, and to suggest ways to empower them for life after care. A
constructivist grounded theory design was used to explore the aftercare of female care leavers.
A triangulation of in-depth interviews with six female care leavers and three key informants
was employed, giving a sample size of nine. The key informants who backed the female care
leavers’ participants consisted of a social worker, a care giver, and one official working for a
care leavers’ network. Participants were purposively sampled for the study. Member checking,
prolonged engagement with participants, and keeping an audit trail were done to increase
rigor and trustworthiness of this study. The generated data were analysed thematically using
the three stages of constructivist grounded theory. The study revealed incomplete preparation
for life after care, impersonal transitional pathways, challenging lived experiences, and
unclear and unsustainable surviving strategies. This study concludes that the preparation that
female care leavers are receiving for life aftercare is incomplete. They lack the mentorship
aspect, and the start-up packs available to them are inconsistent. The transitional pathways
they took out of care made them feel detached, rejected, abandoned, and lonely when they aged
out. Upon leaving care, both challenges and opportunities were reported, but the former
outweighed the latter. This study recommends that female care leavers actively participate in
processes that shapes their future. An alternative care policy addressing the needs of children
during and beyond care, outlining mechanisms of support in life aftercare, should be put in
place. Preparation for life after care should be gender-sensitive. Gender-sensitive social
support networks should be strengthened, and communities should be sensitized to reduce the
stigma and discrimination of female care leavers. Traditional methods of child care should be
revived to preserve ubuntu. Further studies should be done, a longitudinal one to establish the
state of the study participants over time, and a comparative one to explore the experiences of
male care leavers. This study contributes to knowledge through a proposed model, ‘The
Continuum of Care Benchmarking Model for Female Care leavers.’ The model focuses on the
specific requirements of individual female care leavers in preparation for life aftercare. It
acknowledges the distinct challenges and multiple vulnerabilities faced by this group, and
proposes gender-sensitive support systems that empower and equip them with skills and
resources for successful aftercare life. The model acknowledges the intersectionality theory
and the systems theory in ensuring that no female care leaver is left behind, and that a
multisectoral approach is adopted respectively. It is, therefore, a yardstick that can be tailored
to suit individual female care leavers’ needs at different stages in their transitioning journey | en_US |
