Preparation for leaving care

Children of the Andes' partner Fundación Formación d'Futuros (FFF) was established in 2003 in response to the total lack of services for children and young people who have spent extensive periods or their whole lives in institutional care in Colombia. Since then FFF has developed a comprehensive pre-leaving and leaving care programme, consisting of:

Preparation for leaving care: FFF helps children still in institutional care to start preparing for when they have to leave with their "Leaving Care Resource Centre". This comprises a welcoming drop-in centre and a comprehensive series of workshops on issues such as budgeting, communication skills, health & sexuality, and employment.

Residential support for the most vulnerable care leavers: FFF's Programme offers educational, vocational and emotional support to care leavers in the transition from institutional care to independent living, enabling care leavers to develop the life skills they need to lead happy, healthy and productive lives.

FFF also works hard to promote the development of leaving care services at a local and national level, by liaising closely with the Colombian Social Services (ICBF) on issues related to leaving care and through the provision of consultation and training, enabling organisations to develop their own pre-leaving and leaving care services.

For more information about FFF's work on leaving care, read our latest newsletter.