Udayan Care’s data-rich study, Beyond 18, is helping vulnerable children transition smoothly from child care institutions into the outside world, through evidence-based intervention programs and support networks
Dressed in a floral-printed white skirt and a maroon top, 19-year-old Santoshi is a teenager with big dreams. A confident Gen Z, she holds an internship at WWF as a fundraiser. She has also pursued courses in web designing and fashion designing, and plans to apply for a job as a cabin crew in an airliner. Her life today is a far cry from when she was brought to a child care institution in Okhla, Delhi, as an eight-year-old child in 2014. And it’s all thanks to Beyond 18, a comprehensive study Udayan Care undertook in 2019.
Udayan Care is a Delhi-based NGO that opened its first child care home in 1994 for 12 orphaned and abandoned children who were in need of care and protection under the Juvenile Laws of India. In these child care institutions (CCIs; government or privately-run facilities providing care and protection to children in need of such services), children grow up with others from similar backgrounds. A full-time help takes care of their daily needs. Mentor parents – individuals who voluntarily take on the responsibility of providing support, assistance and guidance – play confidants.
Santoshi too had a similar experience. In her 10 years there, she grew up with other children in a secure environment. She went to school, had tuitions at home, and then went to the park. Her favourite hour was television time, when she and her friends would dance and sing their hearts out. Life, as they knew it, was good.
Until they would turn 18, when – bang – they were expected to leave and fend for themselves in the outside world. According to the Justice Juvenile Act 2015, a child living in a CCI must leave the facility once he/she turns 18. This would mean Santoshi would be displaced, after 10 years of relative stability.
“How independent were you at the age of 18?” asks Kiran Modi, managing trustee, Udayan Care. “How can we expect these children to figure it out themselves all of a sudden – opening a bank account; travelling in public transport; finding a job? These are life skills that you don’t necessarily learn in a CCI. These children need aftercare.”
Aftercare, she explains, is a “continuum of care, crucial for care leavers to fully realise their true potential and become ready for an independent living”.
But it wasn’t always understood like this by others. When she and her team started talking to authorities about aftercare, many did not know the term and its provisions in the Indian law. “‘Why do these children need help?’, they would ask,” she says.
Udayan Care decided to answer that with evidence. In 2019, the NGO undertook its biggest-ever study – ‘Beyond 18’ – with the support of UNICEF and Tata Trusts. It was a strategic shift towards addressing the complexities of aftercare through evidence-based advocacy.
Today, the data from that study is used to improve not only the lives of Care Leavers (youth who, after having lived in a state or NGO-run CCI, transition out of care after turning 18) from CCIs across the country.
Like Santoshi, roughly 50,000 youth leave approximately 9,598 CCIs every year. “While there were some studies on aftercare in the West, there was hardly anything in the Indian context capturing the experiences and voices of care leavers. This became a big agenda for me. We were already advocating for aftercare by preparing Information Education Communication (IEC) material for UNICEF on Aftercare. We decided to make care leavers speak about their challenges themselves.”
In 2017, the NGO led a pilot study in Delhi involving 47 care leavers, and interviews with 13 caregivers, child protection functionaries, and volunteers, to explore the status and quality of aftercare services in Delhi. The report, titled ‘The Situation of Aftercare Youth in Delhi, 2018’ was published in support of Delhi Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR).
This pilot study was instrumental in revealing the systemic inadequacies within the aftercare framework. Care leavers, despite being legally entitled to support, were often left vulnerable and unprepared for independent life. From these findings, the framework for Beyond 18 was born.
“Beyond 18 study helped us capture the gaps in the work of other civil society organisations as well. Not all NGOs were able to support the youth who left CCIs. A data-driven approach allowed us to amplify our scope of work,” says Modi.
The study was conducted across five Indian states – Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. The study interviewed 100 key stakeholders (such as caregivers, child protection functionaries, NGOs, Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and volunteers), and 435 youth.
Reliable insights also came from a 60-question questionnaire designed to understand the plight of care leavers. It was created in consultation with psychologists, social workers, counsellors, care leavers, and mentors, about current housing conditions, family situation, emotional stability, skill sets, job status and know-how of government schemes. Three Focus Group Discussions (FDGs) were conducted with stakeholders in each state, and 2 FGDs in each state with care leavers. These were run over a period of four to seven months.
The findings were revealing. Of the 435 care leavers, more than a quarter (27%) did not receive any form of aftercare support. Fifty nine per cent were not aware of existing aftercare services and other welfare schemes.
While around 73% youth/care leavers did receive some kind of aftercare support, it was insufficient to bring them on par with their peers in the outside world. “A child who grows up in a CCI hardly has any social interaction with the outside world. They hold trauma, and don’t open up to the people they grow up with. We realised that the years after their transition from care homes for these youth are critical,” says Modi.
This understanding led to one of the biggest outputs of the Beyond 18 study, the codification of ‘Spheres of Aftercare’. These are eight domains: Financial Independence and Career; Identity and legal awareness; Housing; Educational and vocational skills; Independent Living Skills; Physical health; Emotional Wellbeing; and Social Support & Interpersonal Skills. “All eight spheres are interlinked, and thus non-negotiable,” Modi says.
The findings became a catalyst for change in the ecosystem of aftercare. The team conducted workshops and roundtables to introduce the study to civil society organisations, government authorities and NGOs.
The learnings from the study also became the three core pillars of the Care Leaver support system – the Aftercare Outreach Programme (AOP), Fit Families Together (FiT), and Learning in Fellowship Together (LIFT) – extending support to care leavers leaving other CCIs.
AOP is a holistic rehabilitation plan run in collaboration with other NGOs. It supports youth through aftercare support transitioning out of care homes. It offers them educational / vocational training, internships and placements, monetary and mentoring support, and access to a lifelong Care Leavers Network. “We created this program by leveraging data collected in the Beyond 18 Study. The idea is to ensure that care leavers can stand on their feet, and go back to their families where possible. They are given support to make them independent in all spheres of life,” says Modi.
The program worked with 54 participants in 2020-2021, of which 29 were placed in jobs. Santoshi was one of them. The AOP is currently being run with 536 participants across states for 2024-2025, and so far, more than 200 have been placed in jobs.
The three-year programme spans 36 months. The program team interacts regularly with each care leaver over the phone and in person. They assess his/ her progress, skill enhancement, employability, career growth, mental and physical health, continuing education, housing, social life, and involvement in community activities, such as joining the Care Leavers Network. AOP also provides workshops around life skills and soft skills.
The data gathered from this follow-up is fed into spreadsheets and analysed to recognise their support requirements. The sheet also records the number of youths who still remain unsettled.
Meanwhile, in 2022, 23-year-old Narmdi, who was brought to one of Udayan Care Home in Sant Nagar in 2013 as a homeless child, joined CLAN (Care Leavers Association and Network) and signed up for a LIFT fellowship in 2023. The Fellowship offers workshops and training sessions on leadership, advocacy, and social entrepreneurship. The first year saw eight participants, and the current year has 12 in the second cohort.
LIFT admits fellows to research projects and runs advocacy campaigns to develop their leadership skills and contribute to the care leavers’ network. As a LIFT Fellow, Narmdi received professional guidance to shoot a documentary on the struggles of Care Leavers, and on strengthening a Care Leavers Network in Uttar Pradesh. A WhatsApp group connected her to mentors, alumni and fellow participants and gave her a platform to exchange updates. The program also promotes success stories and hosts online courses, conferences, and webinars on social media.
As a result, today, Narmdi has a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Applied Arts from Jamia Millia Islamia University, and a graphic design diploma. She is now working as graphic designer at a Delhi-based design firm. “Care Leavers go through a lot of uncertainty. I am able to create the life I envisioned because I was given a chance,” she says.
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, the government decided to tackle overcrowding in CCIs, and send children back to their families or kin. So in 2021, Fit Families Together (FiT) was conceived. It took a leaf from the Beyond 18 study, and created a framework called the ‘Circle of Care and Protection’ consisting of 10 domains. The aim is to prevent separation of children from their families, and reintegrate children back into their families.
“What we had implemented for Care Leavers was not enough for children who were packed off to their families during the pandemic. They needed a different approach,” says Modi, explaining the motto of this programme, ‘Reach, Reinforce and Reintegrate’. “Through FiT, families are supported such that children are not unnecessarily separated and sent to institutional care; and those already separated are brought back and reintegrated with their families wherever possible,” says Modi.
Today, the program works with 39 youth. One of them is 19-year-old Nargis, who grew up in a CCI in Deccan Village in Delhi for 10 years, as her parents couldn’t afford her upbringing. “At the age of 16, I was sent back to my family when the pandemic hit. Suddenly, I had to readjust. I missed my friends. Little things, like my parents telling me to dress a certain way, made me cry,” she recalls. “FiT helped me settle into my family again, and gave me conveyance money for stationery, a school dress, and fees so I could complete my education,” she says. Udayan Care also made the effort to make home visits to meet my parents, which makes them happy.”
With the assistance of FiT, Nargis passed Class 12 in arts with a score of 81 percent, after which she also joined the AOP program and signed up for a graphic design course. She has followed it up with an ongoing video editing course at IGNOU and is pursuing a BA in history and English.
Today, FIT runs in five pockets of South Delhi. It supports families of Care Leavers to become strong, stable and more capable of taking care of their children by offering linkages and access to welfare schemes, educational and vocational enrolment, physical and mental health care and holding stable livelihoods.
Nargis has a part-time job at the library in Qutub Foundation in Delhi where she runs a writing and storytelling programme for young kids. “We also colour and draw,” she says, picking up her phone to show the social media posters she designed at an ongoing graphic design course at Jama Masjid through the AOP programme.
It has been five years since Beyond 18 was released. Udayan Care maintains monthly spreadsheets to document the journey of care leavers, and uses the data to tweak their programmes and conduct training across states. These sessions help build capacity in CCI staff, Child Welfare Committees, District Child Protection Units, and generate further evidence and research on aftercare.
While FiT is currently running in Delhi, AOP, alternative care and aftercare programs are run in Gujarat, MP, Bihar and Telangana. It has facilitated the formation and running of care leavers networks, including one run by UNICEF.
The ‘Beyond 18’ study helped build evidence for recommendations being made at various levels. Udayan Care is now advocating that the Government of India introduce an ‘Individual Aftercare Plan’ (IAP). It is battling for increased investment in aftercare, additional financial support for care leavers, and the convergence of various schemes through inter-ministerial and inter-departmental collaborations.
The study also recommends strengthening the voices of youth by creating spaces where they can establish peer networks and find mentors. The effort is to build capacity for the many people involved with children and youth without parental care. Several of these aspects have been mentioned in the centrally-sponsored scheme of Mission Vatsalya, 2022.
Udayan Care, which completed 30 years in March 2024, is determined to give a chance to every Care Leaver. Today, the NGO runs 16 Udayan Ghars with 186 children, and 5 aftercare units with 53 young adults. This year, it successfully reunited 248 children, who came into their Children’s Homes, with their biological/extended families.
AOP aims to enable 600 young Care Leavers by 2025 across multiple cities in India. Udayan Care is also building a model to collect data to improve career options for aftercare youth. Partnerships with employers, governments, and NGOs will be expanded exponentially in the years to come.
“When I started out, I had a humble dream to raise 12 children as my own. Their needs showed us the way to redefining Aftercare in India. After the Beyond 18 Study, we were able to see the real situation on the ground, and take necessary steps,” Modi says.
Steps that have enabled the likes of Narmdi and Santoshi to lead independent and confident lives.