Poverty to more poverty: An evaluation of transition services provided to adolescent girls from two institutions in Zimbabwe

Pamhidzayi Berejena Mhongera and Antoinette Lombard

Children and Youth Services Review, 2016, vol. 64, issue C, 145-154

Abstract: Adolescent girls leaving institutional care in Zimbabwe need transition services and programmes to counter the socio-economic risks they face in their transitions to adulthood and out of institutional care. Using the sustainable livelihood approach (SLA), this study evaluated the services/support being provided by key transition service providers (the government and institutions) to meet the livelihood needs of adolescent girls transitioning from institutions A and B in Harare, Zimbabwe. Face to face interviews were conducted with 32 adolescent girls (sixteen inside institutions, aged 15–18, and sixteen discharged from institutions, aged 18–21). Key informant interviews were held with superintendents of the respective institutions and the district social services officer from the Department of Child Welfare and Probation Services. Findings indicate that adolescent girls have access to similar assets inside care. Due to non-provision of services/support by institutions and minimal services/support provision by the government, care leavers lose larger stocks of assets, making them poorer than their counterparts in care. This study concludes that the services and support being provided by institutions A and B and the Department of Child Welfare and Probation Services are not adequate in meeting the livelihood needs of adolescent girls and hence, result in negative livelihood outcomes beyond care. As a poverty reduction strategy, this study recommends the allocation of adequate resources for the provision of comprehensive services/support that promotes the achievement of sustainable livelihoods during and after care.

Keywords: Adolescent girls; Institutions; Transitions; Sustainable livelihoods; Assets; Poverty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740916300846
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:64:y:2016:i:c:p:145-154

DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2016.03.013

Access Statistics for this article

Children and Youth Services Review is currently edited by Duncan Lindsey

More articles in Children and Youth Services Review from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().