IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v171y2025ics0190740925000647.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What happens after care? Investigating the post-care housing pathways and experiences of adult care leavers in Ireland

Author

Listed:
  • O’Kane, Emma
  • Brady, Eavan

Abstract

Accessing suitable and secure housing is central to the process of leaving out-of-home care, yet existing literature highlights the risk of many care leavers experiencing housing instability and homelessness when they exit care. This paper reports findings of a small-scale qualitative study exploring the post-care housing pathways and experiences of adult care leavers in Ireland. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five care leavers, aged 24–35, in Ireland and analysed using thematic analysis. Findings illustrate the varied nature of the housing pathways of this small sample group. While some participants experienced housing instability upon leaving care, others experienced housing stability. The findings highlight the importance of informal supports in shaping housing experiences and the relevance of housing experiences in relation to other domains of life such as education, employment, and relationships.

Suggested Citation

  • O’Kane, Emma & Brady, Eavan, 2025. "What happens after care? Investigating the post-care housing pathways and experiences of adult care leavers in Ireland," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:171:y:2025:i:c:s0190740925000647
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108181
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740925000647
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108181?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arnau-Sabatés, Laura & Gilligan, Robbie, 2015. "What helps young care leavers to enter the world of work? Possible lessons learned from an exploratory study in Ireland and Catalonia," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 185-191.
    2. Dworsky, A. & Napolitano, L. & Courtney, M., 2013. "Homelessness during the transition from foster care to adulthood," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 103(S2), pages 318-323.
    3. Gypen, Laura & Vanderfaeillie, Johan & De Maeyer, Skrallan & Belenger, Laurence & Van Holen, Frank, 2017. "Outcomes of children who grew up in foster care: Systematic-review," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 74-83.
    4. ., 2017. "Producer politics: resource nationalism," Chapters, in: International Resource Politics in the Asia-Pacific, chapter 4, pages 70-94, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Constantin ANGHELACHE & Madalina-Gabriela ANGHEL & Andreea - Ioana MARINESCU, 2017. "The Main Structural Indicators Of The National Wealth," Romanian Statistical Review Supplement, Romanian Statistical Review, vol. 65(10), pages 58-66, October.
    6. ., 2017. "Relating the city to the nation," Chapters, in: Creating Cities/Building Cities, chapter 7, pages 114-131, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Brady, Eavan & Gilligan, Robbie, 2019. "Exploring diversity in the educational pathways of care-experienced adults: Findings from a life course study of education and care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 1-1.
    8. van Breda, Adrian D. & Munro, Emily R. & Gilligan, Robbie & Anghel, Roxana & Harder, Annemiek & Incarnato, Mariana & Mann-Feder, Varda & Refaeli, Tehila & Stohler, Renate & Storø, Jan, 2020. "Extended care: Global dialogue on policy, practice and research," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gilligan, Robbie & Brady, Eavan & Arnau-Sabatés, Laura, 2025. "The educational and work progress of care experienced adults: The potential contribution of birth family adults over time," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    2. Hagleitner, Wolfgang & Sting, Stephan & Maran, Thomas, 2022. "Socio-economic status and living situation of care leavers in Austria," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    3. Yin, Shian, 2025. "Exploring leaving-care and post-care experiences: What have helped care leavers in China?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    4. Blakeslee, Jennifer E. & Best, Jared I., 2019. "Understanding support network capacity during the transition from foster care: Youth-identified barriers, facilitators, and enhancement strategies," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 220-230.
    5. Hadjielias, Elias & Christofi, Michael & Vrontis, Demetris & Khan, Huda, 2022. "Social impact through family firms’ interorganizational relationships within a community and a cooperative: An embedded view of stewardship," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 584-601.
    6. Disney, Tom & Walker, Charlie, 2023. "Young people leaving care and institutionalised vulnerability in the Russian Federation," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    7. Townsend, Indra M. & Berger, Emily P. & Reupert, Andrea E., 2020. "Systematic review of the educational experiences of children in care: Children’s perspectives," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    8. Schwartz-Tayri, Talia & Kindler, Tobias & Sulimani-Aidan, Yafit, 2025. "Positive cascades effect in care leavers resilience processes: the association of self-compassion, SRH, self-efficacy and readiness for independent living," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    9. Weng, Weizhe & Cobourn, Kelly M. & Kemanian, Armen R. & Boyle, Kevin J. & Shi, Yuning & Stachelek, Joseph & White, Charles, 2020. "Quantifying Co-Benefits of Water Quality Policies: An Integrated Assessment Model of Nitrogen Management," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304667, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    10. Mendes, Philip & Martin, Robyn & Jasmin Jau, Ms & Jacinta Chavulak, Ms, 2023. "An analysis of the intersecting factors and needs that informed the experiences of young people transitioning from out of home care in the Australian states of Victoria and Western Australia," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    11. Teun Johannes Verhagen & Ester van der Voet & Benjamin Sprecher, 2021. "Alternatives for natural‐gas‐based heating systems: A quantitative GIS‐based analysis of climate impacts and financial feasibility," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 25(1), pages 219-232, February.
    12. Arnau-Sabatés, Laura & Gilligan, Robbie, 2020. "Support in the workplace: How relationships with bosses and co-workers may benefit care leavers and young people in care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    13. Binaut, Léa & Bouteyre, Evelyne & Despax, Johanna, 2025. "Experience of parenthood after placement," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    14. BAKARE, Adebola Rafiu & ADEBIYI, Oluwashina Moruf & MAHMOUD, Kafayat Oyinlade, 2018. "Exploring The Legislative Framework Of The Nigerian National Assembly," Ilorin Journal of Business and Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ilorin, vol. 20(1), pages 1-25.
    15. Kaasinen, Minna & Terkamo-Moisio, Anja & Salokekkilä, Pirkko & Häggman-Laitila, Arja, 2023. "Finnish care leavers‘ social inclusion during the transition to adulthood," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    16. McPherson, Lynne & Vosz, Meaghan & Gatwiri, Kathomi & Parmenter, Natalie & Macnamara, Noel & Mitchell, Janise & Tucci, Joe, 2021. "What does research tell us about young people’s participation in decision making in residential care? A systematic scoping review," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    17. Michael Lebacher & Paul W. Thurner & Göran Kauermann, 2021. "A dynamic separable network model with actor heterogeneity: An application to global weapons transfers," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 184(1), pages 201-226, January.
    18. Bonakdar, Ahmad & Gaetz, Stephen & Banchani, Emmanuel & Schwan, Kaitlin & Kidd, Sean A. & O'Grady, Bill, 2023. "Child protection services and youth experiencing homelessness: Findings of the 2019 national youth homelessness survey in Canada," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    19. Arnau-Sabatés, Laura & Dworsky, Amy & Sala-Roca, Josefina & Courtney, Mark E., 2021. "Supporting youth transitioning from state care into adulthood in Illinois and Catalonia: Lessons from a cross-national comparison," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    20. Eiberg, Misja & Olsen, Rikke Fuglsang, 2022. "Too high or too low? the role of educational expectations for children in out-of-home care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:171:y:2025:i:c:s0190740925000647. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.