Youth Leaving Care in Developing Countries: Observations from Vietnam

Abstract

Most knowledge of policies and practices regarding the transition from care is based on the industrialized Western, primarily American and European, models. Yet the problems related to leaving care, the needs of young people in this transition, and the potential services that might be offered them are concerns in many countries. This chapter examines the adjustments for policy, research and intervention in other non-Western developing contexts. Particular attention is focused on the country of Vietnam, a Southeast Asian country, with a communist government and a rapidly developing economy. We identify the policy context; the characteristics of the system of child protection; and the strategies employed to assist vulnerable young people to move from care (typically orphanages or street shelters) to life on their own. We note that many strategies utilize well-known approaches (e.g. life skills), but do so within a specific cultural, political, and economic context.