When a child turns 18, the law classifies them as adults, requiring them to leave the care homes. At 18, these young adults are not yet fully equipped to handle life independently and need a helping hand through continued education, training, counselling, mentoring, and support.
The Aftercare Program bridges the gap for young adults, aged 18 to 21, who leave their Udayan Ghars by providing continued rehabilitative services and accommodation options in community, group, or scattered housing settings.
The Program has three aftercare facilities for Udayan Ghar care leavers. The thrust of the aftercare program is on education and skilling – essential building blocks for a life of dignity and financial independence. The program has supported nearly 200 young adults by providing them with a continuum of care.
The Aftercare Outreach Program (AOP) was established in 2020. This program identifies and supports youth from various Child Care Institutions in their pursuit of education, vocational training, employment, and independent living.
Our interventions aimed at facilitating the successful transitions of care leavers from Udayan Ghars, combined with the learnings from our milestone research ‘Beyond 18’, conducted in 2018-19, led to the genesis of the program. AOP is spread across five states in India (Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana) and has impacted 399 young adults as of March 2024.
Concluding from the “Beyond 18” study on Aftercare, published in 2019 by Udayan Care, with support from UNICEF and other partners, the key recommendation of this seminal study was to recognise Care Leavers as the most vulnerable youth-at-risk, and enable them with opportunities for inclusion in care reform and planning. Initiated by Udayan Care, with support from UNICEF, this first-ever Fellowship for Care Leavers in India, launched in October 2021, was a logical step to advance the recommendations.
The Fellowship enables the care leavers to follow their hearts, receive mentoring from industry experts, and emerge as care leaders. They contribute to their community by creating opportunities for individuals to join as team members in various projects and become professional social workers.
Eight fellows were selected in the first year (2022-23) across six states, and the second batch (2023-24) comprised 12 LIFT fellows from ten states in India. The third batch (2024-25) expanded further to have sixteen fellows from eleven states. Fellows are contributing actively to their state care leaver networks. In the absence of such networks, they have initiated them in the states of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Uttar Pradesh (UP).
So far, fellows have delivered high-quality outcomes on aftercare through podcasts, documentaries, articles, Infographic success stories, a book, blogs, a website, Research study, a National awareness drive module and a Comic book, all leading to improved awareness and understanding of the challenges faced by them.
In 2025, fellows from across the three batches came together to collectively launch their alumni group known as LEAP (Lived Experienced Alumni Program). With LIFT taking a LEAP, this initiative is set to grow and expand in the coming years, with youth driving the change.
Udayan Care initiated the first-ever care leavers network in Asia in 2017, in Delhi, known as CLAN. This has inspired the formation of many other care leavers’ networks in India and neighbouring countries. As of 2024, 13 states have established such networks, bringing care leavers together in safe spaces. These peer-led support networks for care leavers promote sustainable, long-term improvements in their lives by serving as a resource to one another. With support from partners, UNICEF has also initiated the National Care Leavers Network (NCLN) in India.
