*3.5. Aftercare Support*

In our sample, care leavers spent a mean of 1.4 years (*SD* = 1.24) benefiting from the aftercare support. The percentage of young people who received such support for a prolonged period was low, especially among UYM (Table 5). Only 14% of UYM received some kind of aftercare benefit for two or more years, compared to 37% in the CG, with statistically significant differences. Participants benefited from one or multiple benefits offered by regional agencies, according to their demands and needs. Education and training guidance was the most common service used by care leavers in the sample, followed by support for integration into the labor market, the provision of accommodation, and legal assistance. Differences regarding legal and financial support were significant, highlighting the fact that UYMs received more legal assistance, while the young people in the CG accessed economic benefits more often. Moreover, those in the CG also received more psychological support, although the difference was not statistically significant.


**Table 5.** Aftercare Support. Differences between groups.

*Note.* CG = Comparison Group; UYM = Unaccompanied Young Migrants; χ <sup>2</sup> = Chi-Square values; *p* = exact *p* values.

#### **4. Discussion**

The UYM in our sample are males who arrived in our country, often close to majority age, predominantly from the Maghreb (especially Morocco) and Sub-Saharan countries, with demographic profiles similar to those found in other national studies [12,30]. As UYMs, they do not need to apply for asylum nor are they considered refugees, as in other countries, given that they are under the guardianship of the regional authorities and afforded the consideration and protection as any other unprotected child, in accordance with the national law of child protection. However, as soon as they come of age, they

are no longer considered looked-after minors but adult migrants, and in order to stay and access the same resources as other young people they have to request the renewal or concession of the residence permit. In order to get this permit, they must meet different criteria depending on their condition (article 197, 198), such as having a positive report from the childcare agencies to certify their engagement and integration, having sufficient financial resources to support themselves during the validity of the permit, or having received an offer of employment contract during this time, etc. (Organic Law 4/2000). This implies that, as care leavers, their labor integration and access to aftercare services should be favored, but conversely, migration policies hinder their social insertion.

As for their personal history, the UYMs suffer fewer experiences of abuse and neglect than the CG, which, in contrast, display high rates of all the types of victimization experiences. A young boy from CG, for example, said, "*first I was living with my mother, who maltreated me, so they gave guardianship to my father, who neglected me. None of them have done well*", similarly another said, "*I entered a center because my parents abused me, they had financial problems, my mother also had mental health problems after my father's death, and they both had alcohol problems*". This is consistent with the findings of Fernández-Artamendi et al. [31] regarding the high rates of victimization and polyvictimization of adolescents in residential child care. Therefore, although both UYMs and young people in CG are looked after, two completely different profiles can be observed, as also evidenced by Söderqvist [20]. The UYMs came into child care due to a migratory project to look for a job and future opportunities in a new country, with relatively few experiences of abuse and neglect, unlike the CG, who had to endure severe abuse and neglect in order to be in out-of-home care. The nature of UYMs' immigration project and objectives is also reflected in their later admission and shorter stay in child care compared with other care leavers in our sample, as also shown by González-García et al. [26]. Residential care was practically the only resource for this specific group [12,20], due to the shortage of family foster placements in Spain, particularly for adolescents.

The UYMs in our sample also had a better health status, both physically and psychologically, as reflected in their lower rates of psychological treatment and lower incidence of suicidal behaviors with respect to their peers. Moreover, they presented lower rates of substance use and delinquency, confirming other authors' conclusions that substance abuse and criminality are not substantial problems within this group [32]. These results are in line with those of Keles et al. [33] that point to the great resilience of UYMs, which enables them to do well despite the additional stressors that could expose them to mental health problems. However, other authors have detected high rates of psychological distress in unaccompanied adolescents [12]. Such differences in results may be due to several factors, such as having suffered fewer traumatic experiences [23] or the possibility that their mental health problems have abated after their arrival [34] and the participants' different ages. Moreover, the UYMs with a good family functioning and relationship usually are better able to endure adversity [35]. It could also explain our results, since most of those who come to our country had a previous stable family situation, although with economic difficulties [36]. In this regard, an UYM said, "*We have a good relationship, my mother is very brave, she always wants to help us, I feel that she is suffering to help us and I want to help her*". Be that as it may, the journey itself and the adaptation to the host country can cause sequelae [12], therefore, a careful exploration of their needs and psychological distress is needed, always keeping in mind the barriers that could hinder their understanding and how each culture handles emotions and psychological problems.

Concerning their integration, the UYMs in our sample have lower educational levels than their peers and are usually in a rush to start working, which is in keeping with the results of other studies about their preference for vocational training which facilitates a swift entry into the labor [26,37]. Nonetheless, there are fewer employed UYMs in our sample compared to their peers, which is reflected in their lower income levels. Along the same line as our results, other authors have found that migrant care leavers have worse results in these key areas compared to the rest of care leavers [38,39]. This is understandable considering their cultural background [20], the different opportunities for education in their country of origin [37], and the impact their administrative status has on their opportunities to access employment in the host country [40]. Their lower educational level left them ill-prepared for the competitive job market [41], which translates into lower employment rates and earnings [39,42–44], with the incumbent increased risk for negative outcomes [45], as for others care leavers. Moreover, their difficulties are compounded, since they need a residence and work permit in order to get a job, however in Spain, obtaining one does not necessarily imply obtaining the other. Hence, they may leave care without a work permit, but cannot get one without having a one-year, full-time contract, which is a challenge in and of itself considering the economic crisis and the care leavers personal barriers [37]. Some UYMs have mentioned that "*the complicated thing is the documentation, which takes a long time*", or "*I can't work because I don't have the permit, and I don't know if I will have it*", or "*I don't work, I'm looking for it but I need the one-year contract and it's hard to find it*". In the worst-case scenario, they leave care with an irregular legal situation, unable to work, having no place to live, and running the risk of being repatriated [19], all of which increases their vulnerability. These young people's education and language skills must necessarily be improved to make a difference for their future insertion in the labor market and society in general. However, it should be noted that the UYMs in our sample tend to be younger than those in the CG, therefore some poor results could also be due to this age difference, since the older care leavers are, the more independent they become [46].

As for social support, the UYMs in our sample had more contact with their family and better relationships with them than their CG counterparts. These findings are consistent with what is known from the literature, as national care leavers usually have a complex relationship with their parents and receive limited or no support from them [47], while immigrant youth families continue to be an emotional reference for UYMs, despite the distance [18]. In this regard, for example, a young man from the CG said, "*there were many problems and uncomfortable situations, for which I have taken distance from my mother*", while an UYM said, "*what gives me the strength to fight is my family, not with money or physically, but mentally*". It is interesting to observe the clear difference between emotional support, which is maintained despite the distance for UYMs, and the lack of instrumental support due to the distance and their preference not to talk to the family about their problems, so as not to worry them. In this respect, we report the words of one care leaver who said, *"the truth is that I do not usually count on them, because it is useless to tell them [about] my things if I do not live with them, because they would feel bad too".* On the other hand, UYMs' social support network is based on educators and professionals, while young people in the CG have a more varied and peer-based support network. This limited social network of the UYMs in our sample may be the result of their short stay in the country, language barriers, or their reluctance to talk about their problems. Knowing the crucial role and protective function of social support for care leavers [48,49], improving informal support through mentoring relationships can be a beneficial option to assist both groups, but particularly UYMs, in coping with the multiple challenges they face in different life domains and expand their network [50].

As for the aftercare support received from care leavers in our sample, UYMs spent less time receiving such support. This can possibly be accounted for by their younger age than the CG in our study, although having found few UYMs older than 20 years benefiting from aftercare support can have a double explanation: first, that they become independent sooner or, conversely, that they disengage sooner from aftercare service because they are tired of having to obey rules. For example, one care leaver commented in this regard: *"I live on my own, since I left the center, I have lived where I could, with friends. They offered me to live in the apartment for care leavers, but I declined because I did not want any more rules".*

Financial support was the support the UYMs in our sample benefited from the least, whereas legal advice was the most common, given their specific need for help obtaining a residence and work permits. The lower rate of financial support probably reflects the special requirements they must access for this type of help. Oftentimes, they do not meet certain

criteria, for instance, having been in care for three years or more, being legal residents in the territory, and having a work plan, usually related to higher education and training, all elements that are often lacking in this group because of their immigrant status. It may be also due to differences between regions in the endowment of these programs, as found by another national study [12] or, in the worst case, there could be some degree of inequality in the support provided to these young people. Other studies similarly suggested that UYMs may have fewer chances to receive some form of aftercare support [25,40].

According to Spanish law, all care leavers must be supported during the transition process, both before and after leaving care. They must receive training and support for leaving care from 16 years old, and be supported after coming of age by means of different programs aimed to meet their needs in core domains. Based on these directives, the Autonomous Communities implemented programs to support care leavers in education, accommodation, social and labor insertion, economic income and psychological support. Nevertheless, local legal frameworks to regulate these measures were sometimes lacking. This translates into a disparity of criteria and available benefits between territories, which make it possible for young people to receive substantially or significantly lower support (e.g., financial) depending on the region in which they are located. Therefore, there is an awareness that preparation for independent living is crucial for their success in life [51], although in fact, they are not always properly supported [52]. Given the profile and welldefined objectives of this group, it is important to bolster the aftercare support services of each region and unify protocols in order to offer them a better and equal opportunity.

Although the findings presented in this paper are in line with what we expected in our hypothesis and with previous literature, some limitations must be acknowledged. Firstly, our results must be taken with caution because of the non-probabilistic sampling. Moreover, it must be remembered that young people who, like our participants, have access to aftercare services tend to be those who have the best chance of taking advantage of such opportunities and that they voluntarily agreed to participate in this study. These factors suggest that they may be among care leavers with a better profile and that a different picture could have been found by interviewing care leavers who suddenly disengaged after turning 18 and refused any help or follow-up support. The invisibility of this extremely vulnerable group is a common difficulty in research in this field. Furthermore, gender has not been taken into account, since not enough migrant females were found among regions, which reflects their scarce presence in child care, due to the masculinization of the migratory phenomenon.

#### **5. Conclusions**

Transition to adulthood from care is an issue that in recent decades has gained ground in international investigations. Nonetheless, there is still much to explore, especially when it comes to young unaccompanied migrants, which have not yet received the attention they deserve.

This paper contributes to awareness of the profiles, needs, and differences of unaccompanied migrant care leavers compared to Spanish natives or accompanied migrants. UYMs arriving in Spain have been found to come mostly from African countries (particularly Morocco), undertaking the migratory journey close to the majority age, aiming to improve their living conditions and achieve a more prosperous future than they could have in their native country. They have typically not had particularly traumatic experiences in their countries, or at the hands of their family, which is reflected in their exhibiting less psychological distress and treatments compared with the CG, who have suffered high rates of abuse and neglect and suffer more psychological distress. Their clear objective of obtaining permits and finding a job to take care of themselves and their families is reflected in a trajectory often free from risky behaviors, as well as in a shorter stay in care and aftercare compared to other care leavers. Nevertheless, UYMs had worse results than their peers in terms of education, which exposes them to lower employment rates and less income. They also appear to have a more limited support network in the host country, but a better relationship with their families. Findings with respect to the aftercare support

received suggest that they may have more difficulties than their peers in accessing such support, especially certain types, probably because of their immigrant status. Currently, there is still a tension between protection and migration control policies [12]. On the one hand, the response to UYMs is framed in the UNCRC, pursuing without discrimination their best interests (article 2,3), and the enjoyment of all the rights included in the convention (article 22), however, such protection expires at the age of 18, at which immigration policies begin to prevail. Hence, this particularly vulnerable subgroup of care leavers can find themselves in a vicious circle of worse outcomes, having additional difficulties and stressors compared to their peers. Nevertheless, they also exhibit some strengths and high resilience, which may lead to think that, despite the difficulties, many of them may have a positive transition experience and fare quite well compared to other care leavers [23].

The results suggest the need to improve formal and informal supports to assist care leavers, and in particular, UYMs, in addressing the multiple challenges of transition. Improving and balancing the aftercare support services of different regions, to offer them better and equal opportunities, and adopt strategies to expand their support network should be priorities. Moreover, to promote their integration into the labor market, their educational level should be improved, instilling in them the importance of education and better qualification, as well as supporting them when they want to continue further studies and higher education. Furthermore, as UYMs are a dominant profile in the protection system, their special needs, difficulties, and cultures should be taken into account in the implementation of transition programs. Finally, to reap the fruits of previous work, it would be desirable to speed up and simplify the obtaining of permits in order to pursue their real best interest, facilitate their real integration in foster society, and avoid the risk of social exclusion.

Concerning further research, it might be interesting to carry out more studies focused on the process of transition and results obtained by those groups that are more invisible in care and aftercare, such as unaccompanied migrant girls and young people with a more complex profile, both nationals and migrants. It would also be interesting to use other types of instruments to assess constructs such as the well-being, psychosocial adjustment and life skills of this populations.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, F.G. and J.F.d.V.; methodology, F.G. and J.F.d.V.; formal analysis, F.G.; investigation, F.G. and L.G.-A.; writing—original draft preparation, F.G.; writing review and editing, F.G, L.G.-A., J.F.d.V. and A.B.; visualization, F.G. and J.F.d.V.; supervision, J.F.d.V. and A.B.; project administration, J.F.d.V. and A.B.; funding acquisition, F.G., L.G.-A., J.F.d.V. and A.B. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded by the Severo Ochoa Program for Training in Research and Teaching in Principality of Asturias, the predoctoral scholarship holded by the first two authors (grant numbers #BP17–77, #BP17-58).

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Ethics in Research Committee of the University of Oviedo (IRB #3\_RRI\_2020).

**Informed Consent Statement:** Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

**Data Availability Statement:** The data presented in this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request, due to privacy and ethical reasons.

**Acknowledgments:** The authors wish to thank the young people who participated for sharing their experiences with us, and all professionals who collaborated for making this study possible.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
