Welcome to ANCR, the Africa Network of Care-Leaving Researchers, created in 2016. We are an informal network of researchers, scattered throughout the African continent, interested in advancing research on young people leaving care. By ‘care‘ we mean alternative or out-of-home care, such as children’s homes and foster care. We are interested in understanding the process of leaving such care, which we call ‘care-leaving’ (elsewhere it is called ‘youth transitions from out-of-home care’ or ‘aging out of care’), and the young people who are leaving care, whom we call ‘care-leavers‘.

Our purpose is to understand the care-leaving process and to contribute towards child and youth care policy and practice to improve the kinds of supports provided to care-leavers (in terms of practice, programmes, policy and legislation).

The purpose of this site is to share our research. It is a space for collaboration between researchers in Africa, though those from outside Africa are also welcome to browse. Because Africa is so diverse and under-resourced, and because academics and researchers are few and often isolated due to poor telecommunication infrastructure, we hope that this site will enable us to draw a little closer and benefit from the collective wisdom of the group.

In addition, we aim to generate a body of knowledge on care-leavers and the care-leaving process that is relevant to Africa. The growing international body of literature on these topics is dominated by the Global North, notably the USA, UK and Australia. Voices from the Global South, such as from Africa, are marginalised. In part, this is because we are few and isolated. In part this is the legacy of colonialism. This site aims to shift this situation by drawing together and sharing African research on care-leaving, so that we build up indigenous and contextually-relevant theory and practice, while also recognising and appreciating our colleagues from the North.

Two annotated bibliographies of care-leaving research are provided here to facilitate easier access to a wide range of relevant literature for those researching care-leaving. The first is a complete collection of literature from Africa, and the second is literature from the rest of the world. Both annotated bibliographies are available for download in Rich Text Format, and will be updated from time to time. Files will always be dated so that you can check if you have the latest literature.

Africa. Click here to download. Date: 26 August 2020. Size: 130 references.

Global. Click here to download. Date: 26 August 2020. Size: 634 references.

If you have additional literature (articles, chapters, books, theses, dissertations, conference presentations, technical reports, etc.) that you would like included in future editions of these bibliographies, please submit details to avanbreda@uj.ac.za. If possible, please also provide the work in full text (PDF is ideal) for the ANCR archives.

Anyone is free to follow ANCR, which will give you access to most of our work and allow you access our research outputs, etc. Please be sure to click the “Follow” button right at the bottom of this page.

Membership of ANCR, however, is restricted to people who are actively researching care-leaving or care-leavers in Africa. Membership is open to individuals across the globe, provided you conduct care-leaving research in Africa. There is no membership fee. Membership will open up additional opportunities, such as being able to connect with other members, learning about in-service training and other development opportunities, etc.

Friends of ANCR are researchers doing care-leaving research outside of Africa or practitioners and others who are interested in care-leaving research even though they are not doing care-leaving research. Being a friend of ANCR allows you to follow our work and to support it, even though you are not doing African care-leaving research. Please complete the same application form.

After submitting your membership application, please also scroll down a little further and click the FOLLOW button to add your email address to our mailing list.