Who are children in care and care leavers

Abstract

The chapter focuses on the characteristics and experiences of minors accepted in public structures and care leavers. Most of the children housed in the facilities come from problematic families, punctuated by recurrent crises. Precisely for this reason in many European countries the awareness has matured that the minors accepted in the social-welfare structures are strongly disadvantaged compared to their peers, as their life is generally marked by traumas and contexts of educational poverty and psychological poverty which they do not allow adequate psycho-social development.