Extending the period of aftercare: Effects on children with experience from child welfare services

Abstract Young people leaving out-of-home care are found to be at great risk of marginalization and many need continued support. In the autumn of 1998, the age limit for receiving aftercare in Norway was extended from twenty to twenty-three years. In this article, we study how this change in legislation that increased the support for care leavers (aftercare) has affected young people aging out of care, in terms of the take-up of the service and, the education, employment, and health outcomes of the young adults. Our findings suggest that young adults are more likely to access aftercare if they turned twenty after the new legislation was passed. We also demonstrate that the more liberal after care scheme increased the likelihood of young people being in education at age twenty-one to twenty-two and decreased the levels of high school drop out.